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NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Audit Query AQ12-001: Southern Honda Powersports

  • Closed

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Audit Query AQ12-001 on May 14, 2012 and closed it on May 13, 2013. NHTSA's investigations file lists 14 Honda models for it.

Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file

Key facts

NHTSA number
AQ12-001 (also written AQ12001)
Investigation type
Audit Query An administrative investigation into compliance with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting Early Warning data on time or carrying out a recall.
Status
Closed May 13, 2013
Opened
Closed
Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Component
Unknown or Other
Vehicles and equipment
14 Honda models, including the GL1800 and VFR800

A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.

NHTSA's summary

As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Audit Query AQ12-001.

NHTSA opened Audit Query (AQ) 12-001 to determine whether Southern Honda Powersports (Southern Honda) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, had complied with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended, 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 (Safety Act) and its implementing regulations. The Safety Act requires, among other things, that a motor vehicle or equipment manufacturer notify its dealers of defects related to motor vehicle safety and non-compliances with federal motor vehicle safety standards.

In turn, a dealer may not sell and deliver a new vehicle subject to a recall unless the recall remedy has been performed.(see 49 U.S.C. 30120(i); 49 C.F.R. 573.11)NHTSA issued an information request to Southern Honda on May 14, 2012 to which they responded on July 6, 2012.

NHTSA?s inquiry led it to believe that Southern Honda had failed to complete the requirements of five recalls that required inspections and/or repairs of motorcycles prior to their sale or delivery.

NHTSA believes that 329 motorcycles affected by recalls had not been inspected and/or repaired prior to their sale and delivery between 2007 and 2012.

The agency is unaware of any deaths or injuries involving these vehicles.

NHTSA concluded that it had a potential civil penalty claim against Southern Honda for violations of the Safety Act.

Southern Honda denied any violations of the Safety Act.

In order to settle this matter, Southern Honda agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $125,000, to be paid in five annual installments.

This AQ is closed.

Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation

NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Audit Query AQ12-001. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.

Honda

All Honda recalls

What an NHTSA investigation is

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.

An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.

To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Honda VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.

Sources

NHTSA's investigation record for AQ12-001

Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.