Photo: Toyota
As if on cue, two large Japanese carmakers, Toyota and Honda, announced at about the same time this week they are recalling millions of cars sold over the past few years in the U.S. With over 5 million cars affected, there are slim chances many owners of the two brands will not be affected.
Let’s start with Toyota. The Japanese giant said some 3.4 million of its cars – 2.9 million of which in the U.S. - are to be recalled because of a possibly defective electronic control unit (ECU) that governs the deployment of airbags and seat belt pretensioners during a collission.
In Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Avalon, and Avalon HV vehicles produced between 2010 and 2019, this ECU might get confused by “certain noises” that can interfere with it, and that in turn could lead to “incomplete or non-deployment“ of the said safety features.
Needless to say, should such an event occur, there's incredible danger posed to the passengers.
And equally at risk are drivers of some Honda vehicles.
In Honda’s case, the recall is somewhat linked to the now legendary Takata debacle of years ago. This time, it seems some 2.7 million cars, mostly Acura branded and sold between 1996 and 2003 – 2.4 million in the U.S. alone – are still fitted with the infamous defective Takata inflators.
Both carmakers say they’ll notify owners of the affected vehicles in the coming months and schedule an appointment with the dealer for the problems to be fixed.
Honda however warns that in its case, repairs might take a very long time because of the lack of spare parts. This shortage was in turn caused by the sheer size of the Takata recalls, which involved over the years tens of millions of vehicles.
If you need addition info on whether you car is affected, you can visit both Toyota’s (here) and Honda’s (here) dedicated recall pages.
In Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Avalon, and Avalon HV vehicles produced between 2010 and 2019, this ECU might get confused by “certain noises” that can interfere with it, and that in turn could lead to “incomplete or non-deployment“ of the said safety features.
Needless to say, should such an event occur, there's incredible danger posed to the passengers.
And equally at risk are drivers of some Honda vehicles.
In Honda’s case, the recall is somewhat linked to the now legendary Takata debacle of years ago. This time, it seems some 2.7 million cars, mostly Acura branded and sold between 1996 and 2003 – 2.4 million in the U.S. alone – are still fitted with the infamous defective Takata inflators.
Both carmakers say they’ll notify owners of the affected vehicles in the coming months and schedule an appointment with the dealer for the problems to be fixed.
Honda however warns that in its case, repairs might take a very long time because of the lack of spare parts. This shortage was in turn caused by the sheer size of the Takata recalls, which involved over the years tens of millions of vehicles.
If you need addition info on whether you car is affected, you can visit both Toyota’s (here) and Honda’s (here) dedicated recall pages.
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