Airbag Recall Creates Backlog At Bay Area Dealerships
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- About 34-million cars need to be fixed after airbag maker Takata recalled nearly one out of every seven cars on the road, causing a major backlog at dealerships in the Bay Area and around the country.
Rick Seim is one of the lucky ones able to have the airbag on his Honda CR-V replaced after weeks of driving in fear.
"About 18-inches away from my face there is an explosive device which may or may not be there to save my life," Seim said.
Five people have already died after airbags on several different makes deployed violently, sending shrapnel flying into drivers' faces.
At Honda of Oakland, phone calls from concerned drivers won't stop.
"A thousand, easy. I mean, we have ordered over probably two or three-thousand airbags at this point that are still on back order," Ashlee Speight of Honda of Oakland said.
A dealership in San Francisco added seven extra employees to help handle the repairs, and made 70-repairs on Wednesday alone.
"We could have a whole department devoted just to the airbag recall at this point," Speight said.
Honda is offering free loaner cars to anyone waiting on a fix.