Honda has announced that a previously-identified airbag problem in some of its used vehicles is more widespread than initially thought, causing the Japanese automaker to expand its recall by nearly 833,000 vehicles.

In 2008, the company found a small amount of cars with incorrectly installed airbags. If deployed, the safety devices could inflate too quickly and possibly explode, which represented a danger to drivers in an accident. The company issued a small recall to address the issue

Two years later, Honda expanded the initial recall of less than 4,000 to more than 300,000 cars, as it found that the problem could affect a wider range of vehicles. At that point, Honda revealed that it had received reports of 11 injuries and 1 death in relation to the airbag problem.

Now, the recall is being expanded again to include a potential 833,000 vehicles. Honda claims that it's most likely that the airbags in these cars are unaffected. However, if a vehicle was in an accident, it's possible that a dealer installed one of the faulty airbags after the original bag deployed.

It's mostly used Hondas that drivers will have to watch for, including the 01-02 Accord, the 01-03 Civic, the 02 Odyssey, the 02-03 CR-V and the 03 Acura 3.2 TL and CL.
 

A new report by Bloomberg shows that automakers and dealers cut new car incentives in April to their lowest point in five years.

The 14 percent decline puts the average incentive for a new car at $2,320 in April. Automakers seem to be tightening their belts for two reasons. Sales are good right now, thus they don't need the extra bonuses to help hit their target numbers. And production in Japan has slowed to a crawl, meaning that the companies are hoping to squeeze every penny out of each vehicle they do have.

"The outlook for incentives is that they are going to be down dramatically," said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com.

In terms of specific automakers, Ford and Chrysler both cut incentives by approximately 20 percent each. GM offered some great deals on trucks, but offered absolutely no deals on its Cadillac luxury vehicles.

Over in Japan, Nissan scaled back the most, cutting deals by 33 percent and postponing its annual spring sales event. Toyota was more modest in its rollbacks, but still saw incentives drop off by 3 percent. Honda was the only automaker to offer more savings, with a 9 percent increase.

Drivers looking to save may want to avoid the new vehicle market for the time being, and instead browse the selection of used cars for sale at New Jersey State Auto Auction. 

Chrysler has announced that it is finally paying back the nearly $7.5 million dollars that it owes the U.S. and Canadian governments after accepting bailout loans during the economic recession.

With the company on the verge of going under, Chrysler was forced to accept the money to stay afloat. However, the loans came with high interest rates of nearly 12 percent, which were causing Chrysler to lose more than $1 billion each year.

In order to avoid paying that extra cash and get out from debt with the government, Chrysler has secured a refinancing package funded by several major banks. Under the terms of the deal, the banks will pay off Chrysler's debt in full, effectively ending the automaker's bailout. Chrysler will still be in debt to the banks, but will presumably be enjoying a significantly lower interest rate on the loan.

Paying off the debt owed to the government was one of Fiat's key goals for Chrysler when it assumed control of the automaker. Now that the company is no longer in debt to the government, Fiat will be able to increase its stake in the company to a majority share. 

Chrysler has announced that it will be bringing natural gas-powered vehicles to the U.S. by 2017, possibly utilizing technology already being used by its parent company, Fiat, in Europe.

The automaker reportedly sees the technology as a strong alternative to the hybrid and electric vehicles that many automakers are currently producing. Chrysler says that natural gas-powered vehicles are cheaper to produce and could potentially reduce emissions even further than electric models.

"The technology is very actively being worked on," Bob Lee, Chrysler’s vice president for engine and electrified propulsion systems, told Bloomberg. "It's a good way for some diversity in the market in terms of fuel use."

Currently, the only natural gas vehicle in the U.S. is the Honda Civic GX, although its only available in limited markets. Honda claims that the vehicle is more affordable and has longer range than electric competitors. Fiat, which owns a majority stake in Chrysler, sells multiple natural gas vehicles in Europe, as do other automakers.

Barriers to widespread adoption of natural gas models include a lack of fueling stations and large gas tanks that take up a lot of space in the vehicles.

Natural gas vehicles are still a long way off, so in the meantime, drivers searching for a fuel efficient model may want to instead opt for a used car from New Jersey State Auto Auction.