Recall Alert: 378,758 Honda Vehicles

Honda has expanded an earlier recall for a faulty airbag inflator that could deploy with too much pressure. This is a serious defect that the company says has resulted in one fatality since the recall was announced in 2008; it was expanded again in July 2009. That fatality led the company to investigate more models and yesterday certain 2001-2002 Honda Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V and 2002 Acura TL sedans were added to the recall. That brings the total number of vehicles being recalled to 826,424.

Honda says there have been 12 accidents, including the one fatality, due to the defect.

Honda will send out notifications to owners beginning this month; owners can bring their vehicles to dealers for repairs as soon as they receive the letter. Dealers will replace the airbag inflator for free. Owners may contact Honda at 800-999-1009 or the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236. Honda also has a recall website owners.honda.com/recalls.