Slightly more than 90,000 Toyota Highlanders are being recalled for a seatbelt problem in the third row. The recalled crossovers are all 2008 models built between May of 2007 and March of this year. The stock belts could prevent secure mounting of a rear-facing child seat in the third row, and dealers will install a redesigned part on affected Highlanders. The problem with the third row belts hasn't spawned any complaints or injuries, and owners will be notified starting in June. Still, Toyota has put the brakes on Highlander sales until current stock is retrofitted and assembly lines are resupplied with the new part.
Honda has finally issued a TSB on the third gear issue that's been plaguing everything from the Civic Si to the Acura TL. According to affected owners, when the manual transmission was in third gear, it would occasionally pop into neutral and occasionally grind into place. Honda originally didn't recognize the problem and still isn't issuing a recall, but they have put out a TSB and are offering to correct the problem free of charge to owners who take their vehicle into a dealership. The documentation for Honda and Acura is now available (PDF warning) and you can hit the jump to see which vehicles are included in the TSB.
Front seat cushions are under a lot of pressure these days. It is a strenuous job, as they are tasked with determining how heavy the derrière sitting on them actually is. According to Hyundai, passenger seat sensors in the cushions of some 2006-2008 Hyundai Sonatas may not be up to the task of distinguishing between a child and an adult, so they are sending out recall notices to 394,000 Sonata owners. Weight sensors in the passenger seats of most late-model vehicles are designed to disable the passenger-side airbag when a child is riding up front. However, Hyundai told the NHTSA that an error with some of its sensors may keep the passenger airbags off when small adults are occupying the seats, as well.
Notified Sonata owners are being asked to check whether or not the airbag is activated when the seat is occupied by an adult. If their vehicle is among the estimated 1 percent of vehicles that have "confused" airbag sensors, the seat cushions will be removed and sent to the West Coast for reprogramming. Owners will receive a rental car while their cushions are in California getting reprogrammed -- and some R&R, of course.
Joint manufacturing ventures allow both automakers to share resources and platforms, but unfortunately, it also means they share problems. Such is the case with GM and Toyota, whose NUMMI plant in Fremont, California, put out 540,000 Toyota Matrixes, Corollas and 123,00 Pontiac Vibes with faulty bolts that hold in the glass on the two front doors. The 660,000 2003-2004 vehicles equipped with power windows are being recalled after 500 complaints, 36 claimed injuries and one crash (?!) were reported. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is calling for both automakers to recall the affected vehicles and replace the faulty bolts at no charge.
We've already recently covered Toyota's efforts to ease the pain of some Tacoma owners. Here's a refresher: some Tacomas from 1995 through 2000 received insufficient rustproofing and are now experiencing frame failures. In an effort to mitigate customer pain and suffering, Toyota is extending the warranty on rust-through for vehicles with frames that have not yet perforated, and will repair or repurchase Tacomas with extensive enough corrosion. It is not a recall, not even a silent one, repeat that strenuously to your reflection.
That's all old news, but we keep receiving reports of the buy-back program offering phenomenal amounts for old trucks. Many message boards are alight with tales of payouts equaling 140 - 150% of the offending Taco's value, and Toyota itself pledges to consider any buy-back candidate an "excellent condition" specimen, regardless of how horribly it's been abused. The reasoning behind these happenings is likely manifold. Upon discovery of extensive corrosion, it could be a liability to allow the driver to continue using the vehicle. Also, making people extremely happy with make-goods likely improves the odds that they'll take the short walk from service to sales and drive away with a new Toyota. The program may be costly, but if enough people jump up and exclaim "Oh, What a Feeling!" it will be a priceless goodwill coup. Thanks to all who tipped.
If you are one of the nearly half-million Americans driving a 1999-2005 Volkswagen Passat, your dealer will be expecting a visit. Every gasoline-powered Passat (the list includes the 1.8-liter I4, 2.0-liter I4, 2.8-liter V6, and 4.0-liter W8) is being recalled for a heat shield issue. Apparently, the shield near the catalytic converter on some automatic-equipped cars may be damaged, so VW wants the dealers to check them out and add additional shielding if necessary.
While it has your attention, Volkswagen has also found some faulty fuel lines on cars with the 1.8-liter turbocharged engine, and some of the all-wheel-drive equipped cars may have damaged fuel tank ventilation valves. Thankfully, no accidents or injuries have been reported from any of the problems. VW will begin notifying owners on May 30.
Anyone who's rolling in a 2007-2008 Chrysler Sebring or Dodge Avenger, take note. Chryslerberus is recalling all 181,000 of those vehicles sold during that time to fix an electrical defect that affects unused connectors on the tire pressure monitoring system. Apparently, corrosion can cause a short, and owners could experience their vehicles failing to start, stalling once underway, or some other affectations of the electrical components, including the cruise control. Formal notices are going to be sent out later this month, and dealers have been instructed to locate the problem and seal the affected circuits. Check your mailboxes, folks.
Normally, we get our recall notices directly from NHTSA, but since the fed's search section is down for maintenance, we'll rely on Kyle's tip to point us to GMInsideNews. The forum for all things General-related has posted a directive addressed to all Buick and Pontiac dealers regarding an upcoming recall issued by NTHSA that affects the 1997-2003 Buick Regal GS and the 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP fitted with the 3.8-liter supercharged V6.
Both models apparently have a problem with oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold under hard braking. If the oil makes it underneath the manifold's heat shield, it's possible that it could ignite a small flame which could spread to the spark plug covers. The engine fire normally happens five- to ten-minutes after the vehicle has been shut down, and GM is suggesting that all of the 207,542 vehicles affected shouldn't park inside garages, carports or other parking structures until the required fix is completed. The recall notices were sent out today, so we'd suspect that dealers should have the necessary parts in stock by the end of the month.
Until NHTSA's site gets back online, follow the source link below for the full directive.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received around 40 complaints from owners of the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Redline regarding the vehicle's braking performance. According to the owners, too much pedal effort is required to slow the vehicle down when the engine is cold. This may correlate with a TSB issued by General Motors back in December that advised dealers to recalibrate the braking control computer on both models. The system uses the stability control module's pump to increase hydraulic pressure when engine vacuum is low.
The investigation is in its preliminary stages, so no recall is in effect yet. However, NHTSA has one case of a crash involving one of the two models that could be attributed to the problem.
If you own a 2008 Ford F-Series truck, your Fun Friday is made less so by the news of a recall for your truck that involves its seats. Apparently, the front driver's seat on these trucks fail to comply with federal rules for seat back strength, as a weld that connects a bracket and the seat back could crack. The report didn't mention whether cracks have occurred during normal use of the seats or when they're subjected to high loads such as in an accident, though it did say no accidents or injuries had been reported due to the weak welds.
Of the 100,000+ vehicles subject to recall, 87,000 of the trucks are in the United States, while the remaining 14,000 are in Canada, and all are either F-250 or F-550 Super Duty Models.
Ford won't be sending notifications out until later this month, so F-Series owners who just can't wait can call Ford at (800) 392-3673 for more information.
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