Mazda says to recall 2.3 million vehicles worldwide

Mazda Motor Corp said on Thursday it would recall a total of 2.3 million vehicles worldwide over potential problems with their rear gates, along with a separate issue involving diesel engines.

The Japanese automaker said it was recalling around 390,000 vehicles including the Mazda 3 sedan and the CX-3 SUV crossover model in Japan to fix the damper stays on their rear gates, which may corrode and break if exposed to salt.

Mazda said it planned to recall an additional 1.8 million vehicles in overseas markets over the same issue. It also announced a domestic recall of around 110,000 vehicles, including the Mazda 3 and CX-3, over a computer problem with their diesel engines. read more »

Did Tesla Quietly Remove A Safety Feature From The Model X's Falcon Doors?

Much of the attention around the Tesla Model X has focused on its unique vertically-opening Falcon doors. They are dramatic and exciting, but they’re also a pain to build. Now, in an attempt to make the doors work better, it appears Tesla may have quietly made them less safe.

The issue stems from the door’s sensor array. Being a powered door, the Model X relies on a set of sensors to determine if the door mechanism is in a position to damage the car or possibly hurt someone by crushing a body part in the door. But it appears a recent change to the car’s firmware to get the doors working properly could lead to objects, or hands, getting inadvertently crushed.  read more »

Toyota Recalls 337,000 RAV4, Lexus HS Models for Potential Suspension Failure

Toyota is recalling 337,449 RAV4 and Lexus hybrid models for the third time to fix rear suspension parts that may loosen and rust, according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

 The 2006–2011 RAV4 and 2010 Lexus HS250h have rear tie rods that can loosen, rust, and separate, leading to an “abrupt change in the vehicle’s alignment,” according to the original August 2012 recall of 780,584 cars. But filings show Toyota hadn’t grasped the root of the problem until now and its dealers weren’t yet properly trained to perform the repairs. read more »