American Honda Motor Company is recalling ~450,000 Honda and Acura vehicles because a manufacturing problem with the front seat belts may cause the seat belt buckle channel to interfere with the release button, preventing the seat belt buckle from latching. Autoliv Safety Technology of Auburn Hills Michigan is the supplier.
Registered owners of all affected vehicles will be contacted by mail and asked to take their vehicle to an authorized Honda dealer. The vehicles covered by the safety defect recall are: 2017-2020 model-year CR-V, 2018-2019 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2018-2020 Odyssey, 2019 Insight, and 2019-2020 Acura RDX vehicles.
Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger seat belt buckle release buttons or the buckle assemblies as necessary, free of charge as required by Federal regulations. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed 17 April 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda’s numbers for this recall are NDA, QDB, BDC, MDD, LD9. TDF, FDG, ODH, YDI, ZDE. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov about NHTSA recall 23V158.
Chronology:
- June 2019: Honda observed a potential trend in seat belt buckle latching issues and launched an investigation.
- November 2019: Honda conducted new parts durability testing and observed that low temperatures caused contraction in the seat belt buckle channel and over time, the channel surface coating may degrade, causing durability issues. Honda continued to analyze.
- July 2020: Honda began in-market investigations to determine scope of issue.
- February 2021: Honda began testing samples for evaluation.
- December 2022: Testing and data analysis indicated that durability concerns may have larger scope. Work began on tool to help identify seat belt buckle button status.
- February 2023: Tool to identify status/condition of seat belt buckle button finalized.
- March 2, 2023: Honda determined that a defect related to motor vehicle safety existed and decided to conduct a safety recall.
- As of March 2, 2023, Honda has received 301 warranty claims related to the safety defect between 22 March 2019 and 16 January 2023 with no reports of injuries or deaths related to this safety defect.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
American Honda Recalls 450,000 Vehicles for Bad Seat Belts
American Honda Motor Company is recalling ~450,000 Honda and Acura vehicles because a manufacturing problem with the front seat belts may cause the seat belt buckle channel to interfere with the release button, preventing the seat belt buckle from latching. Autoliv Safety Technology of Auburn Hills Michigan is the supplier.
Registered owners of all affected vehicles will be contacted by mail and asked to take their vehicle to an authorized Honda dealer. The vehicles covered by the safety defect recall are: 2017-2020 model-year CR-V, 2018-2019 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2018-2020 Odyssey, 2019 Insight, and 2019-2020 Acura RDX vehicles.
Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger seat belt buckle release buttons or the buckle assemblies as necessary, free of charge as required by Federal regulations. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed 17 April 2023. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda’s numbers for this recall are NDA, QDB, BDC, MDD, LD9. TDF, FDG, ODH, YDI, ZDE. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov about NHTSA recall 23V158.
Chronology:
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.