Faulty Takata airbags could explode and propel shrapnel into drivers and passengers – prompting the biggest vehicle recall in the nation’s history. 

An investigation by consumer group, Choice, found the majority of the 2.3 million cars recalled in Australia have not had their faulty airbags replaced.

Choice also found that a number of manufacturers have been replacing the airbags with the same devices as an intermediate fix.

Mr Purdey said, following the recall, the dangerous airbag had been re-fitted to his 2006 Toyota Echo.

He is now fighting the carmaker to fix the problem.

“The fact of the matter is, it's not at all satisfactory,” he said.

“It is not a safety device - it is a potentially murderous device in your car.” 

Choice’s report found more than 180 people have sustained injuries, as severe as blinding, paralysis and severed vocal chords, as a result of the airbags.

While a class action against some carmakers has commenced, Mr Purdey is calling for a public inquiry.

“There should be a Senate committee that looks at this… where carmakers appear and they have to answer to why they put the same bag back in,” he said. 

“This is the biggest recall in history –  it seems they're not up to it.” 

RACT general manager for member assist Darren Moody said the industry was taking “a reasonably sound approach to this issue when you consider the scale of the problem”.

”There are concerns in the media that manufacturers are replacing defective airbag inflators with new similar types – but age and deterioration is a risk factor in their failure,” he said.

“The manufacturer is best placed to make the technical decisions about what components can be safely used.”

Mr Moody said due to the size of the recall, there would inevitably be problems.

“There have been challenges in obtaining sufficient quantities of replacement parts along with the repair times impacting on the industry’s capacity to quickly rectify the large number of vehicles,” he said. 

“Airbag inflators can take between 30 minutes and four hours to change, depending on the make and model.

“​There will be difficulties in ensuring subsequent owners of these affected vehicles are notified plus some usual level of indifference from owners bothering to arrange repairs.”

He said owners of affected vehicles should follow the advice of the Australian manufacturer, with each taking a different approach how they manage the recall. 

Choice has provided a list of frequently asked questions regarding the recall.

Takata, a Japanese safety-parts manufacturer, has had its defective airbags installed in more than a hundred million cars worldwide. These airbags use ammonium nitrate to inflate, but the chemical compound degrades when it's exposed to moisture. In a defective Takata airbag deployment, the ammonium nitrate burns aggressively, exploding its metal canister and shooting shards of metal at the people seated in the car.

Takata "repeatedly and systematically falsified critical test data related to the safety of its products", according to a US Department of Justice ruling in January 2017. This fudging of paperwork meant the airbags – which don't meet the standards set by car manufacturers – were fitted in cars that were sold worldwide for more than a decade.

The first step is to identify if your car is affected by the recall. A list of the vehicles currently on recall is available on the Product Safety Australia website. This list of affected cars is constantly growing – during our two-month investigation, 200,000 more cars were – so it's wise to check every few months.

List of Australian vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recall.

Manufacturers have been contacting affected owners, mostly by mail. Many of the manufacturers we spoke to say it's hardest tracking down older cars – which are also the cars that are most vulnerable. This is because they change owners when sold, or end up in wrecking yards. If the car you own was purchased second hand, check if it's on the recall list by visiting the Product Safety Australia website or by directly contacting the car's manufacturer.

The cost of the recall is free and covered by the manufacturer.

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development tells CHOICE 2.3 million cars are affected by the recall of Takata airbags as of July 2017, making it the largest vehicle-related recall in Australian history. The recall first started with 4200 Honda cars in 2009, but widened to cover cars sold by different manufacturers in 2013. Since then, 850,000 cars have had replacement airbags installed.

The number of cars affected changed throughout our investigation. The number of cars repaired increased by about 250,000 and the number of cars recalled rose by a comparable 200,000 - all over the three months when we conducted our investigation.

Tests were conducted by US safety body, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in September of 2016. Out of 245,000 airbags tested, 660 deployed defectively.

The frequency of a defective deployment depends on a number of factors. Investigations concluded that the ammonium nitrate propellant deteriorates as it ages, and that this process happens quicker in climates that are hotter and more humid (characteristics not uncommon to the Australian outback). Takata claims it can take 12.5 years for the airbags to turn dangerous, while the NHTSA estimates it takes six years. These are at best a guide, as there are cases on record that have happened in as little as 2.5 years.

Choice's investigation found there are still 12,300 of these driving unrepaired on Australian roads. Owners of a Honda Accord, Accord Euro, Civic, CRV, Jazz or MDX made from 2001 to 2004 should stop driving the car immediately and contact Honda to determine if their vehicle is affected.

No. Airbags are a vital piece of safety equipment. The NHTSA estimates they saved 2,400 lives in 2014 alone. For every 400 Takata airbag deployments, one ruptures. This means the airbag functions as designed in 399 of cases.

However, these statistics relate to all Takata airbags other than early model Alpha inflators. Alpha inflators rupture in one-of-two airbag deployments, and if you drive one of the remaining 12,300 Hondas they are still installed in, it is advised you do not drive it whatsoever, unless it is to a Honda dealership for a repair.

A parts shortage, retrofitting issues and insufficient people trained to install the airbags has resulted in extended waiting periods. Most of the recall notices we've seen suggest the wait is at least six months, though many people have to wait longer.

Car companies will not offer loan cars in most cases. When they do, they are usually to people who drive cars with airbags that have a higher probability of dangerously deploying. People unhappy with the wait should lodge a complaint with their state's Fair Trading body.

Defective Takata airbags have been replaced with identical defective Takata airbags in some cases. This is being used as a temporary fix, swapping older airbags that have likely degraded with fresh iterations, in a move to lower the risk of a defective deployment. These airbags too will have to be recalled again.

Car manufacturers including Toyota, Lexus, Subaru, Mazda and BMW have confirmed they made like-for-like replacements in a fraction of cars. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles confirms Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep cars will not need to be recalled again. Most other car companies chose not to share this information when we asked.

Takata says the recall will be complete by 2020, but this is an estimate.