California Lemon Law Lawyer Blog

Honda is recalling its 2008-2009 Odyssey models due to a faulty lift gate. Chris Jensen, who follows such developments in the New York Times, reports that 46,000 Odyssey minivans may have struts supporting the power liftgates may fail.

In a document posted Wednesday on the federal safety agency’s site, Honda said a manufacturing flaw on the Odyssey EX-L and Touring models equipped with power liftgates allowed pressurized gas to escape from the struts. The condition could result “in the liftgate closing under its own power, possibly unexpectedly,” according to Honda. The recall followed an investigation initiated by the safety agency.

In 2009, the safety agency told Honda to recall recall 22,000 model year 2005 Odysseys, but Honda refused claiming ”the failure of the struts was an inconvenience, but not a safety defect."

Carfax.com just added an online means of checking for recalls on any of 30 manufacturers' cars and trucks. It is free. Before buying a used car, it be a good idea to check for recalls. Go to Carfax to check it out.

Christopher Jensen reports in the NY Times Wheels blog, about Ford having recalled 135,000 F-150 pickup trucks because the driver’s air bag may inadvertently deploy. This seems like an extensive recall, but Jensen points out that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is calling for 10 times as many vehicles to be recalled.

The agency is saying there are 1.3 million F-150s that may be affected. If recalled, it would be the largest such number in NHTSA's history of recalls.

The agency accuses Ford of “skewing” data to downplay the severity of the problem. Ford made a midmodel-year change in 2006 to the air-bag wiring assembly that contributed to the inadvertent deployments thereby implicitly conceding knowledge of the problem.

Under federal regulations, when an automaker knows of a safety defect, it must notify the agency within five working days or face civil penalties. If Ford were to concede that a safety defect existed in 2006, it could face significant fines.

A driver may lose control of the vehicle after being startled by an air-bag deployment, which NHTSA says “sounds like a gunshot.”

Ford has agreed to recall 1998 to 2003 Windstars for rear axle failures. The axles tended to break in half. The recall came after a long and tortuous campaign by The Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C. to get Ford to do the right thing. More information is on the Center's website.