Honda Recalls 750,000 Cars For Airbags That Could Unintentionally Deploy

Honda has issued a massive recall for several models because the passenger-side airbags could unintentionally deploy. It affects more than 750,000 Honda and Acura cars from 2020-2022 and nearly every model.

The defect involves the front passenger seat weight sensor. A capacitor on the sensor's circuit board may crack, leading to an internal short circuit. If that happens, the front passenger frontal and knee airbags could still deploy even with the presence of an occupant who weighs too little for the safety device, like a smaller adult or a child, increasing the risk of injury.

Here's the full list of recalled vehicles:

Year	Car
2020-2022	Honda Accord
2020-2021	Honda Accord Hybrid
2020	Honda Civic Coupe
2020-2022	Honda Civic Sedan
2021-2022	Honda Civic Hatchback
2021	Honda Civic Type R
2020-2021	Honda CR-V
2020-2021	Honda CR-V Hybrid
2020	Honda Fit
2020-2022	Honda HR-V
2021	Honda Insight
2020-2022	Honda Odyssey
2020-2022	Honda Pilot
2020-2021	Honda Passport
2020-2021	Honda Ridgeline
2020, 2022	Acura MDX
2020-2022	Acura RDX
2020-2021 Acura TLX	Acura TLX

According to Honda in the recall report, the issue arose from a supplier that changed the base material in the circuit board during the manufacturing process due to a natural disaster at another supplier. The alternative base material wasn't verified for this use, which could allow additional strain on the board, leading to a cracked capacitor. Affected vehicles could have the SRS warning light illuminated, and the passenger airbag indicator may remain off.

Honda received its first warranty claim for the issue in August 2020. The company investigated but didn't discover any defects at the time. However, by October 2021, the company had multiple claims, so it continued to investigate, noticing the trend increase through November 2023 before finding the defect last month. Honda hasn't received any reports of injuries or deaths related to the issue, but it has received more than 3,800 warranty claims.

Honda will fix the weight sensor for free, informing affected owners by March 8.