How Bad Is the New Honda Recall?

J.K. Trotter

The Japanese automaker Honda recalled over 780,000 vehicles today, citing the propensity of the driver-side airbag to malfunction. The recall, which affects Honda Pilot manufactured since 2009 and Odyssey models manufactured since 2011, comes a little more than a month after Honda recalled 800,000 vehicles that were affected by a faulty ignition. In 2012, Honda recalled one of their models for a safety risk about once every month:

RELATED: Toyota Makes Legal Troubles Go Away for $1 Billion

  • In February, Honda recalled more than 8,000 Honda Pilots and Acura MDXs for "fuel leaks"

  • In March, Honda recalled nearly 46,000 Odyssey minivans for "problems with falling rear doors"

  • In April, Honda recalled over 554,000 various models over faulty headlights

  • In May, Honda recalled 53,000 Acura sedans for "a problem with power steering hoses"

  • In June, Honda recalled 50,000 Honda Civics for "a potential issue with the left driveshaft"

  • In July, Honda recalled over 172,000 various models for problems with their front-door latches

  • In September, Honda recalled 572,000 Accords due to an issue with the power steering hoses

  • In October, Honda recalled 268,000 vehicles due to the possibility a window switch could catch fire

  • In December, Honda recalled 870,000 vehicles "because they can roll away even though drivers have removed the keys from the ignition."

Better safe than sorry, obviously, and in context, the Toyota recalls of 2009-2011, based on accidental acceleration stemming from a floor-mat issue, led to millions of recalls that escalated quickly to additional millions and led to major changes at the automaker. Honda said it would mail notifications to Pilot owners by mid-February.