This recall involves the recall of 310,773 Honda Pilot SUVs from model year 2009 through 2011, because of a defect in the safety belts. Specifically, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the stitching that holds the front lap belts together may be either incomplete or missing. Either of these things could cause the belt to become detached, which could be extraordinarily dangerous if the vehicle was to crash.

The recall will begin around the 3rd of October, and will involve dealer-performed inspection of the seat belts in question, and replacing them if necessary.

Owners of Honda Pilots from the affected model years can call either the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at (888) 327-4236 or Honda at (800) 999-1009.

The recall was prompted by an incident in Minnesota last month, where a white Cruze LT lost its steering wheel while traveling with prevailing traffic on a local highway. Fortunately, the driver was able to get the car off the road without hitting anything or anyone, and there were no injuries, but the wheel did become completely separated from the steering column.

A spokesperson for GM said that this is an isolated issue, but has issued the recall anyway. The cars in question will be examined to make sure the steering wheels are properly attached. While there have been no other reports of this issue, GM does warn that if the steering wheel feels loose on the column, it is a cause for concern.

This recall is limited to Chevy Cruzes that were produced in GM’s Lordstown, OH, plant, and meant for the North American market.

Recent Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac SRX vehicles have been recalled by General Motors Co. due to a software issue that could make it impossible for the driver to adjust the air conditioning, heating, and ventilation system in the vehicle.

According to GM, just under 1100 vehicles for the 2011 model year are affected by the recall, which may also prevent the defrost system from clearing the windshield.

In a notice from GM to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, issued earlier this morning, the automaker said that these vehicles fail to comply with federal standards for windshield defrosting and defogging.

Am I the only one thinking maybe we should go back to bikes?

The vehicles affected by this recall were manufactured between April 8, 2008 and February 8, 2010, and produced by the Mazda/Ford Motor Co. joint venture plant known as Auto Alliance in Flat Rock, MI.

Mazda Motor Corp. is recalling 52,000 2009-2010 Mazda6 vehicles over concerns that spider webs in the emissions system could lead to fuel tank cracks and possible leaks.

According to reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there is a certain type of spider that may weave a web that restricts a vent line within the emissions system. This could cause an increase of pressure inside the fuel tank, and lead to cracks, fuel leaks, and an increased of fire.

Mazda says the plan is to install a spring to prevent this kind of spider from entering the vent line.

This recall was sparked by the results of a joint study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA, which concluded that there was no electronic malfunction responsible for the unintended acceleration issues experienced over the last two years. The recall begun this morning addresses the same floor mat interference flaw that was involved in past recalls, and extends to include two new modifications of floor mats, carpeting, and connectors.

Three models, adding up to 1.4 million vehicles, are being added to the November 2009 recall for entrapped pedals. The solutions for that recall originally included a reinforced shim, and reshaping the gas pedal. Toyota is not stating how the problem will be rectified in new models, but said that it will send out a preliminary notice “in the near future.”

The affected vehicles include:
– 2008-11 Lexus LX 570: 17,000 vehicles
– 2010 Toyota RAV4: 761,000 vehicles
– 2003-09 Toyota 4Runner: 603,000 vehicles

There are also new recalls, including one that will replace the retention clips and floor mat in Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX SUVs. If the clips are mis-installed, the mat can slide under the accelerator pedal and cause problems with operation. Toyota doesn’t have a specific time frame for a solution, other than “in the near future.” The models under this recall include:
– 2006-07 Lexus RX 330, RX 350, RX 400h: 372,000 vehicles
– 2004-06 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid: 397,000 vehicles

There is also a recall for the 2006-07 Lexus GS 300 and 350 with all-wheel drive. These models have a floor mat that has a plastic pad. If the mat is incorrectly replaced, the padding can become trapped under the accelerator pedal. Toyota is planning to change the shape of this pad as part of the recall, and will notify owners early next month.

If you’re concerned that your car has immediate issues, contact Toyota at www.toyota.com/recall or www.lexus.com/recall or Toyota customer service at 800-331-4331 or Lexus customer service at 800-255-3987.

Toyota Motor Corp is having recall issues again. The Japanese automaker has announced it will be recalling more than 1.7 million vehicles around the world, bringing it’s total number of recalled unites to almost 16 million since late 2009. So much for attempts to improve quality.

The current situation is, at least, different from last year, when the carmaker came under the microscope of U.S. safety regulators because of unintended acceleration issues that were said to cause dozens of fatalities. Even so, a new recall will make it more difficult for the troubled Toyota to convince its investors to stay on board.

After the announcement, shares of Toyota – currently the top car company in the world – extended early declines and closed down nearly two percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management told reporters, “Toyota faces harsh competition from Honda, which is in a much better situation in the U.S. market — this is reflected in its stock price which now stands at multi-year highs. ” He added, “That’s why investors are a little nervous and sold Toyota when this negative news came out.”

In 2010, Toyota was the only major automaker to show a decline in sales in the United States, and it barely held onto it’s top spot in global sales ranking, edging out General Motors.

The biggest recall among those announced this morning was to fix a faulty fuel pump and connecting pipe in 1.34 million vehicles including 141,000 Avensis units sold outside Japan, and the Noah minivan among other models sold in the company’s home-country. This recall is Toyota’s largest in six years, and the second-largest ever for a single defect, according to Toyota spokesperson Shiori Hashimoto.

Because of trouble with a fuel pressure sensor connected to an engine fuel delivery pipe, the automaker is also recalling about 335,000 Lexus vehicles sold overseas, including 245,000 which were sold in the United States, and around 75,000 Crown models and 6,200 Townace vans in Japan to fix the same fault.

In a filing to Japan’s transport ministry, Toyota said no accidents had been reported because of these defects.

Ms. Hashimoto did not share how much the latest recalls would cost Toyota.

These fines, in addition to a levy of $16.4 million that was already paid to settle a similar analysis of the car maker, and makes the total that Toyota has agreed to pay in civil penalties this year up to $48.8 million.

One of the investigations settled on Monday involved the 2007 floor-mat recall to address unplanned acceleration caused by pedals getting caught, and ther other involved a 2004-2005 recall of light trucks for alleged steering control loss. Toyota agreed to pay the fines, but did not actually admit to any violation of its federal safety obligations.

In a statement to the press, Steve St. Angelo, Toyota’s Chief Quality Officer for North America, said, “Toyota is pleased to have resolved these legacy issues related to the timeliness of prior recalls dating back to 2005. As we have demonstrated in recent months, our North American operations now have a greater voice in making safety decisions, and we are taking appropriate action whenever any issues emerge.”

Toyota is still subject to additional investigations and fines from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The company could also face a fine in a probe of whether the unintended acceleration defects was viewed to narrowly in four recalls between 2007 and January 2010. That investigation was begun last February, and is looking – in part – at how electronic interference as a possible cause of acceleration was treated by the carmaker.

Toyota maintains that all the cases of unintended acceleration stem from either sticky gas pedals or mat entrapment. Its tests have eliminated electronic interference as a possible cause, the company said.

Since November, 2009, 15.5 million Toyotas worldwide have been recalled, most of them for acceleration issues.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement to the press, “I am pleased that Toyota agreed to pay the maximum possible penalty and I expect Toyota to work cooperatively in the future to ensure consumer safety.”

Evidently, the automaker, which has been besieged by troubles with its hybrids this year, is taking extra measures to maintain the quality and safety reputation of its hybrid models, which makes sense since it’s preparing to increase the number of such models on the market to a whopping 11 by the year 2012. While there has been no safety recall for this problem, and the company has not received any reports of injuries or accidents due to pump-related problems, it is concerned that, if left unaddressed, the hybrid components of the Prius could overheat, triggering a warning light, and possibly causing a reduction in engine power.

According to Toyota, Prius owners in the United States will be notified of the repair campaign early this month. Priuses from model year 2008 and later use a different pump design, as do other Toyota hybrids, and are not affected by the defect.

10 percent of its cars, or nearly a million units, will be hybrid vehicles by the year 2015, Toyota says, basing this number on projected sales. Though the automaker does plan to release some all-electric models in limited numbers, its green-tech plans are still hybrid-centric. Data from J.D. Power would seem to support this plan, as it predicts that hybrids will outsell electric cars by a factor of three by 2015.

Is Toyota poised to take advantage of such a buying trend? J. D. Powers’ Michael Omotoso says, “Toyota is the worldwide leader in hybrids right now. It wants to maintain that position.”

The recall is limited to Elements that rolled off the assembly line between April 1 and June 25, 2010, and is related to a cable meant to connect the shift lever and transmission. During production, the cable was not correctly attached to the shift lever bracket. Because of this, the gear shift may not function as it’s supposed to, including potentially leaving motorists unable to shift gears.

The issue may also cause the ignition key to become stuck, making it impossible for Honda Element owners to lock their cars if they need to leave the vehicles to get help.

Honda has begun making some repairs, but will expand the recall by sending notices to all affected owners by next week.

First, Subaru has issued a recall of more than 800 of the 2010-2011 Outback and Legacy models with six-speed manual transmissions.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall was triggered by a manufacturing error. Apparently some of the manual transmissions on the affected models are missing a lubrication hole in the transfer case. Without proper lubrication of the gears, eventually, breakage will occur, which will lead to power loss, and even cause the car to crash. The recall affects models built between April 28th and June 23rd.

Beginning August 6th, Subaru dealers and owners can get their vehicles repaired. Either the dealer will drill the lubrication hole, or certain gears will be replaced at no charge.

For more information, Subaru can be contacted toll-free at 800-782-2783.

BMW has also issued a recall, for roughly 6,100 2010 and 2011 5 Series Grand Turismos, in this case for a fuel sensor that may be faulty. The sensor has a lever that may become wedged against the fuel tank, resulting in incorrect fuel readings on the instrument cluster.

Specifically, the fuel gauge in the dashboard could display a greater amount of fuel than is actually in the tank. An empty tank could result in the vehicle stalling, or increase the likelihood of an accident.

Affected vehicles were built between January 12th and July 1st.

No fix or notification date has been provided to the NHTSA, but BMW can be contacted by phone at 800-525-7417.

The NHTSA also has a general hotline for recall information: 888-327-4236.