The Honda Jazz 'Recall'
This is the official statement by Honda Malaysia
about the much over-hyped
'Honda Fit-Jazz recall'. TOVA readers in other countries in Asia are recommended to contact your
own local office for their official statements.
The Honda Jazz 'Recall'
'Tis the season for Sensationalist news reporting !
Perhaps a follow-on
result of the accelerator woes that's currently beseighing Toyota, many websites and newspapers have
latched on to a supposed statement issue from Honda UK that Honda will be issuing a recall for
thousands of Honda Jazz due to a risk of fire caused by the possibility of water leak shorting the
power window motor. The situation has gotten so ridiculous, with some publications trying so hard to
'outdo' each other in 'breaking news', or perhaps demonstrating that they have 'insider connections',
that today I read a newspaper report saying Honda is planning to recall all Honda Jazzes sold
due to the fire risk !
The source of all this problem was a simple news report on the BBC news portal. However this
news report contains a few factual errors as far as Honda in Asia is concerned. It states that Honda
Jazzes are manufactured amongst other places, Japan and Thailand (which is accurate) and also
Malaysia which is of course totally wrong. It also quotes a Honda UK spokesperson as saying 27,000
Honda City in Asia will be affected in the recall. In the first place, no Honda office in one country is
allowed to speak on behalf of another country, what more an entire region. Honda operations in Asia is
controlled out of Honda Asia HQ located in Thailand and so Honda UK has no business speaking on behalf
of Honda for Asia. Whoever that spokesperson is, he or she is going to be in deep shit !
My own communications with top people in Honda Malaysia told me that NO Honda Jazz or
City has ever caught fire in Malaysia. In anycase, with my reaches into the Honda community, I would
have heard of such a case if it ever did happen. With my resources alone, there is of course still
a possibility of an incident in a remote area that is out of reach to the Honda enthusiast but I have
now also confirmed with Honda Malaysia that it did not happen anywhere.
Understandably Honda Malaysia is not able or willing to comment on this matter and for all other
Honda offices in Asia, I am sure it would be the same. Normally they would, but due to the hooh-hah
raised by sensationalist reporting, it has become a lot more sensitive. Therefore, there is NO
official comment from Honda Malaysia on this matter. What they are doing now is they will
contact and consult their HQ, firstly in Thailand, possibly also in Japan to get an accurate factual
account of this matter and at the earliest opportunity, possibly as early as tomorrow (Monday Feb 1st)
morning (not confirmed), Honda Malaysia -will- issue an official response.
From TOVA, my advice to Honda Jazz and City owners throughout Asia is to
NOT be carried away by
sensationalist reporting. If there really is such a big danger of catching fire, lots of people would
have been affected by now. But the Honda Jazz and City enthusiasts in Malaysia numbers in the tens
of thousands and when their reach outside of Malaysia is taken into consideration, hundreds
of thousands. So anything as disastrous as a spontaneous fire consuming a Honda Jazz or
City would certainly have gotten around very quickly, especially given how much rain we have been
seeing in Asia recently. However anyone who is planning to exercise some extra care should of course
go ahead. Safety is of course something we can never have enough of.
January 31st 2010
At the Limit on the Sepang Track !
Honda Malaysia wanted to prove a point or two about how fun to drive their cars are
and did it by taking us to the Sepang North track for a full hour of all out, full throttle fun.
TORCO Accelerator : Octane Booster that Works !
TOVA sponsor Cosmic Elite recently passed me a can of TORCO Accelerator which
is used to upgrade the quality of the petrol from the pumps. I tested it on my Integra turbo.
SUPER GT 2009 Championship
The 2009 SUPER GT championship started at the Okayama circuit on the
weekend of March 21-22nd, then followed by races at Suzuka and Fuji. We follow the
fortunes of the five Honda NSX team as once again they challenge for the title of this
most prestigious championship.
Race Reports
Round 1 : OKAYAMA GT 300km
Round 2 : KEIHIN SUZUKA 2&4
Round 3 : FUJI GT 400km
Full Test: 2G Jazz i-VTEC 5AT
Finally, after months of waiting, Honda's media Jazz i-VTECs clocked
enough mileage for proper run-in. This means I was finally able to properly test the new 2G Jazz i-VTEC
and this is the first of my reports.
New 3G City i-VTEC Early Impressions
Trivia-Time : New 3G Honda City
February 2009 is the month of the Honda City. We have some interesting trivia about the new
3G Honda City we'd like to share.
First Drive : New 3G Honda City
The Honda Malaysia media test-drive event for the new 3G City last month gave me a
chance to sample the car.
First Look : New 3G Honda City
Our first look at the new 3rd generation Honda City.
Honda Corporate : 2008 Year End Speech and Forecast Figures
With the current economic uncertainty, the recent 2008 Year End speech by Honda's C.E.O.
Mr. Takeo Fukui provides some important indications on the future direction for Honda. We also publish
Honda's official sales and production forecast for 2008.
- 2008 YEAR END SPEECH SUMMARY
- 2008 SALES & PRODUCTION FORECAST
New 4G Honda City : What Can You Expect ?
TOVA's own little preview on the new 4G Honda City which will be launched in Malaysia
two days later on December 18th. We tell you what we personally expect from the new car.
SUPER GT 2008 : ROUNDS 9 FINALE
Round 9, the finale of the 2008 SUPER GT championship was ran at
the FUJI circuit. It was an eventualful and exciting finish to a great championship season.
Short Preview : New 4G Honda City Drive
Honda enthusiasts 'Lingwu' gives us his experience of driving the new 4G Honda City in
Thailand.
Upper Strut Bar for the DA6 Integra
Local strut bar manufacturer 3Max does a one-off custom strut bar for my DA6 Integra
XSi.
SUPER GT 2008 : ROUNDS 8
Round 8, the penultimate round of the 2008 SUPER GT championship was ran 2 weekends ago at
the AUTOPOLIS circuit at Kyushu. We take a look at the championship standings after that race and going into
the finale at FUJI next weekend.
HONDATA JDM FD2-R ECU REFLASH !
Honda ECU tuners supremos HONDATA has came out with an ECU reflash for the
JDM FD2 CIVIC TYPE-R. Bring back good old memories of the old-days, I had a chance to review
this reflash for TOVA.
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New 2G Fit/Jazz
TORCO OILs
New 8G Accord
