Toyota Recalls 907,000 Corollas and 385,000 Lexus IS Models

On Wednesday, Toyota announced two separate, voluntary recalls involving around 907,000 Corolla models for faulty air-bags and around 385,000 Lexus IS vehicles fitted with defective wipers, from a number of countries around the world.

Most of the affected cars are located in the U.S. where the recall concerns 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles from the 2003 and 2004MY, and 270,000 Lexus IS vehicles from the 2006-2012MY.

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NHTSA Says it Uses Various Forms of Social Media to Discover Defects in Vehicles

Usually agencies such as the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) find out about vehicle issues when the manufacturer or owners who have experienced trouble report to them.

Now, an agency spokeswoman acknowledged that Twitter, Facebook, other social media websites, and even fan sites, online forums and bulletin boards are searched by the NHTSA regularly in order to discover information about possible issues that may warrant an investigation.

A large-scale study published last year by the Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business about online forums showed that they are a new source of information and surveillance for defects in vehicles.

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Honda Recalls Over 748,000 Pilot and Odyssey Because Airbag May Be Missing Rivets

Honda's American division is recalling certain model year 2009-2013 Pilot and 2011-2013 Odyssey passenger vehicles manufactured from March 13, 2008, through December 21, 2012, after it was discovered that one or more rivets that attach the airbag module to the airbag cover may be missing.

The Japanese carmaker informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the recall affects 748,481 vehicles sold in the United States.

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Car Dealers, Rental Companies want to be Exempt of New Bill About Recall Repairs

The U.S. Congress wants to introduce new legislation that will prohibit any rental-car company or car dealer to loan or sell any recalled vehicle before the necessary repairs have been made.

The new bill, knows as the Rachel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, is named after two sisters from Santa Cruz, California, who were killed when the car they had rented caught fire and crashed into a tree. Said rental vehicle was affected by a recall but had not been repaired.

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Toyota Prius and Lexus HS 250h Class-Action Lawsuit Dismissed by California Court

If there’s one thing Toyota has in abundance in the U.S., apart from sales and models, it is lawsuits. This time, though, the Japanese automaker scored a victory as U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in California denied a class-action lawsuit by owners of Prius and Lexus models.

More specifically, the judge denied four car owners’ request to represent other owners of 2010 Prius and Lexus HS 250h models in California over a 2010 recall for a software upgrade that fixed an issue with the cars’ ABS system.

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GM Recalls More than 69,000 SUVs and Trucks Because They May Roll Away

The second automotive recall of 2013 after Subaru comes from General Motors that says more than 69,000 full-size pickup trucks and SUVs distributed globally may be affected by a problem that could cause them to roll away after being parked.

According to safety regulators, certain 2013 model Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles including the Escalade, Sierra and Silverado, may have been built with a cracked park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator gear in the lock module assembly.

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Subaru Sings The Lights That Don't Light Recall Jingle for More Than 633,000 Cars

The first automotive recall of the New Year goes to Subaru, which has discovered a potential problem with puddle lights that could lead to smoke or fire on 633,842 models sold in the United States.

Subaru told U.S. safety regulators that the recall concerns certain 2010 and 2011MY Legacy and Outback vehicles, 2006-2012MY Tribeca crossovers sold before January 2012, and some 2009-2012MY Forester crossovers, also sold before January 2012.

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BMW Recalling 7-Series for Rollaway Threat and for Doors that May Open by Themselves

Bad news for several thousand owners of BMW's previous flagship model, the E65 and E66 7-Series sedan, which is the one featuring the pronounced boot(ie) that came to be known sarcastically as the "Bangle Butt."

The Bavarian carmaker filed two separate recalls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website, the first concerning a transmission flaw that could cause the car to roll away, and the other, because of a faulty software concerning the door latches.

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GM to Upgrade Software on 4,000 Chevrolet Volts to Fix Stalling Electric Motor Problem

When Chevrolet Volt owner and gm-volt.com forum member "1RiverMan1" came home on October 19, he heard a phone message from his Volt advisor (sic) informing him about a potential problem with some of GM’s 2013 MY extended-range hybrids.

The issue was that on some cars, the electric motor for no apparent reason at all, stopped working while on the move. The advisor said that the steering and brakes of the Volt still worked, but added that if it were to occur, the driver must coast to a stop, power the car off, wait for 2-5 minutes and then power it up again.

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Recalled 2010 Camaro Burns Down, Owner Asks GM to Help Him Finance a New ZL1

Back in May of 2009, General Motors issued the first ever recall for its then new, fifth generation Camaro that was sold as a 2010 model, only a few weeks after launch.

The recall affected 1,243 Camaro SS coupes equipped with a V8 engine because of a short-circuit risk that could lead to a fire. The culprit was a positive battery cable that could rub against the starter motor housing causing wear on the cable insulation.

In all recall cases, the automaker directly or through one of its dealers, contacts owners of the affected models to inform them about the problem and how and when it will be fixed (which is stated in GM's Recall Bulletin that you can find below).

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