Honda Recall Grows to 440,000 Accord, Civic, Acura

As we reported last week, Japanese manufacturer Honda has discovered a potentially life-threatening fault in some of its vehicles. Due to the faulty airbags manufactured by Takata Corp, Honda already announced it will recall 300,000 MY 2001 Accord and Civic models. Over the weekend, the manufacturer issued a release announcing the recall of an additional 140,000 vehicles will be added to the recall Honda says already began in November 2008.

"An existing safety recall of the driver's airbag in certain 2001 Honda Accords and Civics due to a potential defect in the airbag's inflation system is being expanded to include more vehicles. Originally initiated in November 2008, approximately 440,000 additional vehicles are included in the expanded recall, which will require the replacement of the driver's steering-wheel-mounted airbag inflator," American Honda Motor said in the release.

The specific affected vehicles reported by Honda are the following: 2001-2002 Accords, 2001 Civics and 2002-2003 Acura TL. The company urges owners to wait to receive a recall notice by mail before going to the local dealer and make a service appointment.

To remind you, the fault which leads to this unpleasant situation concerns the driver's airbag inflator, which could "produce excessive internal pressure" and "if an affected airbag deploys, the increased internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture."

According to a report which surfaced last week, one driver was reportedly killed during an accident in which the airbag deployed. The news was confirmed by Honda, but the driver's cause of death is still under investigation, according to a company spokeswoman.

Additional information can be found by following this link.