NEWS:
Mazda
recalls 215,000 vehicles
in U.S. for steering
YAHOO NEWS -- August 18,
2010 – Mazda Motor Corp
will recall 215,000
Mazda 3 and Mazda 5
vehicles sold in the
United States because of
the risk that they could
lose power steering
without warning.
The Mazda recall of
vehicles from the 2007
through 2009 model years
was announced in a
filing with the U.S.
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration on
Monday.
Mazda said the vehicles
under recall could
experience a "sudden
loss" of power steering,
increasing the risk of a
crash. The notification
did not detail any
incidents.
The defect occurs
because rust could break
loose from a
high-pressure pipe,
straining the power
steering pump and
causing the system to
shut down, the Japanese
automaker said.
Mazda also said it was
facing a shortage of
parts to repair recalled
vehicles at its
dealerships.
The automaker said it
would begin to notify
affected owners of the
recall in September and
send notices to all
owners by February.
The Mazda recall stems
from a customer
complaint in the
Japanese market in March
2008, NHTSA records
show.
Mazda had told dealers
to monitor vehicles for
the problem in the
United States but had
not issued a safety
recall because it judged
that the problem
remained relatively
rare.
Earlier this year, Mazda
said it realized that
more U.S. owners were
experiencing the loss of
power steering.
In June, NHTSA opened a
preliminary
investigation of the
problem.
The Mazda recall comes
as the automaker's
larger rival Toyota
Motor Corp faces
continuing scrutiny of
its handling of safety
recalls. It was fined a
record $16.4 million by
NHTSA, the maximum then
allowed, for moving too
slowly to recall
vehicles with defective
accelerator pedals.
MORE RECALL INFO:
Mazda 3
Mazda 5
