Is the Acura Airbag Recall simply a marketing tool?

The majority of our service customers here at Accurate Automotive love us and hate the thought of going to the local Nashville Acura franchised dealership. Many have asked if we can perform the Acura Airbag Recall. The answer is no. All product recalls and warranty related repairs on Acura vehicles must go through an Acura franchised dealer, except in special circumstances, that are authorized by American Honda Motor Company, prior to the warranty repair or product recall being performed.

With that said, is the Acura Airbag Recall a marketing tool for American Honda Motor Company? We will not answer that question with a definitive ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.

Simply consider the facts and judge for yourself.

First point, the Acura Airbag Recall is currently a voluntary recall by American Honda Motor Company. No one is forcing American Honda to administrate this recall. The Acura Airbag Recall, is at this point, a recall that is 100% the decision of the car manufacturer.

Second point, the manufacturer of the airbag is the one paying for the recall. Their airbags are in question. They were the supplier of the airbag. If they want to keep supplying this car manufacturer’s production lines with airbags and seatbelt components,  then they are obliged to take care of this issue. The airbag supplier is the one funding the majority, if not all the costs associated with this recall.

The third point,  from a public relations view, American Honda looks great! Many of the cars that the Acura Airbag Recall covers are earlier models that are well out of warranty and manufacturer obligation. By the car manufacturer instituting a voluntary recall —  that the part manufacturer has to pay for– ends up making the car manufacturer look like a big giant hero that really cares about safety.

Finally, if you are a car manufacturer, you rely on a certain number of consumers to have brand loyalty. If you can contact a known owner of a older model of car that you built, tell them to go to their local franchised dealer to have a voluntary recall performed, that is safety related, that costs the consumer nothing and costs you nothing; then what is the chance that during the time that the Acura recall is being performed, the owner of the older car is in the showroom, shopping the new Acura line-up?

It’s a win, win situation.

Legitimate safety — The car owner wins

From a PR perspective — American Honda Motor Company wins

If a new Acura is sold to the customer waiting for the recall to be completed — The Acura dealer and American Honda Motor Company both win.