Lexus Recalls 7,015 IS Models Over Takata Airbags, Free Fix Takes 4.5 Hours

• Lexus Australia is recalling 7,015 IS250, IS250C, IS350 and IS F cars built between 31 August 2005 and 25 December 2012.
• The Takata passenger airbag inflators fitted in an earlier recall use a propellant that Lexus now says could still degrade over the life of the car.
• Replacement is free and takes about 4.5 hours, and Lexus says owners can keep driving while they wait.

Why a Takata Airbag That Was Already Fixed Is Being Replaced Again

If you own a Lexus IS built between 31 August 2005 and 25 December 2012, the front passenger airbag in your car is the subject of a new voluntary recall. Lexus Australia has recalled 7,015 cars across the IS250, IS250C, IS350 and IS F, and that the dealer will swap the inflator at no charge. The job takes about 4.5 hours, which is more than half a working day, and the company says the time at the dealership could run longer depending on the workshop schedule.

The twist is that these cars carry replacement Takata inflators from an earlier recall. Lexus Australia has not said which of its earlier IS recalls supplied the parts now being recalled again. The replacement units use a drying agent to slow the breakdown of the propellant inside, and Lexus now understands that the propellant could still break down as the airbag ages.

Lexus Australia says the cars are fine to drive and that it knows of no case of an airbag exploding on deployment. The company says it is acting out of an abundance of caution to fix the problem before the propellant degrades. The Takata name carries heavy history, though. The faulty inflators affected more than 100 million vehicles worldwide and claimed lives here and overseas, so a recall that reopens the question deserves a careful read.

Which Lexus IS Models Are Included

The recall covers four nameplates: the IS250, the IS250C convertible, the IS350 and the performance IS F. Production dates run from 31 August 2005 to 25 December 2012, and each model has its own VIN range. Lexus has also noted that not every VIN inside those ranges was sold locally, so a number falling inside a range does not prove your car is on the list. Only a VIN check settles the question.

Only the front passenger airbag is involved. Lexus says no other airbags in the car and no other Lexus model lines are involved.

The count of 7,015 is small next to the first wave, and the IS has a long recall trail. The June 2016 notice opened the file with 21,750 sedans and convertibles from the 2005 to 2011 build years. A January 2017 notice added 2,166 cars from 2011 and 2012, along with the LFA. January 2018 brought another 698 cars from 2013, and January 2019 brought 54 more, built between January and August 2014. The biggest later action came in August 2019, when 13,768 cars from 2005 to 2012 were recalled over replacement inflators that could lack certain ignition booster tablets, so those airbags might not inflate fully.

What Went Wrong With the First Fix

The recall notice sets out the technical case in four short passages. On the parts being replaced, it states:

“The subject vehicles are equipped with certain Takata front passenger air bag inflators as a replacement part under a prior recall which contain a desiccated, phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant,”

On what could happen as the cars age, it says:

“Continued prolonged exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling may cause the inflator to rupture during an air bag deployment due to propellant degradation.”

On the consequence of a rupture, the notice states:

“An inflator rupture may cause metal fragments to pass through the air bag and into the vehicle interior at high speed, which may result in injury or death to vehicle occupants.”

And on why Lexus is acting now, it adds:

“This recall is initiated as a proactive measure. Based on the investigation of recovered parts, no degradation of the propellant has been currently identified.”

Read together, those passages describe a precaution rather than a response to a failure. The notice says an investigation of recovered parts found no degradation, and Lexus recalled the IS anyway. The reason is the history: when supplies of new airbags ran short in the first wave of recalls, Lexus believed that adding a desiccant to the new Takata airbags would stop the propellant breaking down over the life of the airbag. The company now understands that belief was wrong.

Lexus has been blunt about long-term risk before. Its January 2019 recall notice for 54 IS vehicles warned that “the airbag is faulty and could kill or seriously injure you and other people in your vehicle when it reaches six years after its year of manufacture” and then added that “there is no immediate known risk with the airbag but there will be in the future”. The 2026 recall follows the same pattern of acting before a part has aged to the point of failure.

How This Recall Differs From the Other Takata Recalls

Australia now has more than one Takata campaign running, and the labels are easy to mix up. The Lexus IS recall is voluntary. The propellant named in the notice is PSAN, the same family covered by the compulsory Takata recall that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) monitors.

A separate federal listing covers Takata NADI 5-AT airbags. That one involves around 85,000 vehicles spread over eight brands: Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Ford, BMW and Audi, with cars made between 1996 and 2001. Those inflators were built from May 1995 to August 1999, and the federal infrastructure and transport department oversees the voluntary recalls. It says NADI 5-AT airbags differ from those in the compulsory PSAN recall, and it gives a different failure route: moisture entering the unit through inadequate sealing tape and degrading the propellant. Lexus is not among the brands on that NADI list.

The advice has also changed over time. When the ACCC published the compulsory recall for the Lexus SC430 on 30 June 2015 (recall number 2015/14795), it placed the car under a critical recall and recommended that owners stop driving it and arrange a replacement at once. Lexus offered to tow the car to the place of replacement or send a mobile technician so that owners did not have to drive it. The 2026 IS recall carries no such instruction: Lexus says customers can continue to drive their vehicles. If the situation changes, the instruction on the Lexus site and from the Customer Assistance Centre is the one to follow.

What to Do Now

Start with the VIN, the vehicle identification number for your car. Check it against the VIN list in the Lexus Australia recall notice, or ring the Lexus Customer Assistance Centre on 1800 023 009. The centre takes calls on weekdays between 9:30am and 5:30pm. Your preferred Lexus dealer can also help, and Lexus has offered a VIN look-up tool on its owners website for earlier Takata recalls.

If the car is on the list, Lexus will contact you, but there is no need to wait for the letter. Book an appointment with an authorised dealer to have the inflator replaced, free of charge. When you book, ask how long the car needs to stay. The 4.5 hour figure is the labour estimate, and Lexus has said the dealer’s work schedule can stretch that, so plan for the car to stay longer than a morning.

Buyers of a used IS should run the same check before handing over money. A seller who says the airbags were fixed years ago can be right about the earlier job and still be selling a car that falls under this recall. The Australian Automotive Dealer Association has warned that the growing number of brands is pushing lower resale values and slower repairs, so an open recall is a fair point to raise in a price negotiation. Ask for proof the new inflator has been fitted, and confirm the VIN with Lexus.

Owners with other older cars can use the federal Vehicle Recalls website to check whether a Takata NADI 5-AT airbag applies to a vehicle made between 1996 and 2001, and can subscribe there to the Vehicle Recall Alert for updates.

Recalls stack up across brands. Hyundai recalled 1,619 Elexio EVs over sudden braking this week, so check any car you own or plan to buy against the recall lists.

Want more car content? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for the best automotive news and analysis on the internet.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow us on Microsoft Start.

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar