Honda, Acura expand airbag recall to include 1.6M vehicles

Honda has been faced with an increasingly expanding airbag recall since 2008, and has now added another 833,000 vehicles to its list of recalled vehicles.

Honda and its luxury division, Acura, have expanded a three-year old recall to include an additional 833,000 vehicles, for a running total of over 1.6 million vehicles that have been recalled in order to fix faulty airbags.

Unlike the first two recalls for the faulty driver's airbags, the latest recall covers vehicles that did not come from the factory with faulty parts, but rather potentially had faulty Honda parts installed after being involved in a collision. Because Honda cannot properly identify exactly which vehicles have the faulty parts, the automaker must recall all 833,000 vehicles and inspect them to determine if they contain the dangerous airbag inflators.

The vehicles included in the new recall are the Honda Accord and Civic, model years 2001 and 2002, the 2002 Odyssey, the 2003 CR-V, as well as some Acura 2002-2003 3.2 TL and 3.2 CL vehicles. Although 833,000 vehicles need to be inspected, it is believed just 2,430 vehicles actually contain the faulty airbag inflator service parts.

To date, several injuries have been reported, as well as one death as a result of the faulty airbags. In the event of an accident, the airbags can deploy with too much pressure, which can rupture the inflator casing, sending metal fragments into the driver and potentially causing injury or death.

The recall will officially begin in May and Honda will be notifying all potentially affected owners via mail.