Vehicle recalls have become increasingly common. In 2008 alone, hundreds of recalls were issued, affecting more than 10 million vehicles.

Vehicles with open recalls are bought and sold every day-some with recalls change hands multiple times. Estimates are that nearly a third of all recalled vehicles go unfixed by their owners. All the more reason for car buyers to be careful.

Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you’re at a disadvantage when buying a used car. Here are some tips:

• Remember that “recall” is not necessarily a bad word. Recalls may be mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or voluntarily issued by auto manufacturers to help prevent safety failures.

• With the exception of those involving tires, recalls are in effect for the lifetime of a vehicle. Under federal law, recalls must be remedied at no cost to consumers. Open recalls will only be repaired for free by authorized dealers-those that sell and service your particular vehicle make.

• Check for open recalls when you shop for a used car. If one exists, make an appointment to have it taken care of as soon as possible.

• Recall information is reported to CARFAX and can appear in CARFAX Vehicle History Reports. A free Recall Check also is available at CARFAX.com. This free resource helps car buyers instantly identify an open recall on a vehicle they are thinking of buying.

CARFAX Vehicle History Reports are available for used cars and light trucks manufactured since 1981. Using the unique 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN), a Carfax Report is instantly generated from a database of over 7 billion records reported by 34,000 sources.

For more information about open recalls and other used car buying tips, CARFAX.com.

They have recently announced that they will recall an additional 379,758 US vehicles to fix the driver side airbag. Apparently there is a problem with the airbag inflator which may cause it to deploy using too much force thus causing injury or even death to the driver.

Honda first issued a recall in 2009 which affected some 2001 and 2002 model year cars, but recently they expanded the recall to include the 2001 and 2002 Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V and some 2002 Acura TL, Honda Pilot and Acura CL vehicles.

Find out if Your Honda is Affected

Honda is working diligently to notify drivers of the recall. They are sending notifications by mail. If you’re not willing to wait for your mail notification, you can go online to find out if your car is affected.

Honda owners can find out more about Honda recalls by visiting the Honda Recall  website or calling 800-999-1009. Similarly, Acura owners can learn more about Acura recalls by visiting the Acura recall  website or calling 800-382-2238.

Make sure to have your vehicle identification number (VIN) when visiting the site to obtain information specific to your vehicle.

Fixing the Airbag Problem

If your vehicle requires repair, make an appointment with the nearest authorized Honda dealership to have the defect repaired as soon as possible.

In addition to the accelerator pedal recall there’s also a recall involving the floor mat. It’s called the floor mat entrapment recall. This recall doesn’t affect all Toyota vehicles. It appears to only affect the vehicles listed below:

• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2008-2010 Highlander
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2009-2010 VENZA

What happens with the floor mat entrapment?

The problem arises when an ill fitting or unsecured floor mat interferes with the operation of the accelerator pedal. Unfortunately, it may cause the gas pedal to get suck in the depressed position.

Currently, Toyota has come up with a few temporary remedies until the recall is complete:

• If your vehicle has a genuine Toyota designed floor mat or a genuine Toyota Lexis designed all weather floor mat, you can receive a newly designed replacement format that is compatible with the accelerator pedal.

• Reshape the accelerator pedal: Toyota will also reshape the accelerator pedal to prevent the risk of floor mat entrapment. Additionally with some Camry and Avalon models, Toyota will modify the distance between the accelerator a pedal and the floor to prevent such entrapment from occurring.

• Finally, as of this writing, Toyota is working on installing a brake override system. When the break overwrite system is engaged, it will force the vehicle to respond only to the brake and ignore the depressed accelerator pedal. For a time frame for the brake override roll out, check out Toyota’s Recall Information webpage.

If you own one of the Toyota models affected by this recall, remove your floor mat. Do not install another one until after you have contacted your Toyota dealer.

• Put both feet on the brake pedal in an attempt to stop or slow the car down. Do not pump the brakes as pumping the brakes depletes the vacuum assist. Depleting the vacuum assist makes it more difficult and requires more pressure on the brakes to stop the car.

• Slip the car into Neutral.

• Steer your way out of trouble if you can.

• Do not shut the car off while you are attempting to slow/stop or steer the car out of trouble. Turning the car of will prevent the brakes from working and lock the steering wheel. You need to have them both engaged in order to minimize potential damage.

Fixing the Problem

Toyota is working diligently to fix the sticky accelerator problem. Some dealerships are staying open 24 hours a day working on the recall. That’s well and good, but unfortunately, while they’re working on the problem, thousands of consumers are still driving around in vehicles that are potentially affected.

Although the condition is rare, there were still (as of this writing) 19 deaths in the past 10 years related to the sticky accelerator.

If you have the option of driving an alternative vehicle until Toyota completes its recall, you are strongly advised to do so.

If you own a Toyota, you need to check to see if your model is one of the 2.3 million vehicles being recalled. Toyota has found that there is a potential malfunction in the mechanism that controls the accelerator pedal. On rare occasions it may stick when partially depressed or it may slowly return to the idle position.

The affected vehicles in this most recent recall are listed below:

2009-2010 RAV4,
2009-2010 Corolla,
2009-2010 Matrix,
2005-2010 Avalon,
Certain 2007-2010 Camry,
2010 Highlander,
2007-2010 Tundra,
2008-2010 Sequoia

Owners of the vehicles included in the recall should read the Sticking Accelerator Pedal Recall FAQs on the Toyota website.

As of this writing, if you own one of the recalled vehicles and are experiencing symptoms of a sticking accelerator pedal, contact your nearest Toyota Dealer. In the meanwhile, stay on top of the Toyota updates via Twitter, RSS or even Toyota Alerts. You can sign up on the Toyota USA Newsroom website.