Collision repair shops handling air bag replacement work face two developments this month tied to the same defective part. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has confirmed an 11th death linked to a banned counterfeit air bag inflator, and eBay will prohibit the sale of all air bags and air bag inflators starting Sept. 24.
Both developments trace back to a part that has reached vehicles almost entirely through post-collision repair work, according to NHTSA.
Equinox crash breaks a three-year pattern
NHTSA's air bag safety page, last updated Sept. 3, shows that 11 people have died and three others were severely injured in 14 crashes tied to inflators marked "DTN60DB." The most recent fatality occurred Aug. 27 in Dallas, in a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox, according to NHTSA's crash timeline.
Every prior death and severe injury on the agency's list occurred in a Chevrolet Malibu or Hyundai Sonata, a pattern dating to the earliest documented rupture on May 30, 2023, in Dallas, according to NHTSA's final decision on the inflators. The Equinox case is the first documented outside those two models.
In each of the 14 crashes, the vehicle's original frontal driver air bag inflator had been replaced with a DTN60DB unit, which NHTSA says was likely illegally imported into the United States. The inflators are tied to Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology Co. Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer known as DTN. DTN told NHTSA it never sold the parts for use in U.S. vehicles and suggested they could be counterfeit copies of its products, according to NHTSA.
NHTSA issued a formal ban on the import and sale of DTN60DB inflators on April 29, describing it as the agency's first vehicle equipment ban in more than two decades, according to its press release. NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison called it "the first time in 20 years that NHTSA has taken such an action" to address a defect of this kind.
eBay to prohibit all airbag sales
Separately, eBay notified sellers that airbags, airbag inflators, and steering wheel airbag covers will no longer be permitted on its marketplace by any seller starting Sept. 24, according to a company policy update. Sellers have until that date to remove existing listings before eBay takes them down. The company said the decision followed "a comprehensive review of the risks these products may pose to eBay users."
Some related parts remain listable in the United States but only through sellers who are already pre-approved: airbag control units, crash sensors, diagnostic modules and passenger sensors. Sellers outside the United States may continue listing those same parts without the pre-approval requirement.
NHTSA's investigation led to the decision
The policy change follows a federal inquiry into eBay's role in the DTN60DB matter. NHTSA issued a Special Order to eBay on Jan. 30 under investigation EA25-005, according to eBay's written response to the agency, filed with NHTSA and dated March 19. eBay's filing shows the company had required airbag sellers to hold Automotive Recyclers Association certification and active ARA membership, list the donor vehicle's VIN, and certify that listed airbags were undeployed and free of any recall. As of March 6, the company had 218 approved airbag sellers under that program.
The Automotive Recyclers Association, which built those certification standards with eBay, responded to the marketplace closure in an Aug. 26 statement. "ARA respects eBay's decision to discontinue the sale of airbags on its platform," the association said, adding that its members will now rely on in-person and over-the-counter sales permitted under state law, according to the ARA statement.
How to check for a DTN60DB inflator
NHTSA's guidance for the DTN60DB inflators has not changed with these updates. The agency recommends inspecting any vehicle that had its driver air bag deploy in a crash at any point after 2020, especially if a dealership didn't handle the repair.
A vehicle found with a DTN60DB inflator should not be driven until it is replaced with a genuine part. Suspected parts can be reported to a local Homeland Security Investigations office, an FBI field office, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, or NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236.
The update follows NHTSA's formal defect determination for the inflators in April and earlier coverage of the rising death toll in March. California regulators have separately been developing airbag sourcing rules for licensed repair shops in response to the same counterfeit airbag inflator problem.
