Auto Trends

2008 Honda Odyssey, originally uploaded by carsbeus

If you own a Honda Odyssey or Element, you will want to take special notice to this post. Honda announced today that it will begin recalls for around 412,000 vehicles to repair an issue with the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) module, which is said to cause the brake pedal to gradually loses its firmness over time, until it becomes more and more difficult to make a complete stop.

The vehicles in question are about 344,000 Honda Odyssey minivans and 68,000 Elements from years 2007 through 2008. What happens, is over time air is pulled into the unit, where it gradually minimizes the effectiveness of the brake system.

In layman’s terms, what this surmounts to is a soggy brake pedal which requires greater travel to come to a complete stop. In some reports the pedal drops all the way to the floor before providing adequate stopping power. To date there have been three minor injuries reported to the Highway Safety Administration by consumers.

With Toyota still on the hot seat, Honda was quick to jump on the PR bandwagon stating, “Although not all vehicles being recalled are affected by this issue, we are recalling all possible units to assure all customers that their vehicles will perform correctly.”

While a rather small issue in terms of some of the other recalls we have seen this year, consumers are without a doubt scrutinizing any vehicles with faults, and a faulty brake pedal/VSA module is the last thing that any manufacturer would want to deal with right now.

Owners of these vehicles can expect further instruction from Honda by the end of April, 2010.

Statement by American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Regarding VSA Modulator Recall

03/16/2010 – TORRANCE, Calif.

Honda will recall approximately 344,000 Odyssey and 68,000 Element vehicles from the 2007-2008 model years in the U.S. to modify the Vehicle Stability Assist™ (VSA®) modulator. Honda has received customer complaints of brake pedals that feel “soft” or that gradually exhibit a pedal height that gets lower (closer to the floor) before the vehicle stops. In affected vehicles, this condition tends to very slowly increase over time.

Some VSA modulators were assembled in a manner that could allow air intrusion, making it possible for air to enter the modulator during the VSA self-check mode. While only a miniscule amount of air can enter the system during each check, over a period of months or years, the air will accumulate and can result in the “soft brake pedal” or “low brake pedal” condition symptoms associated with this issue. Although not all vehicles being recalled are affected by this issue, we are recalling all possible units to assure all customers that their vehicles will perform correctly.

Honda is announcing this recall to encourage all owners of these vehicles to take their vehicle to an authorized dealer as soon as they receive notification from Honda that their vehicle is affected. Notification to customers will start at the end of April.

Once owners of these vehicles receive written notification of this recall from Honda, they should contact their authorized Honda dealer to schedule an appointment for repair. When Honda identifies concerns of this nature, nothing is more important to the company than fulfilling our obligation and responsibility to alert our customers. To this end in addition to contacting customers by mail, after April 19, 2010, owners of these vehicles will be able to determine if their vehicle requires repair by going on-line or calling. Honda owners can go to www.recalls.honda.com or call (800) 999-1009, and select option 4.

Toyota Hearing, originally uploaded by Yoidore

A lot of talk has been thrown around loosely behind Toyota’s 8.5 million vehicle recall, but one thing is for certain; there is definitely going to be a fairly significant aftermath. Toyota reported an 8.7 percent decline in sales last month, proving their worst fears were becoming nightmares. Two of the newest developments in the aftermath of the Toyota recall are an “unprecedented” incentive program to win back U.S. customer loyalty, and discussions between U.S. officials to create a Federal mandate enforcing brake override systems.

Toyota Deals are Booming (March-April 5^th)
Toyota may not be the fair haired child to U.S. consumers anymore, but Toyota is most certainly pulling all the stops to win back their support. Yesterday, Toyota Motor Company announced what would appear to be one of the most aggressive incentive packages in their history.

Starting this month of March through the 5^th of April, buyers can choose between either a zero interest loan for as long as five years (60 months), or a “low cost” lease. Both incentives also carry the addition of free maintenance for the period of two years. These incentives are set to range across the Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Prius, Yaris, Venza (wagon), RAV4, Highlander, and Tundra models.

The cost of these incentives could be astronautical when you consider that subsidizing a zero percent, 60 month loan, will cost Toyota over $4,600 per vehicle with current interest rates. While this may sound bad for Toyota, it can be good for the consumer if they are in the market for a Toyota. By most calculations, the incentives offer the possibility of purchasing a new Corolla, starting at just $179/month, or a Camry for $199/month.

Yes, that’s “unprecedented”!

Brake Override Mandates in Consideration
The other interesting aftermath to come out of Toyota’s situation, is a discussion by U.S. officials, looking at the possibility of mandating brake overrides on all new vehicles. This news comes as Toyota’s unattended acceleration problem has been looked at by State Farm Insurance, who has come to the conclusion, that most of these issues began after Toyota started using computer controlled “throttle by wire” systems. In this type of arrangement, it is the job of the computer to monitor the position of the pedal and adjust speed accordingly.

The mandate will allow the “human” driver to override the “computers” decision to continue accelerating if it senses the brake pedal has been applied. In other words, the brake system will have priority over the accelerator at all times. While this solution does not inhibit the possibility of a computer control unit, malfunctioning (which Toyota denies has ever happened), the driver would at least be able to disengage acceleration with the tap of a foot.

Rounding off Toyota’s over-the-knee swaddling, Senator Jay Rockefeller, dished out his own round of spankings to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for not finding the root cause of the acceleration issue sooner. “I think NHTSA investigators would rather focus on floor mats than microchips because they understand floor mats,” said Rockefeller, inferring to their underrated engineering staff.

“Unprecedented” indeed!

Source: Left Lane News & Business Week

NISSAN ARMADA 4×4, originally uploaded by Saleh AlRashaid

As suspected, the Toyota recall catastrophe has urged a couple voluntary recalls, beginning yesterday with GM and the sum of about 1.3 million passenger vehicles that could be susceptible to a power steering failure. Today, Nissan joins the ranks with a voluntary recall of around 500,000 (worldwide) vehicles, ranging across their line of SUV, truck, and minivans.

The recall focuses around two separate issues. The first is a brake pin which is said to have the tendency to become disengaged, resulting in a loss of braking power. The second is a faulty fuel gauge, which will more than likely effect only high mileage vehicles.

Obviously, the priority will go to the brake issue, effecting some 180,000 vehicles, but Nissan plans on overlapping the fixes in the cases where certain vehicles are effected by both problems (namely the Titan, Armada, and Infinity QX56). The list of effected vehicles for the brake recall are the 2009 – 2010 Nissan Titan, Armada, Quest, and Infinity QX56.

The fuel gauge issue, effecting mostly high mileage vehicles, is said to cause the gauge to read more gas than is really in the tank. The biggest danger here is running out of gas at an inopportune moment. This fix will take up the brunt of the recalls with around 420,000 effected vehicles. These vehicles include the 2005 through 2008 Titan, Armada, Infinity QX56, Frontier, Pathfinder, and Xterra.

With Toyota hanging by the noose, Nissan was quick to blame responsibility on the manufactured parts, rather than their own design. Owners will be receiving instructions soon on how the progression of the recall will follow.

Source: Left Lane News