Toyota isn't the only Japanese carmaker struggling with a recall issue. Honda has an issue of its own.
The carmaker has initiated a voluntary recall of more than 141,000 Honda Fit subcompacts, along with another half-million Fits sold in other countries. The recall was prompted by a fire hazard.
Recalled cars will either get a new master power window switch on the drivers' side or have the switch fitted with a waterproof skirt. The company says there have been seven reported cases of the switch melting when coming in contact with water, two causing a fire to break out.
No injuries have been reported in the U.S., but a fire from a window switch in a Honda Jazz killed a child in South Africa last year, according to WhatCar?, a British car Web site. Honda has included 172,000 Honda Jazz models in the UK in the recall for the window switch problem.
The recall comes at a bad time for Honda, as it and other competitors have tried to separate themselves from Toyota's sticking accelerator problem, which led to the suspension of U.S. sales of eight Toyota models. In a letter to Honda and Acura dealers this week, John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Company, said the company does not expect a problem similar to Toyota's.
"While we use the same supplier as Toyota for some of our products, as do other manufacturers, we do not use the same components," he said.
The Honda Fit was Consumer Reports highest-rated subcompact last year.
Not the first time
Meanwhile, this is not the first fire issue Honda has faced in the U.S. In 2007 an Illinois man filed a class action suit, charging a design defect in certain Honda CR-V and Element models makes them prone to fast-spreading engine fires.
The oil filter is dangerously close to the exhaust manifold on 2003, 2004 and 2005 model CR-Vs, the suit charges, and is mounted vertically, creating a situation where leaking oil can spray directly on the hot exhaust manifold. The suit said the alleged defect also occurs in Element models equipped with the 2.4-liter DOHC i-VTEC engine.
Honda owners writing to ConsumerAffairs.com have also reported fires in other Honda models. Brian, in Felton, Dela., reported in October 2009 that the radio in his Honda Odyssey shorted out and caught fire. Kelly, of Philadelphia, reported that her low mileage Civic caught fire in the engine at the fuse box site, igniting the battery.
"Honda is very unwilling to accept responsibility that the car was defective," she told ConsumerAffairs.com. "I am also expected to keep making payments on a car that is literally melted to the street."
