On Wednesday, Toyota announced two separate, voluntary recalls involving around 907,000 Corolla models for faulty air-bags and around 385,000 Lexus IS vehicles fitted with defective wipers, from a number of countries around the world.

Most of the affected cars are located in the U.S. where the recall concerns 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles from the 2003 and 2004MY, and 270,000 Lexus IS vehicles from the 2006-2012MY.

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Usually agencies such as the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) find out about vehicle issues when the manufacturer or owners who have experienced trouble report to them.

Now, an agency spokeswoman acknowledged that Twitter, Facebook, other social media websites, and even fan sites, online forums and bulletin boards are searched by the NHTSA regularly in order to discover information about possible issues that may warrant an investigation.

A large-scale study published last year by the Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business about online forums showed that they are a new source of information and surveillance for defects in vehicles.

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Honda's American division is recalling certain model year 2009-2013 Pilot and 2011-2013 Odyssey passenger vehicles manufactured from March 13, 2008, through December 21, 2012, after it was discovered that one or more rivets that attach the airbag module to the airbag cover may be missing.

The Japanese carmaker informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the recall affects 748,481 vehicles sold in the United States.

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The U.S. Congress wants to introduce new legislation that will prohibit any rental-car company or car dealer to loan or sell any recalled vehicle before the necessary repairs have been made.

The new bill, knows as the Rachel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act, is named after two sisters from Santa Cruz, California, who were killed when the car they had rented caught fire and crashed into a tree. Said rental vehicle was affected by a recall but had not been repaired.

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If there’s one thing Toyota has in abundance in the U.S., apart from sales and models, it is lawsuits. This time, though, the Japanese automaker scored a victory as U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in California denied a class-action lawsuit by owners of Prius and Lexus models.

More specifically, the judge denied four car owners’ request to represent other owners of 2010 Prius and Lexus HS 250h models in California over a 2010 recall for a software upgrade that fixed an issue with the cars’ ABS system.

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The second automotive recall of 2013 after Subaru comes from General Motors that says more than 69,000 full-size pickup trucks and SUVs distributed globally may be affected by a problem that could cause them to roll away after being parked.

According to safety regulators, certain 2013 model Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles including the Escalade, Sierra and Silverado, may have been built with a cracked park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator gear in the lock module assembly.

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The first automotive recall of the New Year goes to Subaru, which has discovered a potential problem with puddle lights that could lead to smoke or fire on 633,842 models sold in the United States.

Subaru told U.S. safety regulators that the recall concerns certain 2010 and 2011MY Legacy and Outback vehicles, 2006-2012MY Tribeca crossovers sold before January 2012, and some 2009-2012MY Forester crossovers, also sold before January 2012.

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Bad news for several thousand owners of BMW's previous flagship model, the E65 and E66 7-Series sedan, which is the one featuring the pronounced boot(ie) that came to be known sarcastically as the "Bangle Butt."

The Bavarian carmaker filed two separate recalls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website, the first concerning a transmission flaw that could cause the car to roll away, and the other, because of a faulty software concerning the door latches.

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When Chevrolet Volt owner and gm-volt.com forum member "1RiverMan1" came home on October 19, he heard a phone message from his Volt advisor (sic) informing him about a potential problem with some of GM’s 2013 MY extended-range hybrids.

The issue was that on some cars, the electric motor for no apparent reason at all, stopped working while on the move. The advisor said that the steering and brakes of the Volt still worked, but added that if it were to occur, the driver must coast to a stop, power the car off, wait for 2-5 minutes and then power it up again.

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Back in May of 2009, General Motors issued the first ever recall for its then new, fifth generation Camaro that was sold as a 2010 model, only a few weeks after launch.

The recall affected 1,243 Camaro SS coupes equipped with a V8 engine because of a short-circuit risk that could lead to a fire. The culprit was a positive battery cable that could rub against the starter motor housing causing wear on the cable insulation.

In all recall cases, the automaker directly or through one of its dealers, contacts owners of the affected models to inform them about the problem and how and when it will be fixed (which is stated in GM's Recall Bulletin that you can find below).

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Ford plans to recall certain model year 2011-2013 Fiesta vehicles, built from November 3, 2009 through September 21, 2012, to reprogram the passenger side, curtain air bags.

The recall affects around 262,000 cars sold in North and South America, including 154,604 Fiesta sub-compacts in the United States.

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At some point in life, kids want to learn more about their daddy’s work, so they begin to ask questions. If said person works as an editor for an automotive publication or website, it’s quite natural that they will get to be around, and inside, quite a lot of vehicles.

Consumer Reports has a reputation for discovering malfunctions that others have failed to spot. Unlike what some manufacturers who were slammed by CR may believe, its editors are normal human beings, with families and all.

Director of testing Jake Fisher, for example, has two sons aged four and eight. Fisher says that they “already want to be car testers” and they “love exploring every new car I bring home and enjoy trying to fit into every small opening possible”.

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After the 10 million-vehicle recall in 2009 and 2010 over the infamous unintended acceleration problems, Toyota has once again been hit by a massive recall that concerns a lofty 7.43 million vehicles.

This time, the issue on hand is a faulty power window switch in 14 different models, which may malfunction and offer a “notchy” or sticky feel during operation. The use of a commercial lubricant, instead of the special fluorine grease used by the factory, may result in the melting of the switch and the emission of smoke.

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Usually, water puts out a fire but when it comes to the Honda CR-V from the 2002 to 2006 model years, rain can eventually lead to a fire risk.

To explain, Honda discovered that if rainwater or other spilled liquids enter through an open driver's window and reach the master-power window switch, over time, it could cause electrical resistance. If that were to happen, the switch could overheat smoke, and cause a fire.

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