Another Car Recall

Brian with both NMS Honda Hybrids: Accord on the left, Civic on the right. 

By "ANOTHER" recall I mean that our 2023 Honda Accord has already had several recalls, and today we got a notice for another one. Like the previous few, this will require a FREE appointment at the dealer, so that they can reprogram something in the car's computer. This one is related to emissions in some way, but also says that it could cause the car to turn off while you're driving. Losing power and steering while driving could be a bad thing, so I scheduled an appointment and got it fixed. Hey, the local Honda dealer offers free coffee, so if nothing else I got two free lattes!

Modern cars are just chock full of computers, so it's no surprise that they are constantly getting tweaked and updated. Some people react to the word RECALL like they were just diagnosed with the plague or something, but for these electrical gremlin type computer things, I'm not really worried about it. Now if it was a really serious recall like the WHEELS WILL FALL OFF ANY MINUTE then I'd get a bit more worked up about it. 

On the positive side it will only cost me the time to drive to the dealership, and then hang out in the waiting area for the computer update. The letter I received said it would only take 15 minutes once they start to work on it, but it was more like an hour and a half. I figure they were busy on a Friday morning. On the negative side, I know that the technicians that perform recall and warranty work typically don't get paid the full flat rate, so it's a raw deal for the guys and gals doing the work. If I was king for a day, I'd require auto manufacturers to pay their technicians and mechanics the full hourly rate for all he work they do. 

On the other side of the NMS Daily Driver garage, our Ford Maverick has also had it's share of recalls for computer-related glitches, and like the Honda, nothing has really gone haywire with the little hybrid truck. Both the Accord and the Maverick, as well as the NMS-South Civic hybrid are just doing GREAT on mileage: over 50mpg on the Hondas and the Maverick is in the 40s.