Recall: 870,000 Honda models for rolling away
The 2003-2004 Odyssey and Pilot, as well as the 2003-2006 Acura MDX, are affected by the automaker's chronic problem.
Honda is recalling 870,000 vehicles for faulty ignition interlocks that can let them roll away unexpectedly when parked, Honda said today in a statement.About 807,000 vehicles are affected in the U.S., including the 2003-2004 Honda Odyssey and Honda Pilot, and the 2003-2006 Acura MDX. Honda says the ignition mechanism can become "damaged or worn during use" and allow a driver to remove the key even when the transmission is not set in "park."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had opened an investigation in October after receiving 43 complaints from Odyssey and Pilot owners. More than half of the complaints involved stories of a runaway vehicle, including one in which a 2003 Odyssey ran over its owner's leg as she was attempting to stop it from rolling into a crowded street. Honda says it is aware of two related injuries.
Dealers will begin repairs starting in February. Affected owners can visit the official recall websites (www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com) or call the company at 1-800-999-1009.
Ignition interlock failures have been a chronic problem for Honda; more than 1.4 million other vehicles have been recalled since 2003. In that year, Honda recalled more than 563,000 vehicles, including the first-generation 1999 Odyssey, for interlock failures. The same problem resurfaced in a 2005 recall of more than 483,000 Accords, Preludes and Acura TLs. In 2010, Honda recalled more than 384,000 Accords, Civics and Elements from the 2003 and 2004 model years, again for the same problem. NHTSA collected reports of 18 alleged crashes and one injury due to 2010 recall.
Other vehicles have also posed a risk for rolling away. In October, BMW recalled the previous-generation 7-Series for a software problem that would select neutral when the car was shut off. NHTSA has also been investigating the 2002-2005 Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers since 2009, citing 12 alleged crashes due to the vehicles rolling away while parked. The investigation is ongoing.
[Source: Honda, NHTSA, Detroit News]
You ever notice whenever Honda or Toyota have a recall its news..? The big 3 its so common place nobody even bothers. Good olGM has one daily. Goverment Motors theres a car company to be proud of, taxpayers are now on the hook for all that rapidly falling GM stock. Who owns Dodge now Fiat...? The funny thing is the big 3 are owned by a foriegn company or are exporting jobs to Mexico and Canada. The Japanese companies are bringing good non union jobs into the country. The only other weird thing about that is that once the Japanese started having their brands built here by us, is when they started having quality control issues. I will still support Japanese car brands. For a couple reasons as a Marine I lived in Japan for a year and saw a amazing hard working non entitlement society. They had great pride in ANY job they did and great respect for one another and their elders. The 2nd reason is no liberal supporting UAW. The UAW had a beef with US Marines awhile back and said the Marines who drove imports were unpatriotic. Go ahead and google it. Sorry but a import driving Marine is way more patriotic dodging bullets then some guy building shoddy cars and selling them to other hard working Americans and getting paid a premium wage and benifits for doing so.
The part can become damaged or worn during use? No kidding. How many times is an ignition used in a day? 3? 20? These vehicles are 6 to 9 years old. Of course, we all expect parts like this to last a lot longer than 9 years.
Now, maybe they really do have issues with this since they have had other recalls. Then they need to take a good hard look into their quality department or engineering department as quality inspects to what the engineers design. If the parts match the drawings from the engineers, it passes.
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