The phones in the service department at Steve Jones Auto Group are beginning to ring in the wake of another recall.

Honda Motor Co. issued an airbag recall Tuesday that could affect as many as 380,000 American vehicles and another 440,000 cars in Japan.

"We are getting calls," said Paul McDonald, assistant service manager at Steve Jones Auto Group, which sells and services Hondas. "People are asking what they can expect, what they need to do."

The latest recall applies to 2001 and 2002 models of the Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, Pilot and 2002 Acura TL and CL vehicles in the United States, as well as the Inspire, Saber and Lagreat in Japan.

"The driver's airbag inflators in these vehicles may deploy with too much pressure, which can cause the inflator casing to rupture and could result in injury or fatality," Honda said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Honda has now recalled more than 900,000 cars for airbag issues, which have been linked to one death and 11 injuries in the United States.

The most recent Honda recall is in addition to one announced in November 2008 for 4,200 Accord and Civic sedans because of faulty airbag inflators, and expanded last June to cover an additional 510,000 vehicles globally.

Honda officials told Reuters that the recall could cost the company $22 to $33 million.

McDonald said Honda would send out letters to owners to inform them whether the recall affects them or not, and then what they should do if they are listed on the recall. He said the fix can be done in 30 minutes.

The Honda recall comes on the heels of a much larger one by Toyota for various issues, including sticking accelerators.

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million cars worldwide. Vehicles with the sticking accelerators and gas pedals trapped by slipping floormats have been linked to crashes that killed at least 19 people, according to published reports.

Earlier this week, technicians at Pinehurst Toyota began fixing recalled cars with the sticking accelerators or those trapped by vehicle floormats. Those repairs are taking between a half hour and two hours. Technicians are working later hours during the week and increasing staffing on Saturdays to repair recalled vehicles.

The fix for the anti-lock brake system is expected soon.

Toyota officials estimate the total cost of the global recall could be as much as $2 billion, including the loss of 100,000 vehicle sales in the United States and Europe.

Contact Tom Embrey at (910) 693-2484 or by e-mail at tembrey@thepilot.com.