Fiat Air Bags: Knee Bolster

Fiat is recalling about 25,479 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. If the knee airbag air bag does not deploy properly during a crash, there is an increased risk of driver injury.

Campaign
14V481000
Manufacturer
Chrysler Group LLC
Reported
6 August 2014
Vehicles
25,479
Built between
Mar 2012 – Jul 2014
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
26 September 2014
Repaired
92%
Unrepaired
1,816

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between March 2012 and July 2014. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2014-2015 Fiat 500LBuilt March 2012 to July 2014

Repair progress

1,816 of 25,483 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2015.

92% repaired — 23,475 of 25,483 reported

Owners not reachable
184
Scrapped or exported
8

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Fiat 500L vehicles manufactured March 3, 2012, to July 25, 2014. Irregularities in the folding process during assembly of the driver's knee airbag may result in its improper deployment. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

What could happen

If the knee airbag air bag does not deploy properly during a crash, there is an increased risk of driver injury.

What gets fixed

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's knee air bag, free of charge. The recall began on September 26, 2014.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtMarch 2012 to July 2014
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA6 August 2014
  3. Owners notified26 September 2014
  4. Latest repair reportQ4 2015 — 92% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 6 August 2014.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is P42.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
P42
Recalling manufacturer
Chrysler Group LLC
Safety standard
FMVSS 208
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand