Honda Odyssey Recall
Honda Odyssey Recall
Recalls are an unfortunate and seemingly inevitable part of the auto industry. It seems that no matter how much testing and quality control is done on the factory and shop floor, nothing can perfectly and accurately predict how a brand new automobile will fare on the road. Often, it is not errors in the parts crucial to a car’s performance that surface, as auto workers are sure to make certain that engines and fuel systems are functioning smoothly. Instead, as a good deal of Honda customers are noticing, it can be defects in the seemingly irrelevant parts of the car that can cause for disaster when things go wrong. Such is the case with the latest recall at the end of 2016.
Passengers relaxing in a Honda Odyssey may find themselves in a strange occurrence taking place as they coast along the highway: their seats may suddenly shift. That’s right, Honda was able to get everything right from the engine down to the air bags in its latest minivan, except for the seating track. The issue stems from a defect in the interior of the vehicle. It appears that a release lever for seat adjustment was made in such a way that it can unintentionally remain in the unlocked position, thus leaving the second row of seating liable to unexpected movement. This error in design and creation makes itself hideously obvious when the Odyssey ins involved in a crash. When the Honda minivan finds itself in a car accident, it throws the second seating row around, which can add serious risk to passengers.
The damage has been tough for Honda, who has recently recalled 634,000 units of the Odyssey in the United States alone. While there have been no injury claims as a result of the error, there have been up to 689 warranty claims thus far as of December 16, 2016. The precautionary recall requests that 2011 to 2016 models of the Honda Odyssey manufactured between August 17, 2010 and October 1, 2015 to be brought in for a fix to the defect, which fortunately do have a seemingly simple solution to their problems. To begin, Honda Auto has suggested that until the fix comes, customers should slide the seats into their position of choice and manually lock the seat into said position by pushing down on the horizontal adjustment bar.
Additionally, Honda dealers have announced that they will install an additional bracket and spring to second row seating free of charge for Odyssey owners affected by the recall. These adaptations to seating track systems are meant to provide more return torque to them, in an effort to make sure the seats will now lock into place. Honda has announced that because of the vast number of minivans this defect affects, the fix will not be available until the spring of 2016. The auto company also stated that owners of defective vehicles will be officially notified by mail of the recall in mid-February 2017, and will receive a second letter when parts for the fix become available.
