According to Dow Jones Newswire, Honda “announced a voluntary worldwide recall of 646,000 compact cars so that it can examine window switches that can overheat if exposed to liquid.”
From the official statement:
“Under some severe operating conditions, water, rain, or other liquid may enter the driver’s window and reach the master power window switch, resulting in impaired function of the switch. If the master power window switch is damaged as a result of the liquid intrusion, it may result in failure of the switch and overheating.”
“An overheating switch may cause smoke, melting or, potentially, fire.”
The recall affects models built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and India. Of the vehicles being recalled, 171,372 are in the U.K., where the model is known as the Jazz, 141,140 are in the U.S. and 229,000 are in Latin America.
About 10 percent of the (Un)Fit cars will need replacement switches, most will get waterproof skirts to prevent water from seeping in.
Did anybody say “when it rains, it pours?”
Ha! I missed participating in the Toyota recall, but this one might get me.
This means, of course, that my Fit has seen two recalls** this year! Oh no, now I must think it, and everything Honda makes, is of horrible quality!
** (the last one was for adding a little more tape around a wire that, if uninsulated, would, possibly, result in one side airbag not going off.)
No! No! No!
What happened to TTAC policy of no reporting on recalls? It’s bad enough there was the mass hysteria of Toyota’s, now this?!
Totally unacceptable.
The recall isn’t whats significant, it’s the fact that all of a sudden Honda is going to find itself attached to toyota mania, for a recall that is simple for a defect that happens to all at one point or another.
People will just see “Honda Recall” on CNN or MSNBC and won’t bother to click through and read.
It’s pertinent.
My Japanese wife walked in, looked over my shoulder while I typed the story, and said: “What’s happening to the Japanese car industry?”
O course it’s pertinent. And I believe some of the recent articles have a pretty good insight as to what went on and/or is going on.
Interestingly your articles says Honda is including Brazil. Humm, at least this shows a greater amount of respect for the consumer than Toyota, which has solemnly ignored any recalls in Brazil. Nothing on the sludge issues (Corollas come down here w/ the same 1.8L engine as in the US, I guess), unintended acceleration/floormat/accelerator issues and on it goes. When will the Brazilian governing bodies get a hint?
As a side note, I mentioned Toyota’s problems in the US at work yesterday and most gave a wide-eyed empty response like they don’t believe this can happen to Toyota. Humm some new perceptions might be coming down to Brazil, too.
Nothing on the sludge issues (Corollas come down here w/ the same 1.8L engine as in the US, I guess),
The 1.8L was never part of the sludge recall and never exhibited the same problems. In the US and Canada, only the 2.2L I4 and 3.0L V6 were affected.
Oooooppppsss! Thanks for the clarification psarhjinian
Heavens. The Japanese don’t make ’em like they used to…
These recalls are ridiculous. My Fit has almost 100k on the clock and runs like a top.
Honda can issue this sizable recall in the wake of Toyota’s and possibly go relatively un-noticed by the media.
These recalls are ridiculous. My Fit has almost 100k on the clock and runs like a top.
Exactly. Contrary to what some posters (and editors, both here and elsewhere) think, consumers don’t care about a recall for something that they haven’t experienced and isn’t costing them money.
I swore I wouldn’t say this again, but hey: remember the GM plastic intake manifold issue? How about the one for Honda’s V6/5ATs from 00-04? Oh wait, there weren’t any recalls for those, and yet those are the issues that consumers remember, not some abstract about a window switch that might catch fire if it gets wet frequently.
My coffee grinder was recalled three times for various issues. It still grinds coffee better than the one I had before it, which was never recalled but broke after two years and didn’t work well for the first. Guess which one I prefer?
Maybe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
Now that Toyota’s doing recalls . . . other manufacturers can realize that fixing things before they go wrong is GOOD for their customers *shock*
Bring it to the dealer for an oil change, they fix something before it breaks . . . for free! We all (do we?) know that nothing is perfect . . . if you know something may go wrong, do something about it before it IS news.
The Toyota story has been receiving huge play around here – it was the lead story on the 11-o’clock news last night. And we don’t even have any automotive plants or supplier plants in this area.
Today’s paper had a front-page story about the first day of the Harrisburg Auto Show, and 90 percent of the story was devoted to the Toyota recall. People looking for a new car, current Toyota owners and Toyota dealers were interviewed.
Interestingly, ALL of the Toyota customers said that this recall did not affect their opinion of Toyota, and that they still loved their vehicles. So psharjinian is on to something…
I have to wonder how many other door-mounted switches in other cars could have the same issue.
Most vehicle fires are never root-caused. It’s cheaper for the ins cos to just pay up. If the OEMs don’t do the analysis (which was my experience with a GM that burned to the ground – they didn’t care), the cause of the fire will never be diagnosed.
TO ALL THOSE WISHING TO MAKE FUN OF THIS:
The recall is the consequence of a tragic incident in South Africa in which a two year old girl died. Her mother had left her in the car while she was unloading her shopping at home.
Read the story at
http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5331097
3 vehicles out of 646,000 (I believe that’s like one millionth of one percent) had a potential incident that could have, but not proven, been linked to faulty window switches. I’d say Honda is playing a came of CYA and rightly so, but is probably not a cause for hysteria.
Flying Silverado tailgates, frying VW seat heaters, smoking Honda window switches …
Who has NOT issued a safety recall?
Good link BMWnut. I didn’t know about this killing anyone. I did hear that there were 3 reported instances.
I guess people don’t want their cars to be death traps.
It makes me think of the recall that was served on my old 1997 Escort wagon back in 2000. The airbag sensors needed to be properly shielded because they could corrode and set off the airbag.
Interesting that all the TTAC recall pieces are all about Japanese cars. This leads me to assume these things:
1. Only Japanese cars get recalled.
2. TTAC is now reporting with a bias.
This piece is particularly silly in that none of the affected cars are in North America and the actual recall is not really serious issue.
The transport Canada website lists more than 2500 recalls for GM vehicles, for example. This is more than all other manufacturers combined, by the way. In the interests of journalistic fairness, why not report on some of them?
Mr Schmitt, I wonder if German consumers are content with driving death trap BMW cars. The obvious lack of concern for the safety of the driving public that the German management has shown in this cars is lamentable and since they lost the war they should really be more responsible!
http://www.driving.ca/safetyguide/story.html?id=31e3328a-1e20-4f4b-b18f-e2f412ff8543
Really, participation in a witch-hunt (with racial overtones, I may add)) is not very becoming.
This piece is particularly silly in that none of the affected cars are in North America and the actual recall is not really serious issue.
It actually does: NADM Fits are built in Japan, though the article isn’t explicit in saying this.
GM recalls = dog bites man story
Toyota and Honda recalls = man bites dog story
ps – Herr Schmitt is married to a Japanese lady. I don’t want to get into speculating on any bias issues. ;)
If they reported GM recalls, people would say that TTAC is biased against the American auto industry.
All the pro-Honda people who’ve been crowing about how crap Toyota are can now – eat crow.
No, I don’t own either a Honda nor a Toyota.
Canucknucklehead, it DOES involve the cars sold in the US and very probably Canada too, since all of these cars for the North American market are sourced from Honda’s Japanese facilities. None are assembled or manufactured in North America.
Man, I severely sympathize with the engineers that had to root cause this issue. I was involved in a very, very similar issue with a domestic vehicle manufacturer.
My read: “Under some severe operating conditions, water, rain, or other liquid” = some dummy at the dealer was improperly pressure washing the vehicles. And by improperly, I mean that they had the pressure washer close enough to the vehicle to start damaging the paint.
The issue was difficult to find and we had to implement the same fixes. In the case I was involved with, a mid-model trim change (which was for aesthetics, iirc) pushed a dry (non-weather proof) switch from the dry side of the door out into the door cavity, which is a wet area. The switch would pass any corporate test thrown at it… including pressure washing, as long as the pressure washer was used correctly. It was a 1% or less problem, and an ugly problem at that.
Meanwhile the masses of motorists, so fearful of dying via vehicle defect, motor along with a cell phone strapped to their vacuous heads.
Man, the main-stay japanese brands are just getting killed out there this week.
Meanwhile, in 2009, GM recalled 1.5 million cars over engine fires:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/04/14/gm-recall-engine014.html
I actually saw this one when I worked at GM.
Barely a peep from the media. But three fires from a Honda makes front page news. I just have to be careful the next time I pour a Big Gulp onto the window switches of my my (un) Fit.
Can anyone say, “Cherry Picking?”
The Fit is stop!
Not too long ago, american car recalls were considered evidence of how bad their quality was. Now the Japenese car companies are having recall issues, it’s all excuses and pardons for engineering faults. If GM or Ford had this same acceleration issue, the tone and language would have been swift and fatal. Toyota will spin this problem like they always do. They blamed human error, floor mats, now suppliers. Don’t ever question their engineering. They never make mistakes.
Read again. This is NOT about acceleration.
If you’re going to rant against import cars, at least choose the right subject.
@RoadRage- I agree with you wholeheartedly. I have posted this here before and I will again. Had this been any of the D3, this would be front page news, with news magazine TV shows leading the charge. It would be on the scroll at the bottom of HLN and Fox News, something they could both agree on.
I’m sincere when I say this, I hope that all of these issues are resolved soon. For folks without alternatives, it would be just a little unnerving to drive these cars. Collectively, we all need to demand better from these companies and be willing to show them we mean business. Or the loss of business, if they don’t shape up.
You know… if enough companies start recalling vehicles maybe people will actually test drive different cars instead of relying on mass media/fan boy perception to decide for them.
Sir, you are a nutcase. ;) Test drive cars? Indeed!
I actually think this is a GREAT time to have a recall, so long as your company’s name isn’t Toyota. Right now, the vast majority of the attention is aimed at them, you could do all kinds of things and most of the media wouldn’t notice.
Well, probably.
Geo – agreed. This is just the right time to come clean on everything in your closet. The Toyota problem will shield them from too much blowback.
Road – I’m not sure Toyota is getting a pass on this. Toyota is getting battered right now. That said, Toyota and Honda have reputations they can damage for a reason….they generally build a reliable and quality product. On the contrary, most of the American built vehicles I’ve owned have sadly been pretty poor in that regard. It’s a shame.
Guy – You are correct, Toyota is not getting a pass in the press. The point I was trying to make was toyota is no different then GM, Chrysler, or Ford when it comes to recalls and other automotive issue. It just really bothers me how Honda, Toyota and the rest of the transplant customers used recalls as a measure of quality to dis american manufactures. Now that the light is on them, all I hear are excuses. Granted, it’s not coming from the press, however their customers seem as if there isn’t a pattern here. The Toyota and Honda today isn’t the car company people knew a decade ago. Their quality isn’t the same and every other auto maker has now made quality their job one. Toyota and Honda still have strong mind and market share. But now there is a large crack in their armor and I hope that americans see these companies for what they really are; profit driven companies who can no longer hide behind exchange rates.
Guy, I can’t speak for the american cars you’ve owned and how they were maintained, but I have a 2003 Ford Focus in my garage with 178K miles on it. This car has never seen a check engine light, it doesn’t burn oil, it has no rattles and it runs quiet as a mouse. Go Figure! By the way, I bought the car brand new. We also own a 2004 Malibu Maxx that also has been almost flawless all these years. Now I will admit this car has some electronic gremlins and the steering system sucks, but over all it has never let us down. The Ford Focus with 78k more miles, run rings around this Malibu when it comes to reliability and drivability. But I am proud to own both.