A brief wrapup of recall activity

Toyota has announced that it will be recalling about 345,000 Sienna minivans because of a defect in the seatbelts for some seating positions. The problem affects the ability of the belt to retract, and may also result in difficulty in securing the belt. I think it's supposed to give the vehicle that pre-owned feeling. If you own one of the affected vehicles from the '04 and '05 model years, you'll be able to get it fixed in August. Meanwhile, Mazda is recalling the RX-8 because of a defect in the control arm that may result in a cracked ball-joint cup. The 28,000 lucky contestants in that particular sweepstakes drawing will also have to wait until August for a fix for that problem. In recall news that we missed from a couple of weeks ago, VW is recalling some 2005 Jettas for a fuel hose clamp problem, Ford is recalling some 2006 Expeditions and Navigators because of driver-side tire damage that could result in tread separation, and Toyota is recalling bench-seat-equipped 2005 Tacomas for an issue with the seat belt sensor that may result in improper airbag deployment in a crash.