Re: Governments new position on vehicle Safety Related Recalls.
As you may or may not be aware, the NZ Government has decided to take a firm position on the number of outstanding vehicle Recalls in relation to faulty Takata airbags making it compulsory to have the Recall rework carried out.
For vehicles already here and still subject to Recall, vehicle owners will have been contacted – some by up to 4 times already by the manufacturers agents. Many vehicle owners appear to not have acted on these notifications and remain at risk of incurring injury should the faulty airbag deploy.
It is due to this that NZTA are considering issuing a further notice to these vehicle owners and should this not be successful, prevent such vehicles from being able to be issued with a WoF until the Recall has been addressed.
We understand that vehicle manufacturers agents here in NZ will carry out Recall remediation on vehicles of their brand free of charge to vehicles owners at a time suitable which may be dependent on replacement parts availability.
Vehicle owners of the cars affected should deal directly with a manufacturers owned or franchised repairer to organise this.
VERY INPORTANT INFORMATION FOR IMPORTERS:
This Government action has also resulted in a determination that Vehicles which are fresh imports, must have had any Safety Related Recall remediation completed prior to importation.Vehicles arriving in NZ on or after May 31st, which still have Recall of Concern still outstanding will be deemed Prohibited Imports and face NZ Customs seizure.
Currently, Industry, VIA, MIA, and Government Officials from MBIE, NZTA and NZ Customs are working on the processes that will enable all parties concerned to be able to comply. This is not an easy issue to address (as preliminary discussions have identified).
Our advice to importers at this time is to talk with their vehicle suppliers and instruct them that ALL vehicles supplied should be checked for Takata airbag Recalls. Any vehicles subject to Recall and which have not been addressed, should be repaired by the appropriate manufacturer’s repairer, and they provide official Recall rework documentation prior to booking for export shipping.
Please note that while Autohub will do its best to help and guide and inform Exporters and Importers as to what is needed, we must be clear that Autohub identifies itself of any responsibility of ensuring a vehicle will not be the subject of NZ Customs seizure as a “Prohibited Import”.
Should we be instructed to ship a vehicle (by either exporter or importer), we will comply, so please ensure the full and correct checks are done first.
We hope to be able to update you with more details as they come to hand.
If you wish to discuss further, please contact us via customerservices@autohub.co.nz.