ASTON MARTIN CLIENT SERVICES

SAFETY RECALL ACTION
Reference number:

RA-01-1418

Issued: 5th October, 2020

Subject:

Incorrect Installation of the Front Seat Airbags

Model(s):

DB11, Vantage, DBS Superleggera

VIN Range:

Refer to the separately published list of Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs)

Applicable to:

All Dealers

Distribute to:

After Sales Manager
Executive Manager
Service Manager
Sales Manager

Warranty Staff
Technician(s)
Parts Staff

Attached Documents:
•

Appendix A - Table that Shows the Quantities of Affected Vehicles

•

Appendix B - Copy of the Owner Notification letter for vehicles in RA-01-1418

•

Appendix C - Copy of the Change of Keeper or Address form

Reason for this Safety Recall Action (NHTSA Reference 20V-604)
Aston Martin has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists on some DB11, Vantage and DBS
Superleggera vehicles manufactured between February 2016 and December 2019.
On the affected vehicles, it is possible the locking nuts that attach the front seat airbags to the seat are not torqued to the
correct specification.
To correct this problem, do the Workshop Procedure given in this document to examine the locking nuts, and if
necessary, make sure they are torqued correctly.
The full list of VINs for the affected vehicles are attached to this Recall Action document.

PLEASE DO A CHECK OF ALL VEHICLES THAT ARE IN THE AFFECTED VIN LIST
Legal Requirements
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended, provides that each vehicle which is subject to a recall
campaign of this type must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the owner has tendered it for repair.
Failure to repair within sixty (60) days after tender of a vehicle is prima facie evidence of failure to repair within a
reasonable time.
If the condition is not adequately repaired within a reasonable time, the owner may be entitled to an identical or
reasonable equivalent vehicle at no charge, or to a refund of the purchase price less a reasonable allowance for
depreciation.
To avoid having to provide these difficult solutions, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with
each owner and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the attached copies of the letters
that are being sent to Owners, the Owners are being instructed to contact Aston Martin Customer Service if their Dealer
does not correct the condition within three (3) days of the mutually agreed upon service date. If the condition is not
corrected within a reasonable time, they are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.

IMPORTANT: We remind you that it can be a violation of Section 30120(i) of the Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Act required under this notice if a Dealer sells or leases a vehicle that is covered by this notice
without first completing the repair.

5th October, 2020

Page 1 of 6

SAFETY RECALL ACTION

RA-01-1418

Service Reception Desk – Checks you must do before you book the vehicle in.
When you make a reservation for a Customer, please make sure that you confirm the name and contact details are
correct in Aston Martin’s records. To do this, please do the steps that follow:
Enter the vehicle’s 6-digit chassis number into DCS
(amdealers.com) and click “Validate” (refer to
Figure 1).

1.

Figure 1

2.

Make sure that the vehicle details are correct. If the current owner is correct, no action is necessary.

3.

Make sure that the Customer name is correct. If the data is correct, then no action is necessary.

4.

To update the Customer details, use the search
feature to find the customer in your Synergy
database (refer to Figure 2).

Figure 2

Note:

The Customer record and updated details must have been entered into Synergy before you try to transfer
the ownership in DCS.

5.

If the correct Customer shows, click “confirm”.

6.

If the correct Customer details do not show, click “add new”.

Before you start work
Log on to the Online Dealer Warranty (ODW) system. Do the steps that follow:
7.

Select the Warranty Live screen (Outstanding Campaigns Status).

8.

Download the VIN list from DCS and do a check of the VINs in your control.

9.

Find out if there are other open Service Actions (SAs) or Recall Actions (RAs) for the vehicles in the list.

10.

List the SAs and RAs and plan the work so that the Owner only needs to come to your Dealership once.

5th October, 2020

Page 2 of 6

SAFETY RECALL ACTION

RA-01-1418

Workshop Procedure
This workshop procedure has two parts:
•

Part A: Inspection

•

Part B: Torque the Locking Nuts to the Correct Specification

Part A: Inspection
Note: Part A must be completed for both left and right side seats.
1.

Operate the seat to its fully forward position (refer to
Figure 3).

Figure 3

2.

Pull the release handle to tilt the seat to its fully
forward position (refer to Figure 4).

Figure 4

3.

Use an endoscope on the underside of the seat to
examine the two locking nuts for the seat airbag (refer
to Figure 5).

Figure 5

5th October, 2020

Page 3 of 6

SAFETY RECALL ACTION
4.

RA-01-1418

This image shows two locking nuts that are incorrectly
installed (Figure 6).

Figure 6
5.

The lower fixing that clamps the ground eyelet must
show a minimum of 4 visible threads. The upper
fixing must show a minimum of 5 threads (refer to
Figure 7).
Note: This image shows two locking nuts that are
correctly installed with the ground eyelet correctly
aligned.

Figure 7

6.

If any of the locking nuts are not installed correctly go to Part B: Torque the Locking Nuts to the Correct
Specification.

5th October, 2020

Page 4 of 6

SAFETY RECALL ACTION

RA-01-1418

Part B: Torque the Locking Nuts to the Correct Specification
1.

Remove the seat assembly from the vehicle (refer to Workshop Manual Procedures 01.10.AA for the left side seat
and 01.10.AB for the right side seat).

2.

Remove the seat back shell from the seat (refer to Workshop Manual Procedures 01.10.DU for the left side seat
and 01.10.DR for the right side seat).

Note:

Carefully release the clips that attach the seat back cover to the front seat. The clips can be lost in the seat.

WARNING:

IF A LOCKING NUT IS MISSING, INSTALL A NEW LOCKING NUT WITH THE PART NUMBER
GIVEN IN THE PART DATA. IF YOU DO NOT USE THE CORRECT PART, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE
AIRBAG WILL NOT BE ATTACHED CORRECTLY IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT AND NOT
DEPLOY CORRECTLY.

3.

Torque the two locking nuts that attach the seat airbag to the seat to 5.5 Nm. Align the ground eyelet to the
bracket.

4.

Install the seat back shell to the seat (refer to Workshop Manual Procedures 01.10.DU for the left side seat and
01.10.DR for the right side seat).

5.

Install the seat assembly to the vehicle (refer to Workshop Manual Procedures 01.10.AA for the left side seat and
01.10.AB for the right side seat).

Note:

New clips and fixings used to complete this procedure can be claimed for in the Warranty claim form.

Warranty Data
Make sure that you submit your claim in less than 24 hours after the work is completed. The records of your claims are
used in the reporting process for the Recall Action that Aston Martin need to submit to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration.
Note:

You must send a photograph of incorrectly or correctly installed locking nuts with your claim.
Save the photos as “jpeg - (6 Digit Chassis No) - RH” or “jpeg - (6 Digit Chassis No) - LH”
Use the same format in the title of an email and send it to [email protected]
Please be aware that Warranty claims may be charged back if a photograph is not received.

5th October, 2020

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SAFETY RECALL ACTION

RA-01-1418

Procedure and Labour Time
Tier A:
Description

Labour Time

Inspect both seats only

0.5

Tier B:
Description

Labour Time

Inspect both seats, torque the Locking Nuts for the airbag in one seat

1.5

Tier C:
Description

Labour Time

Inspect both seats, torque the Locking Nuts for the airbag in two seats

2.5

Part Data
Description

Part Number

Quantity

M6 Lock Nut

703164

2 (Per seat)

Appendix A - Table that Shows the Quantities of Affected Vehicles in the US Market

Model

Registered &
AMLNA Fleet
(RA-01-1418)

Port & Dealer Not
Registered
(QN-01-1418)

Build Range
(MM/YY)

DB11

14

0

02/16 to 08/18

Vantage

4

1

08/18 to 12/19

DBS Superleggera

2

0

10/18 to 10/19

TOTAL

20

1

Please Note:
When you have completed this Safety Recall Action, make sure that you make an entry in Section A of the Vehicle
Owner’s Guide to show that the procedure is completed.

If you have any questions related to this document, please refer to the 'Contact Us' link on this webpage,
or contact your local Dealer or After Sales Manager.
The English version of this document is written in
Simplified Technical English to ASD-STE100™.

5th October, 2020

Page 6 of 6

Appendix B - Copy of the Customer Letter for Vehicles in RA-01-1418

[Date DD Month, YYYY]
[Customer Name]
[Customer Address 1]
[Customer Address 2]
[Customer City/County]
[Customer Country]

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL NOTICE
NHTSA Recall 20V-604
This notice applies to your vehicle: [INSERT VIN]
Dear [Customer]

Safety Recall Action RA-01-1418 – Incorrect Installation of the Front Seat
Airbags
REASON FOR THIS RECALL ACTION

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and
Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
Aston Martin has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain
vehicles that were manufactured from February 2016 through December 2019.
On the affected vehicles, it is possible that the front seat airbag fasteners may not be
tightened to the correct torque specification.
This defect may cause the airbag to not deploy correctly, increasing the risk of injury during a
crash.
The models affected are:
•

2016 - 2018 DB11 (Coupe and Volante)

•

2018 - 2019 DBS Superleggera (Coupe and Volante)

•

2018 - 2019 Vantage (Coupe)

WHAT WE WILL DO

We will examine the front seat airbag fasteners and, retighten them if necessary to make sure
that the airbag is secured correctly. This will be performed free of charge.

RA-01-1418 Customer Letter _FED NHTSA_Copy

Page 1 of 2

Appendix B - Copy of the Customer Letter for Vehicles in RA-01-1418

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

Please contact your Aston Martin dealer as soon as possible to arrange a date for the repair.
They will be able to fully explain why this Recall Action is necessary. Instructions for making
this correction have been sent to your dealer. The labour time necessary to complete this
service correction is a maximum of 2.5 hours. Please ask your dealer if you wish to know how
much additional time will be needed to schedule and process your vehicle.
Your Aston Martin dealer is best equipped to obtain parts and provide the service to make sure
that your vehicle is corrected as promptly as possible. If, however you take your vehicle to your
dealer on the agreed service date and they do not remedy this condition on that date, or within
three days, we recommend that you contact Aston Martin Customer Service by calling 1-866278-6661.
If after contacting your dealer and Aston Martin Customer Services, you are still not able to
have the safety defect remedied without charge and within a reasonable time, you may wish
to write to the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590 or call 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153) or go to
http://www.safercar.gov.

IF YOU NO LONGER OWN THE VEHICLE

If you have sold or traded your vehicle, please tell us by completing the enclosed Change of
Keeper form and returning it to us.
Federal regulations require that any lessor receiving this recall notice must forward a copy of
this notice to the lessee within ten days.
We are sorry to cause inconvenience with this Recall Action. However, this action has been
taken in the interest of your safety and continued satisfaction with our products.
Yours sincerely

[Dealer's Representative]
[Representative's Job Title]
[Dealer Name]

RA-01-1418 Customer Letter _FED NHTSA_Copy

Page 2 of 2

Appendix C - Copy of the Change of Ownership Form for Vehicles in RA-01-1418

Recall Action RA-01-1418
Models:

DB11, DBS Superleggera, Vantage

Subject:

Incorrect Installation of the Front Seat Airbags

CHANGE OF KEEPER OR ADDRESS
VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER
(VIN)
S C

REGISTRATION NUMBER
(where known)

F

Please tick the applicable box:
I do not own/operate this vehicle now. The vehicle has been:
Stolen

(1)

Scrapped

(2)

Sold or Transferred to a new owner

(3)

Part exchanged at an Aston Martin Lagonda Dealer

(4)

Part exchanged at a non-Aston Martin Lagonda Dealer

(5)

Declared an insurance total-loss

(6)

Permanently exported to another country

(7)

Returned to a lease company

(8)

Sold at auction

(9)

The address you have used is incorrect

(10)

If you have ticked a box from (3) to (10), please record the latest known keeper information below:
Business Name
Title
First Name
Last Name
Address Line 1
Address Line 2
Town
County
Postal/Zip Code
Country

Signature:

Date:

Please return this form by mail to: Client Services, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd, Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwick,
CV35 0DB, England. Or, if you prefer, you can scan and email it to [email protected].

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION
RA-01-1418 - Change of Ownership Form_FED_Copy