To Whom It May Concern:
I, like millions of other Honda customers, am in receipt of an Important Safety Recall notice dated February 2024, for defective fuel pumps that “could prevent an engine from starting, cause a vehicle to lose drive power, or stall while driving, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.” And, you know, death!
I received my notice in mid-February and immediately contacted two of my local Honda Authorized dealerships to request an appointment to replace my car’s fuel pump. Service managers at both locations indicated that there are ‘no parts’ – not just that there are limited parts, but that there are ‘no parts’. The service managers at both locations were unable to tell me when parts would be available.
In mid-February I also called Honda Corporate at the number provided on the Important Safety Recall Notice. The customer service representative said that the dealerships lied when they stated no parts are available, but indicated that parts are in limited supply. She explained there are early signs before failure. She explained that the Stop Sale referenced in the NHTSA documentation1 was only for dealerships while the issue was being investigated and not in effect at this time because the recall has been issued. She indicated that the dealership needs to identify the issue or symptoms of a failed pump module and then order parts which are being prioritized in some fashion upon which she did not elaborate. She explained I would need to get the car diagnosed. If it were stuttering or failing to start as normal, the concern would be to get the issue to replicate for a Honda technician because that would be the only way to be considered a candidate for repair.
I have called both dealerships every month since February to again request a repair appointment to fix my car and each time have been informed that no parts are available. Per the Important Safety Recall notice, “If you believe that American Honda or the dealer has failed or is unable to remedy the defect in your vehicle, without charge and within a reasonable period of time (60 days from the date you first contact the dealer for a repair appointment)…” I may submit a complaint to NHTSA.
Consider this my official notice of complaint.
Additionally, I would like to put the following on the record:
#1 Automobile manufacturers and parts manufacturers have a history of denying problems with their products to the detriment of the lives of their customers and innocent bystanders:
Time.com. 29 May 2001. Inside the Ford/Firestone Fight.
NBCNews.com. 5 June 2014. GM Report: Engineer approved ‘switch from hell’ even though it didn’t meet specs.
NYTimes.com. 16 Mar 2017. How Volkswagen’s ‘Defeat Devices’ Worked.
USAToday.com. 25 June 2017. Timeline: How Takata’s air-bag scandal erupted.
#2 The Service Bulletins on NHTSA’s web page clearly indicate dealers should not be selling affected cars, yet they are. I understand there is only a law preventing the sale of NEW cars with known defects – why this has not been extended to USED cars, no one but politicians and corporate executives can comprehend – but in this specific case, Honda Corporation has clearly stated affected cars are on STOP SALE.1,2 This is relevant for two reasons.
First, dealerships are selling cars with known defects, against Honda Corporate’s orders, to buyers who may not understand the ramifications to their financial wellbeing and safety given that Honda’s “Suggested Verbiage to be included on repair order(s)” is as follows: Customer was advised that: The vehicle is subject to a recall affecting the fuel pump motor. The parts necessary to complete the recall repair are currently limited. Vehicles with eligible VINs and the following symptoms: difficulty starting, engine hesitation while driving, and/or illuminated check engine light displayed with DTC P0087, are eligible for immediate repair. Once parts repair kits are available, if the vehicle has not been repaired, the registered owner of the vehicle will receive a notice to bring the vehicle in for a replacement of the components, regardless of symptom.1,2 It is entirely foreseeable that a customer may buy a car with a defective fuel pump and A) not be told of the dangers because they are not outlined anywhere other than the Important Safety Recall notice which they will not be privy to at the time of purchase and/or B) not find out until they take the car in for a service – assuming it’s at a Honda-branded dealership vs. an independent mechanic. And even if they find out about the recall during service, they may not be advised that the issue can lead to a dangerous situation because that verbiage is not included in the “Suggested Verbiage”. As the new owners of a defective car, they may not get an Important Safety Recall Notice in a timely manner, if at all.
Secondly, the STOP SALE issue is important because those of us who own these cars will be financially disadvantaged if we need to sell or trade-in our non-conforming vehicles to a dealership that deems these cars to be of less value or un-saleable after checking their VINs with NHTSA.
#3 In August 2022, Honda issued an URGENT SAFETY RECALL NOTICE regarding 2019 Honda FITs (NHTSA Recall 21V-215). At that time this safety recall for fuel pump modules that may have “out of specification impellers” which may “[o]ver time…absorb an excessive amount of fuel and deform” which can cause a fuel pump to stop working, was considered an URGENT SAFETY RECALL requiring the service be “done immediately.” Unless I’m completely mistaken, this is the same exact part that is affecting millions of cars involved in Honda’s current, unresolved recall, yet somehow now it’s not URGENT?
#4 On November 3, 2023, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, in a story titled Denso pump behind recall of 2.68 million vehicles in Japan, reported that since March of 2020 automakers have “recalled about 2.68 million vehicles in Japan…as well as around 10 million vehicles sold abroad” due to “defects in the plastic impeller in the in the fuel pump” which can lead “to problems in sending fuel to the engine.” Which can cause a vehicle to “suddenly stop because of engine failure caused by lack of gasoline.” Additionally, it was reported that Denso, a company partially owned by the Toyota Group, sold its fuel pump division to another parts manufacturer in September 2022.
#5 On December 13, 2023, Asahi Shimbun, in a story titled Honda reports 1st fatal accident tied to defective Denso fuel pump we learn that in JULY 2023! an adult male was driving his Honda minivan when it stalled on July 30th on an expressway. The car was rear-ended, killing the man’s father and injuring the driver and his mother. “According to investigative sources and Honda, the automaker has analyzed the minivan and found that the fuel pump failure caused the vehicle to stall.”
In the story, Honda tries to claim that it was the other driver who ultimately caused the crash that led to the death and injuries. But would the crash have happened at all if the fuel pump had not failed? Honda also claims the crash happened before the vehicle could be recalled over the defective fuel pump, but this is an issue known since 2020 and across multiple manufacturers. Legal hairsplitting isn’t a good look for car makers, their dealerships, parts manufacturers, or NHTSA. It didn’t work with the Takata airbag disgrace and it won’t work with fuel pumps if the media or class-action lawyers decide to dig into reports of widespread vehicles stalls and crashes. Currently, there are thousands of complaints on NHTSA’s website about vehicles that have lost power, been diagnosed with failed fuel pumps, and subsequently have NOT been repaired! What happens when insurance investigators, eager to shirk responsibility for paying claims, start investigating all crashes involving automobiles involved in this recall to see if the faulty fuel pumps are at fault? What will they uncover?
#6 On December 21, 2023, Honda Corporation via HondaNews.com, issued a statement regarding their fuel pump recall for 2017-2020 Acura and Honda models (which has since been expanded to include more years). In their statement they say: “No reported crashes/injuries related to this issue.” And “Honda has not received any reports of crash or injury related to this issue.” This seems to directly contradict the story referenced in item #5. At best they could claim that this statement was made by American Honda Motor Co. and try to convince Americans that, somehow, they aren’t privy to data about Honda crashes in Japan, but that kind of falls apart when one reads the Chronology section of the Part 573 Safety Recall Report dated December 18, 2023 in which Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) describes their December 1, 2023 decision to “conduct a foreign safety recall of certain vehicles in Japan and China.” and claims that as of December 12, 2023 there no reports of injuries or deaths related to this issue from January 2018 through December 12, 2023 while we know from the December 13, 2023 story in Asahi Shimbun discussed in item #5, that Honda knew of a July 2023 crash in which the fuel pump failed. Did Honda suddenly figure it out on December 13, 2023? Is that why in the Safety Recall Report dated December 18, 2023 they conveniently use the December 12, 2023 date as the cut off for reports of injuries and deaths related to the issue?
#7 On January 27, 2024, Asahi Shimbun reported Denso: defective fuel pump due to change in mold for plastic part. They explain that Honda alone has issued recalls seven different times since March of 2020 for these defective fuel pumps. Additionally, they report that Honda officials determined that impellers made with low plastic density (To what end? To save money???) were stored in a warehouse for long periods of time leading them to dry out and crack! In all, ten companies have issued twenty-five recalls worldwide due to this issue. And while we’re at it, why were all these fuel pump modules stored for so long? Doesn’t the Toyota Way require just-in-time manufacturing so that there is no waste of resources? Does the Toyota Motor Corporation’s culture of respect and continuous improvement not translate across all Toyota Group companies?
#8 To further complicate issues, in early January 2022, Denso (A Toyota Group company) sold off its fuel pump module business to Aisan. As of this transaction, Aisan owns 100% of KYOSAN DENSO Manufacturing Kentucky, LLC.
It appears that the Toyota Group sold off a troubled asset (how else do you describe a division that has to produce 4.5 million new fuel pump modules for free just to cover Honda’s worldwide recall?) to another company. If this fuel pump issue was known since at least March of 2020 when the first recalls were issued for Toyota, Honda, and other vehicles – why did Denso sell its fuel pump business? To escape responsibility? Is Aisan obligated to provide replacement parts for the 2023 recalls as the owner of the fuel pump module business? Has anyone asked Aisan if they are prepared to meet demand? Toyota somehow managed to get its automobiles fixed in a timely manner while Denso was still producing fuel pumps, so why sell off the fuel pump production to another company after Toyota brands were repaired? Was there a prioritization of Toyota’s brands over Honda’s, Mazda’s, etc.? Did Toyota cover up the problem to get their house in order before sharing data with other manufacturers about the slipshod workmanship, materials, and storage of their group’s parts production? Why is Aisan seemingly completely out of its depth with regards to producing the parts needed for this recall? According to Honda’s own Recall Quarterly Report filed with NHTSA on July 16, 2024, 36,751 of the nearly 2.5 million Hondas recalled in America alone have been remedied. How is it that Aisan cannot produce fuel pump modules faster than 385 per day on average (36,751 modules/212 (days from December 18, 2023 Recall filed with NHTSA and the Quarterly Report filed July 16, 2024))? Especially when compared to Toyota’s exact same recall which was issued on January 13, 2020 and which by their first Quarterly Report filed on July 29, 2020, had remedied 63,429 automobiles which implies Danso was producing, on average, 348 fuel pump modules per day (63,429/182 days between recall and first Quarterly Report) – and this was during the height of COVID lockdowns! By October 28, 2020 (day 289 of the recall), Toyota had remedied 690,737 total units – that’s FULLY REPLACING 2,390 fuel pump modules per day, on average, during COVID lockdown before any vaccines were even available to the general public – which is to say, fuel pump modules were produced, shipped, and installed at dealerships during a PANDEMIC at a rate of 2,390 per day, yet Honda is going to need until the Fall of 2024 to even possibly begin fixing a problem that has been known to exist since 2020 when the Toyota Group discovered it? Simply put – who is on the hook to make millions of fuel pump modules for the 2023 recalls and where are they in the process????
#9 On November 29, 2023, Reuters reported that the Toyota Group was going to sell 8% of its Denso shares while Denso was to buy back 125 million shares on the open market to prop up its share price. A cynical person might wonder at the timing of this. Just as millions of Honda owners are about to be told of a recall that had been under investigation since September 2023 due to “a trend of incidents” relating to components manufactured by DENSO International America, Inc.4 and finally announced December 21, 2023, buried in a pre-Christmas news dump which media scribes dutifully printed without comment or question, Toyota and Denso make huge stock moves? I understand that by this time Denso had sold off its fuel pump module business to Aisan, but it would be ignorant to think them being the part-maker of record for a part that was causing years of problems and frustration would not cause a problem for their share price had the Toyota Group sold after the recall was announced on December 21, 2023. A quick review of the share price for Denso Corp reveals that is had a share price of 2,298 JPY on November 29, 2023 and on December 22, 2023 it was 2,113 JPY.
#10 Communication to customers has been abysmal. Dealerships are supposed to be brand representatives. Americans have been told we need to accept the awful experience of dealing with franchised dealerships, they are the conduit through which we are forced to buy and often service our automobiles because they claim their business model is essential to automotive sales. (Eh hem, Elon would like a word!) It’s bad enough that during the COVID-19 pandemic these Brand Ambassadors for Honda, Toyota, Ford, GM, Volkswagen, etc. added aftermarket garbage – fabric treatments, flashing 3rd brake lights, “security” systems, etc. ON TOP OF the infamous Market Adjustment price gouges…but now, with millions of automobiles needing replacement fuel pumps, we are forced to deal with their ambivalence, ignorance, and dismissive attitudes. Case in point: I asked two service managers if I could buy an entire fuel pump assembly and have it installed by the dealership technicians to avoid a life-threatening stall and to have the recall on my VIN cleared so I would be free to register the car or sell the car without losing value. Honda’s own franchisees have no idea if that’s possible and refuse to investigate, insisting that they have been instructed not to contact Honda’s Tech Line for updates. They know they have customers over a barrel and treat us like nuisances.
Honda’s own customer service representatives have no idea if complete fuel pump assemblies on shelves at this time are parts that supersede the old, defective parts. I understand that the recommended fix for this problem is to replace the small module inside the fuel pump assembly because it’s the most cost effective (for the Toyota Group/DENSO, for Aisan, and possibly for Honda if the labor to replace the module is cheaper than replacing the entire assembly – as consumers we have no understanding of who is responsible for the costs associated with recalls), but for those of us who are willing to spend the estimated $800 for parts and labor just to get out of this nightmare, the fact that no one even knows if that’s possible is embarrassing for all the parties involved.
#11 It is unacceptable that we are not allowed to go to independent mechanics to have our cars repaired for recall issues – even at our own expense, much less reimbursed from the manufacturer. Independent mechanics cannot get information on OEM parts to the extent they would be able to assure customers that they are replacing parts in their cars with re-designed parts – I’ve checked, hoping to render my car safe to drive by replacing the fuel pump at my own expense. Additionally, independent mechanics cannot clear our cars in the recall database even if they could perform the recall service. How this is not an antitrust violation, I don’t know. But it is most definitely anti-customer. Once Honda finally gets enough fuel pump modules, their dealerships are going to be overwhelmed with repairs. Things will fall through the cracks, work will be performed poorly, and customers will be ENORMOUSLY inconvenienced. All to protect their franchise owners at the expense of customers. Again!
#12 When Toyota launched a recall for the same exact issue in 2020, they A) had plenty of parts to address the issue in a timely manner, and B) offered a loaner car program for their customers who were uncomfortable driving the cars while awaiting repairs5. They had an entire page dedicated to their Loaner Vehicle Reimbursement Procedure that read, “Until the remedy is available, if a customer is uncomfortable driving their vehicle, a loaner vehicle or alternative transportation may be provided and claimed at the maximum rate shown…” which was $35 to $60 per day depending upon customer’s vehicle.
Honda is offering none of this.
Someone needs to speak to why virtually NO parts are available seven months into this recall, but also ask why Honda insists on subjecting their customers and the innocent public to failures of its vehicles. Not only are our cars dangerous to owners and their passengers, but they are also hazardous to those on the road who have to deal with stalling cars on high-speed freeways.
Honda owners are stuck – not only are we being prevented from getting our cars repaired by dealerships or independent mechanics, we cannot sell our cars either because they can’t be resold by ethical dealerships or because we’d have to take a large financial hit to do so, and we can’t stop driving because we still have to go to our jobs to pay our bloated car payments – the excessive ones all American franchise dealerships were allowed by manufacturers, The White House, Congress and State Governors, to price gouge us into, forcing us to pay thousands of dollars over MSRP due to obnoxious dealer markups and forced add-ons during the Pandemic3
And lastly, #13 – The Media. Every day there are “journalists” and corporate “news” executives publicly bemoaning the dire financial landscape of print and digital “news” and the looming ‘death of democracy due to media outlet layoffs.’ You all love your dramatic headlines, don’t you? I use the quotes when referencing journalists and news because, frankly, 90% of people who call themselves “journalists” are simply not, and 90% of published “news” is nothing but useless, divisive clickbait through which the American (and dare I say, World Wide) public is sick and tired of sifting just to glean nuggets of actually useful data.
News should be unbiased, well researched, and informative otherwise it’s just noise. Case in point – the news industry’s response to Honda’s recall referenced in this missive. None of you investigated anything, you simply printed what Honda told you to – i.e., nothing to see here. We get it, you can’t risk offending Honda or they won’t continue to place ads in your papers, on your networks, or on your websites, but you can’t honestly be surprised when the general public finds your lazy reporting to be totally useless and stops reading or viewing your “news”, leading to a decline in your ad revenue because you have no consumers of your “news”. I’m willing to bet there were a significant number of “journalists” who had been told about problems with cars during Ford and Firestone’s FUBAR, GM’s ignition switch SNAFU, and Takata’s vile tragedy, but who didn’t investigate or report because you just couldn’t be bothered until people started dying in large enough numbers and shocking enough circumstances to create tabloid-like headlines you could all suddenly pretend to care about. If I, a lowly non-journalist, can figure out how to find information, ask important questions, and challenge the self-serving narrative of the auto manufacturers; why can’t all you elite, condescending “journalists” who constantly revel in your superiority over your readers, do the same?
Do Better!
Sincerely,
Laura Christie
1 Honda Service Bulletin 24-007. 17 January 2024. Safety Recall: 2018-20 CR-V Fuel Pump Motor. “If this bulletin appears during an iN VIN status inquiry, the vehicle is subject to a safety recall. Any affected vehicles in your dealer inventory are on STOP SALE until further notice.”
2 Honda Service Bulletin 24-072. 12 July 2024. Safety Recall: 2013-17 Accord L4 Fuel Pump Module Set/Assembly Replacement. “If this bulletin appears during an iN VIN status inquiry, the vehicle is subject to a safety recall. Any affected vehicles in your dealer inventory are on STOP SALE until further notice.”
3 Verifiable and trackable via Markups.org
4 NHTSA.gov. 18 Dec. 2023. Part 573 Safety Recall Report. 23V-858.
5 NHTSA.gov. 13 Jan. 2023. Safety Recall 20TA02. Manufacturer Notice to Dealers.
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