Takata Alpha airbags now being ban-flagged

Ban-flags are being applied to vehicles still under compulsory recall for Takata Alpha airbags and this process will be complete by mid-March.

You won’t be able to enter WoF details for ban-flagged vehicles. As with any other ban-flag, when you’re prevented from entering WoF details you should contact the Transport Agency to find out why you can’t enter the result.

Once you’ve had the reason confirmed, we recommend you give vehicle owners a flyer explaining why the vehicle failed the WoF and what to do about it.

You can download the flyer - we’ll also have links to it on our website at www.nzta.govt.nz/airbag-recall

The flyer advises vehicle owners to contact the vehicle manufacturer to make an appointment to have airbags replaced at no cost. When the airbags have been replaced, the manufacturer’s workshop will email confirmation to the Transport Agency. We advise owners to allow one to two days, to ensure we’ve received the email and updated the system, before bringing the vehicle back to you for rechecking.

The flyer also contains information on what to do if the owner believes their vehicle has already had Alpha airbags replaced.

We know that, despite many attempts at contacting vehicle owners and high-profile publicity about the recall, some owners will be surprised to hear about this and may be unhappy. In these instances, we recommend you refer owners to the information in the flyer. The flyer has contact details for manufacturers (who should be their first point of contact) and the Transport Agency.

And please note:

• in all instances you shouldn’t apply a new WoF sticker to a vehicle until the details have been successfully entered into the system
• ban-flagging only applies to Takata Alpha airbags. Takata non-Alpha airbags are still under voluntary recall and there are currently no plans to take further action on those.