No recall for Honda owners in Indonesia

JAKARTA: Honda Prospect Motor of Indonesia will not follow Honda Motor Co. in the United States and Canada in recalling five Honda models.

The North American division of Honda officially recalled nearly 652,000 sedans, minivans and sport utility vehicles with automatic transmission systems because of a defect caused by excessive wear in the ignition switch.

Taufik Hidayat, service manager with Honda Prospect Motor, attributed this defect to driving habits in North America not usually found in Indonesia. This habit involves the failure to press in the ignition key prior to starting the engine.

As a result, drivers are able to remove the key from the ignition when the vehicle is not in park, fooling them into thinking the car is in park when it is not. The National Highway Safety Administration in the U.S. recorded four injuries, 28 crashes and 169 complaints related to the defect.

In response, Honda has told drivers to utilize the parking brake until the company repairs the vehicles. The models being recalled are the 2002 CR-V, 1997-1999 Acura CL and the 1999 Acura TL sedans, the 1999 Odyssey and the 1998-99 Accord sedan and coupe. -- JP