Toyota and Honda recalling over 6 million cars for airbag issues

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Toyota and Honda are recalling more than 6 million vehicles because of separate safety concerns affecting airbags.

Toyota’s recall covers 3.4 million vehicles worldwide, including 2.9 million in the US, that may have an electronic defect that could prevent airbags from deploying in a crash.

The 2011 Toyota Matrix is one of the affected models.

The 2011 Toyota Matrix is one of the affected models. (IIHS)

The problem could also prevent the vehicles’ seatbelt pretensioners from working correctly, Toyota said Tuesday. The recall affects Corolla, Matrix, Avalon and Avalon Hybrid cars from model years 2011 to 2019, according to Toyota.

Honda announced a separate recall Tuesday of 2.7 million cars with potentially faulty inflators that could cause airbags to rupture during a crash. The recall of 2.4 million cars in the US and 300,000 in Canada affects Honda and Acura vehicles from the model years 1996 through 2003.

The inflators were made by Japanese manufacturer Takata but are different from those that led to the world’s biggest-ever auto safety recalls involving 42 million US vehicles.

Honda said it knows of three cases of newly recalled inflators rupturing — one that occurred during a 2012 crash in Texas and two others that happened during “scrapping activity” in Japan.

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“Honda believes that the risk of improper airbag deployment in its vehicles remains very low at this time, but we cannot absolutely guarantee the performance of any recalled part,” Honda said.

Both Honda and Toyota said they will notify affected owners by mail and fix the problems for free.

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