Honda has announced a recall in the United States for 206 Ridgeline trucks built from 2011 through 2012. This recall is to address a possible mismatch between the Ridgeline’s spare tire and the FMVSS mandated tire information placard installed on the vehicles’ driver-side doorjambs.

Honda Ridgeline trucks sold in the United States are fitted with a compact spare tire and, in some cases, placards may incorrectly indicate that the Ridgeline came with a full-sized spare tire instead. To solve this matter, Honda will either provide Ridgeline owners with a spare that will match the information provided on the vehicle’s placard or it will install a new placard that reflects the spare tire installed by the factory. While this issue may not seem like an urgent safety hazard, the recommended cold inflation pressure for the tire may not be correctly indicated.

No crashes or injuries have been reported due to spare tire failures but Honda’s recall encourages owners of all affected Ridgelines to take their vehicles to an authorized dealer when they receive a recall notification in the mail. Recalls notifications will begin to reach Ridgeline owners by mid-February 2012. An owner could also take the initiative by contacting www.recalls.honda.com or by calling (800) 999-1009, option 4.

Kudos to BMW for owning up to its mistakes. Too often the news is full of scandals where car companies tried to cover catastrophes with foggy facts, but not the Bavarian luxury car king, no sir.

Instead, we stumbled across a recall that BMW deserves a pat on the back for, despite having to laugh a little. It’s only for six cars…

Apparently a handful of 2012 X5 xDrive35i SUV models have transmissions that can fail to engage in park, even with the shifter in the “P” mode. As a result, they can roll away. Obviously that could wreck the car, cause an accident, hit pedestrians and all sorts of other evil stuff, but we’re more fascinated with the fact that BMW is actually taking the initiative to recall them.

Expect a call from BMW soon if you own one of the six affected vehicles. You’re in for a free transmission.

Calls for a recall of the 1993 to 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee have been redoubled after the release of a new report documenting the growing list of fatalities associated with the SUV.

The report, published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has added 14 more deaths to the SUVs total, resulting from fires that occurred in rear end collisions. In total, the Jeep from that era has claimed 284 people in 198 accidents due to the vehicle catching fire, says the Center for Auto Safety (CAS).

Jeep Grand Cherokees are at an unusually high risk of catching fire during these types of crashes alleges the CAS, due to the gas tank being located behind the rear axle.

The Ford Pinto was made infamous for a similar design that resulted in fiery rear end collisions, and CAS points out in a letter to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne that at the time of its recall the number of deaths associated with that car were relatively small, totaling 28.

The rather sensational letter asks Marchionne to act on this news and says, “Your predecessor as CEO of Chrysler once said that part of his decision to install airbags at Chrysler was the prospect of St Peter at the gates of heaven asking him about airbags in cars. Just as surely, St. Peter will ask you about fuel tanks in Jeep Grand Cherokees.”

In response Chrysler says that, “…rear impacts resulting in a fire are extremely rare. Rear impacts resulting in a fire occur no more often in 1993 – 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles than in peer vehicles, and the 1993 – 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles are at no greater risk of exposure to fire in rear-end collisions than peer vehicles. Accordingly, Chrysler Group has concluded that 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles are neither defective nor do their fuel systems pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety in rear impact collisions.”

The 1993 to 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee is currently under investigation by NHTSA but no recall has been issues.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

After an extensive two-month investigation into the Chevrolet Volt’s fire related incidents, the U.S. safety regulators of the National Transportation Safety Administration have announced that the case is closed. The conclusion: the Volt’s plug-in hybrid battery pack does not pose a significant fire risk following a crash.

According to NHTSA’s statement, the organization “does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles.” GM also added that NHTSA’s decision to close the case is, “consistent with the results of our internal testing and assessment.”

Even though there are no known real-world Volt crashes that resulted to a fire, NHTSA strongly believed an investigation was important and necessary in order to “ensure the safety of the driving public with emerging [electric vehicle] technology.”

Earlier this month, GM had already taken preemptive measures, enhancing structural reinforcements surrounding the Volt’s 435 lb. lithium-ion battery pack to reduce its risk of damage. Addressing the action, GM stated that the change simply “is intended to make a safe vehicle even safer.”

[Source: Autonews]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that investigations of the Honda Accord Hybrid and the Kia Sorento have both ended.

The NHTSA first looked into Accord Hybrid models after initial investigations linked unintended acceleration to a fatal accident. After a thorough investigation, the agency found no evidence of defect within the Accord Hybrid. No safety recall has been issued for the Accord Hybrid.

A total of 18 complaints have been reported, relating to fuel spilling from the filler port of Kia Sorento models from 2003-2004. The Sorento’s fuel evaporation system has a canister filter that may clog over time. Excess pressure could build due to the clog and may cause gasoline to spill out of the filler neck. A total of 86,000 Soreno units will be repaired and Kia agreed to provide a one-time replacement of the canister filter, at no cost to the owner.

It seems this is the first major recall of the year, and it comes from the Ford Motor Company. Ford is recalling 450,426 vehicles consisting of three different models for two separate reasons which they announced all together this morning.

205,896 model year 2004-2005 Ford Freestars and Mercury Montereys are being brought in by Ford because of a weak torque converter output shaft which is at risk of failing. If this shaft is compromised the driver of the vehicle will experience a sudden loss of all drive power with no warning. This recall is expected to begin the second calendar quarter of 2012.

Along with the Minivans, 244,530 Ford Escapes are being recalled thanks to a brake master cylinder cap which is at risk of leaking brake fluid. If the brake fluid leaks it would cover the ABS module wiring harness connector which could result in corrosion of the electrical connection, and eventually melting, smoke, and fire. This recall affects model year 2001-2002 Escapes that were built between October 22, 1999,through July 19, 2002, and is expected to begin on January,23rd 2012. However Ford has also said that there may be a parts shortage for this particular cap at dealers, so while owners will be contacted soon, they may have to leave their vehicles with Ford for an extended period of time before the problem can be remedied.

Honda‘s latest addition to its airbag recall affecting older Accords, Civics, Odyssey’s, Pilots and Acuras bumps the total number of recalled vehicles to more than 3.7 million.

The issue came to light three years ago, and has already caused one death and at least a dozen injuries due to airbags in some vehicles deploying with too much force. Earlier this month we reported that Honda announced 600,000 vehicles being added to this large scale recall. This latest development will include 272,000 new vehicles.

The problem incudes 2001 and 2002 Accords, Civics and Odysseys from 2001 through 2003, CR-Vs from 2002 to 2003 and 2003 Pilots. The recall also affects 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TLs and 2003 3.2 CLs. Expect notice from Honda if you own a vehicle included in the recall.

[Source: ABC News]

2011 has been the year of the recall for General Motors. Hardly a week goes by when a new vehicle recall from GM is not making news. The latest addition to this list is the Cadillac SRX.

In particular, SRX models built in Mexico between 2010 and 2011. Roughly 20,000 vehicles are said to be affected, with the majority of these vehicles being in China and America. A smaller number of defected vehicles can be found in 20 other countries.

The problem is with the transmission shift cable causing unintended movement. Upon examination, GM has sourced the problem to an incorrect routing of the transmission shift cable through the engine bay.

The problem was triggered by a person who wrote to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration) about unintended vehicle motion when he shifted from park to drive to park again.

GM has notified the NHTSA that it will sort out this issue. No accidents or injuries have been reported due to this defect.

A recall alert has been issued out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on more than 33,800 Nissan Sentras from 2010 and 2011 model years. These Sentras may be equipped with faulty battery terminals that can cause an unexpected engine stall while the vehicle is moving.

Subsequently the flaw can also prevent the driver from restarting the engine, increasing the risk of a crash. Those with 2010-2011 Nissan Sentras equipped with the MR20 engine that were made in May 2010 and July-October 2010 are those affected by the issue. The recall problem is the result of zinc coating being applied to the battery terminal posts too thickly during the manufacturing process. As a result, a voltage drop can occur from the extra coating making it difficult to start the car or even damage the car’s engine control module.

Nissan will be contacting customers by January 23rd, 2012 and local dealerships will replace the faulty battery terminals free of charge. Concerned owners can also contact Nissan at 800-647-7261.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

An automatic transmission defect initiated a recall for 2011 Ford F-150, 2012 F-250, F-350,F-450 and F-550 pickup trucks.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the 16,091 examples of Ford trucks may suffer a problematic brake shift interlock switch. This defect may allow the transmission to shift out of park without the need of engaging the brake pedal.

NHTSA recommends this recall because this hazard could cause a driver to accidently shift the vehicle out of park, launch the truck, and increases the risk of a car accident.

Recalls will begin on December 19th. So far, no incidents have been linked to this issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Volkswagen, the parent company of Audi, has announced a recall for the 2012 Audi A6.

According to the NHTSA, the recall is directed to A6 models made between April 8 to May 26, 2011, concerning the head-curtain airbag units. Due to seams that may not have been properly stitched, the head-curtain airbags may fair to deploy during a crash, increasing the risk and severity of injury to A6 occupants.

Volkswagen will begin notifying Audi A6 owners in January and will offer a replacement curtain airbag free of charge.

Call Volkswagen at (800) 822-8987 or contact your local Audi dealer. You may also reach the NHTS at (888) 327-4236, recall reference #11V580000, for more information.