Honda Recalls Accords, Civics, Elements due to ignition switch

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Honda becomes the latest Japanese maker of cars to have a massive recall, as 428,000 Accords, Civics, Elements made from 2003 to 2004 and purchased in the United States and Canada are being recalled due to an ignition switch problem that causes each car to roll away when incorrectly parked.

That can be a particularly vexing and dangerous problem in the San Francisco Bay Area and especially hilly San Francisco.

Apparently when the ignition switch becomes worn it's a candidate for the problem.

Here's the statement below and on the Honda website, but hard to locate. One has to know to go to the "News" section of the website.

Statement by American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Regarding Ignition Switch Interlock Mechanism Recall: 2003 Accord, Civic, 2003/2004 Element Vehicles

August 09 2010

Honda will recall approximately 197,000 Accord and 117,000 Civic vehicles from the 2003 model year and roughly 69,000 Element vehicles from the 2003 and 2004 model years in the U.S. to prevent a malfunction of the ignition interlock feature of these vehicles. Honda has received several complaints about such failures in these vehicles and is aware of a small number of related incidents, including one that resulted in a minor injury.

The ignition interlock mechanism can be damaged or worn during use. If this happens, it may become possible to remove the ignition key when the shift lever is not in Park. If the transmission is not in Park and the parking brake is not set, the vehicle could roll away, and a crash could occur.

Honda is announcing this recall to encourage all owners of affected vehicles to take their vehicle to an authorized dealer as soon as they receive notification from Honda that their vehicle requires repair. Notification to customers will start in late September, 2010.

When Honda identifies concerns of this nature, nothing is more important to the company than fulfilling our obligation and responsibility to alert our customers. To this end, in addition to contacting customers by mail, after Sept. 20, 2010, owners of these vehicles will be able to determine if their vehicle requires repair by going on-line or calling Honda. Honda owners can go to www.recalls.honda.com or call (800) 999-1009, and select option 4.

Stay tuned.