Millions of cars recalled: your rights if you're affected

As faulty airbags prompt one of the world's biggest vehicle recalls, covering Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Mazda and General Motors cars, what can you claim back for carmakers' mistakes?

Nissan, Toyota and three other carmakers upset millions of motorists last week, announcing the recall of 3.4 million cars worldwide.

Unfortunately, vehicles made by five different car manufacturers all included faulty front-passenger airbags made by Japanese firm Tanaka Corp. In what's been described as by safety experts as a "very serious defect that could kill you", in the event of a crash, these faulty airbags could spray plastic and metal shrapnel around vehicle cabins.

Thanks to their use of common components, this safety issue has affected 3.4 million vehicles made by five different manufacturers. As a result cars made between 2000 and 2004 by Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda and General Motors have been recalled by manufacturers for replacement airbags to be fitted.

Despite the potential lethality of these airbags, only six incidents have been reported worldwide, four in the US and two in Japan. Another six incidents occurred when cars were being dismantled in Japanese scrap yards. Thankfully, no-one was reported injured in these dozen incidents.

Over 150,000 UK cars affected

Obviously, this is a serious safety issue, so British drivers should respond without delay to recall notices. Here in the UK, more than 152,500 cars will be issued with recalls, including:

• 76,000 Toyotas
• 59,058 Nissans
• 15,475 Hondas
• 1,913 Mazdas

Toyota's recall covers models made between November 2000 and March 2004. These include Avensis, Avensis Verso, Camry, Corolla, Picnic and Yaris models with registration plates from 'X' to '54'.

Honda's recall covers vehicles made from 2001 to 2003, including over 15,000 Honda CR-Vs and around 400 Civic, Jazz and Stream cars.

Nissan's recall covers cars built from 2000 to 2004, including 4x4 Pickup, Almera, Almera Tino, Patrol, Terrano II and X-Trail models.

Mazda's recall is limited only to first-generation Mazda6 cars made from 2002 to 2003.

How to get your car checked

Over the next 30 days, these five car manufacturers will be writing to all customers whose cars need recalling to have airbags replaced. However, you can speed things up by contacting your car's maker directly by telephone or via its website, or by contacting your local dealership for an appointment. Toyota already has a recall checker on its website.

According to reports from car mechanics, replacing an airbag takes between 40 and 90 minutes to perform. While this means that you won't have to leave your car overnight, it could mean you have to leave your vehicle at the dealership for a day.

Under the code of conduct agreed by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), vehicle manufacturers cannot offer compensation to drivers to encourage them to respond to recall notices. However, some British motorists will be left out of pocket by not having the use of their cars for up to one day.

What are your rights?

Obviously, this huge recall is going to cost carmakers countless millions to replace faulty airbags. What's more, it's also going to inconvenience over three million motorists worldwide, including more than 150,000 here in the UK.

Of course, the replacement of faulty airbags will be free, but drivers will incur unnecessary expenses in dropping off and picking up their vehicles from dealerships. Some motorists will incur the following extra costs:

• Fuel used for the journey to and from a local dealer.
• Loss of use of car (likely to be only a single day).
• Additional expenses for alternative travel arrangements.
• Car hire to replace own car (again, probably for one day).
• Claims for any inconvenience caused.

Alas, the bad news is that drivers face an uphill struggle to reclaim these incidental expenses from carmakers. Here's why, according to the experts at Citizens' Advice.

The UK's Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) requires goods -- including motor vehicles -- to be as described, of satisfactory quality, and fit for purpose (including any specific purpose agreed with the seller). Hence, if your car does develop a fault due to its manufacture, then you have the right to a free repair.

In effect, SOGA requires manufacturers to restore customers to the position they were in before goods became faulty, without charge.

Then again, despite the huge scale of this recall, this is a voluntary vehicle recall agreed by the Department of Transport, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the carmakers. In other words, there is a potential safety problem rather than an actual fault across these 3.4 million cars.

Thus, the recall is a preventative measure, designed to take reasonable precautions to prevent injury and potential liability, and undertaken under an agreed industry code of practice. In this situation, manufacturers are not liable for your out-of-pocket costs attending the recall.

On the other hand, if your car developed an actual problem within a certain time frame, then you could make a SOGA claim against the supplier, which is the dealership you bought the vehicle from. Any consequential losses, such as transporting your car back to the dealership for repair, could be reclaimed from the dealer in these particular circumstances.

Likewise, if you don’t respond to this recall and later suffer injury caused by a faulty airbag, then this could reduce or prejudice any future liability claim you make against the supplier and/or manufacturer.

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