A vehicle defect that could potentially endanger a child occupant has led to the recall of said vehicle.
Volkswagen announced the recall, which affects Beetle automobiles of the 2012 and 2013 model years that have leather sport seats installed within the cab. Each of the 2,471 vehicles potentially contained within the scope of the recall were produced between February and August of this year.
The Beetles in question might suffer from a defect that only presents itself when the front passenger seat becomes wet. This wetness could negatively impact the occupant control module, and as a result, there’s a chance that a child restraint unit would not be identified by the module. Therefore, the airbag would stay on despite the presence of a child in the seat. Should some type of frontal crash take place, the improper deployment of the airbag would potentially cause further harm to the child seated in that spot. The recall was thus issued to correct the matter.
There is no word on when that correction will take place, but Volvo should be in touch with owners, hopefully soon. Owners can then bring the vehicles by a dealer to obtain a free replacement control module.
Until the issue can be corrected, we beg all consumers to use caution on the road. If you avoid a crash entirely, then the risk should be limited, so drive safely and protect your child passengers from an auto accident.