Freightliner Air Bags: Inflator Module

Freightliner is recalling about 71,301 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Campaign
19V003000
Manufacturer
Daimler Vans USA, LLC
Reported
8 January 2019
Vehicles
71,301
Built between
Not published
Models
4
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
15 March 2019
Repaired
77%
Unrepaired
16,263

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2015-2017 Freightliner Sprinter 2500
  • 2015-2017 Freightliner Sprinter 3500
  • 2015-2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500
  • 2015-2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500

Repair progress

16,263 of 71,301 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2020.

77% repaired — 55,038 of 71,301 reported

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

Daimler Vans USA, LLC (DVUSA) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 and 3500 and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 and 3500 vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the driver frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.

What could happen

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

What gets fixed

DVUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front driver air bag module, free of charge. The recall is began March 15, 2019.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA8 January 2019
  2. Owners notified15 March 2019
  3. Latest repair reportQ2 2020 — 77% 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 8 January 2019.

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 DVUSA customer service at 1-877-762-8267.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
Daimler Vans USA, LLC
Recall initiated by
ODI

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