This Massive Recall Now Burdens Thousands Of Idaho Truck Owners

A major consumer alert has been issued, especially for Idaho residents, because of the popularity of the vehicle in question. Two months ago, a truck owner died from injuries caused by an airbag explosion. The owner who died wasn't even driving the truck at the time. He was sitting in the passenger seat and was hit by fragments from the passenger side airbag.

The company that built these airbags, Takata, which has since gone out of business, provided airbags for vehicles made by 34 different automotive companies, including Stellantis, which may not be a familiar name to most but is the parent company of Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Peugeot, Fiat, Maserati, and Ram, which became its own brand after separating from Dodge in 2010.

The company is now asking owners of 2003 Dodge Ram pickup trucks to "immediately stop driving those vehicles and contact a dealer to determine their recall status." According to Go Banking Rates, The Dodge Ram is the second most popular vehicle in Idaho, making this warning even more important to us locally.

This isn't the first time there have been issues with Takata airbags. Last year, Stellantis issued a similar warning to owners of the 2005 to 2010 Chriysler 300, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Mangum.

This recall is the latest in what has become the largest recall the car industry has ever seen. The first of these recalls happened in 2013, and the NHTSA thinks that 67 million vehicles are now affected. Of those, about 50 million have been fixed, leaving 17 million still on the road.

To check to see if your vehicle still needs to be fixed, have your VIN number ready and visit the online Kelly Blue Book Recall Center, the Fiat Chrysler Takata Website, or call them at 833-585-0144. You can also check to see if your vehicle was part of the earlier recall at the NHTSA website.