One week after Honda recalled approximately 561,000 automobiles, the manufacturer issued a new recall that affects another 200,000. Some of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers, including Honda, announced a collective recall of more than 3 million vehicles last week because of defective airbags that have been linked back to the Japan-based Takata Corporation. Honda’s most recent recall, however, involves problems with the automaker’s shift-interlock system.
The recall includes approximately 17,500 of the 2013 Acura RDX sedans, 128,000 of the 2012 and 2013 Honda CR-Vs, and 59,000 of the 2012 and 2013 Odyssey minivans, as reported by NBC News.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the recall follows an internal investigation conducted by Honda which revealed that “in sub-freezing temperatures after initial use of the vehicle’s gear-shift mechanism, it may be possible to shift the vehicle’s transmission out of the park position without pressing the brake pedal.” Due to this problem, the recalled vehicles do not conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114.
Honda spokesman Chris Martin explained that such an occurrence could result in the vehicle being shifted into drive by accident. Although the automaker has yet to receive any reports of crashes or accidents related to this issue, Martin states that “we want to make sure we take care of it.”
Honda plans to notify owners of the nearly 205,000 minivans and SUVs in the U.S. and Canada during mid-May to take their vehicle to a Honda or Acura dealer for a free repair to remedy the issue.
In 2012, Honda was second to only Toyota in the number of recalls in the U.S. With the recall of more than 800,000 Pilot and Odyssey vehicles this past January, along with Honda’s two most recent recalls, the Japanese company has issued a series of recalls involving well over a million vehicles since the beginning of the year.