Recall Alert: 2012 Honda Accord and Crosstour

Honda is recalling 347 Accord sedans and Crosstour hatchbacks to address airbag issues, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports.

In certain vehicles, the side curtain airbags for the driver and front passenger may have a faulty inflator. In the event of an accident, the affected airbags will not deploy, increasing the risk of passenger injury.

Honda will begin notifying owners on Feb. 10, and the affected airbags will be replaced for free. Owners can call Honda at 800-999-1009 or NHTSA’s vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 for more info.

Honda to Honor Discounts on Sold-Out Models

Despite limited inventory, Honda is trying to keep potential car shoppers in the fold by extending expired lease agreements and by honoring national incentive programs, even when the vehicle is not in stock, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Honda has initiated a new incentive campaign called the Honda Promise. On Honda’s retail website, the company describes the promise as follows:

“You may be concerned about the availability of your next Honda vehicle. Should recent events impact the vehicle of your choice, we’ve developed special options for you until your new Honda arrives. To learn more about your options, please contact your local Honda dealer today and find out if you qualify.”

The Wall Street Journal has learned that those measures include honoring incentives, regardless of the current availability of the given model at a dealer’s lot, and to extend lease agreements for an extra 12 months. Acura, Honda’s luxury brand, is reportedly offering similar incentives.

In addition to the lease deals and pledge, the automaker will also start a new incentive campaign, which started Wednesday, according to Automotive News. Those deals include $0 due at signing and low monthly payments on the Accord, Accord Crosstour, Odyssey, CR-V and Pilot. There are also low 1.9% financing deals on the outgoing 2011 Honda Civic.

Honda expects its inventory problems will be resolved by August.

Honda Tells U.S. Dealers to Honor Discounts on Out-of-Stock Cars (Auto News)

Honda Spotlights No Money Down Leases in April

Despite potentially tight supplies of some Honda vehicles, the automaker continues a robust lease and low-financing incentives campaign throughout April. Honda calls it “The Really Big Thing Sales Event,” and by now, you've likely seen the commercials for it, which feature oversized lapel pins. Like other recent Honda sales events, the carmaker is pushing leases with $0 down payment, $0 security deposit, $0 first month's payment and $0 due at signing on most of its lineup.

The no-money-down lease deals include $380 a month on the 2011 Odyssey minivan and $250 a month for a 2011 Accord. Keep in mind that $0 down doesn’t include tax, license, title, registration and documentation fees, which will likely cost thousands of dollars before you leave the lot. If you want to reduce your monthly payments, Honda’s also offering lease deals with money down — typically $1,999 — knocking off about $60 a month on the lease deals we highlight below.

Happy Honda Days Actually Good For Lease Deals

Honda has the second-highest residual values in the industry (after Subaru) because the company doesn’t offer big discounts on its vehicles. In fact, Honda is currently offering no customer cash-back incentives during its holiday sales event. So how do they call it a sale?

There are dealer incentive programs, which we highlight below. It’s important to note that dealer incentives are for the dealers only, but often you can squeeze the manufacture subsidy out of your retailer. For more info, check out our advice page on the incentives.

Recall Alert: 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour

Honda is recalling 3,336 2010 Accord Crosstour units because of an improperly assembled front passenger airbag, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
 
In the event of a crash, the airbag may not deploy properly and could injure an unbelted child in the front passenger seat, NHTSA says.
 
Owners will be notified Sept. 22. Honda dealers will inspect and replace the passenger airbag module if necessary at no charge. For more information, owners can call Honda at 800-999-1009 or NHTSA’s hot line at 888-327-4236.

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: August 2010

Cash for Clunkers continues to cast a long shadow: Big automakers had what looks to be a bad month, but last year the popular government program dramatically boosted the sales of many models, including the Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda CR-V and Honda Accord. So the dramatic declines experienced by those models is not all too surprising.

Year-to-date, five of the models in the top 10 are selling less than they sold year-to-date in 2009. Before August, only one model on this list – the Dodge Ram – was selling worse in 2010 compared with 2009.

Toyota (down 31.4%), Honda (down 30%), Nissan (down 27%) and GM (down 24.9%) saw the most dramatic declines. Of course, Japanese automakers were the biggest gainers during Cash for Clunkers; GM’s decline is partly due to the strong sales gains by Pontiac and Chevrolet in August 2009. Chrysler saw a 7% increase because very few of its cars sold well during Cash for Clunkers.

The best selling full-size trucks — Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram — performed well this month, and they were the only models on the list (besides the Hyundai Sonata) to post positive gains. Honda remains the automaker with the most cars on the list with three models, the same as last month.

Five Midsize SUVs Earn Top Safety Picks

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested 12 new midsize SUVs with its new rollover crush strength requirement, and only six passed.

Of the six, five earned the Top Safety Pick award, which means they received the top score of Good in front, side, rear and roof crash tests and are equipped with stability control.

Although the Jeep Liberty and its Dodge Nitro twin had the best results for roof strength at five times the weight of the vehicle, they rated Acceptable and Marginal in rear and side crash tests, respectively.

The five new Top Safety Picks are:

Cars.com Podcast: Modern Wagons Dissected

Last week, the 2010 Subaru Outback easily bested the new 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour and the 2010 Toyota Venza in a faceoff. In this week’s podcast, the editors who make those decisive calls explain how they came to realize that even though all of these wagons look a bit odd, they’re not so bad to drive.

You can download the podcast via iTunes here or listen in your browser by pressing the button below.

Cars.com Podcast #44

Cars.com Compares Modern Wagons

For the latest Cars.comparison, we stack two newcomers — the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour and the 2010 Toyota Venza — against the formidable wagon standard-bearer, the 2010 Subaru Outback, though it has been redesigned for 2010 as well. While Cars.com reviewers Kelsey Mays, Mike Hanley and Joe Wiesenfelder think the Crosstour and Venza each could give the Outback a run for its money, we have two 2010 Outback owners on staff who simply waited until the comparison was complete and left it at, “We told you so.”

Cars.comparison: Modern Wagons (Cars.com)

2010 Honda Accord Crosstour Video

When images of the Honda Accord Crosstour hit the Internet, there was outright revolt in the air. According to Cars.com reviewer Kelsey Mays, that criticism was largely off-base and the “jelly bean-ish rear end” actually doesn’t look so bad in person. On the other hand, Mays finds more than a few reasons to be disappointed with Honda’s new wagon-esque vehicle.