Safety

Mitsubishi has recalled 7489 units of its popular petrol Outlander Exceed and Exceed Tourer variants, built between 2022 and 2023, over concerns the steering wheel’s touch sensors may be defective.A recall notice published by the Australian government’s vehicle recall regulator reads: “Due to a manufacturing defect, the steering wheel touch sensors may be defective.“As a result, the vehicle may not accurately detect the driver's hands on the steering wheel and the MI-PILOT system may not operate as intended.”In extreme cases, the notice said: “If the MI-PILOT system does not operate as intended it could increase the risk of an accident, causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road users.”Owners of affected vehicles should immediately contact their preferred Mitsubishi Motors Australia dealer to have the steering wheel replaced, free of charge.Owners can check their VIN number here.Mitsubishi sold 45,253 Outlanders last year, including 6975 plug-in hybrid versions, making it the fifth best-selling car in the country and Australia’s second-best-selling SUV behind the Toyota RAV4.As of February 2025, Mitsubishi has sold 4475 Outlanders, an increase of 4.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Tesla has been forced into an embarrassing backdown over a trial of its Full Self-Driving tech in China, with owners of Tesla vehicles reportedly accruing fines for disregarding certain road rules, before the much-hyped – but misleadingly titled – technology was rebranded as Intelligent Assisted Driving.

A pair of Mini models and a European family SUV are the latest cars to be awarded top marks in the most recent round of crash safety testing.

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Nissan has recalled 11,107 petrol versions of its popular Qashqai SUV sold between 2022 and 2024 over concerns a manufacturing defect could lead to a vehicle fire.

Is it legal to replace the standard centre-rear lap only rear seat belt (I drive a 2025 SsangYong) with an Australian Standard harness or lap-sash?

Toyota Australia has announced that 524 LandCruiser Prados sold locally have been recalled due to an assembly fault when fitting the optional Electric Brake Controller.Its cross-platform twin, the Lexus GX550, has also been impacted, with 28 Australian examples affected by the recall.According to Toyota and Lexus an error in fitting instructions for the Electric Brake Controller, which is designed to synthesise the vehicle's brakes with a trailer’s brakes, the lower driver’s airbag (which was removed during the accessory fitment) may have been reinstalled using the incorrect torque.Toyota and Lexus said: “This may cause the bolts to loosen and the airbag may not deploy as designed in the event of a collision, which could increase the risk of injury or death to vehicle occupants.”The issue only impacts Prados with build dates of between June 24 2024 and October 3 2024, while only GX550s built between March 6 2024 and September 17 2024 have been impacted.Both brands will contact owners of affected vehicles to arrange an inspection of the Electric Brake Controller, and if required, complete the recall free of charge. This will take approximately one hour.LandCruiser Prado owners can check if their VIN number on the list of affected vehicles here, while GX550 owners can check their VIN numbers here.

Audi has issued a recall for its plug-in hybrid Q5 SUV for a potential fire risk.

Hyundai has issued a recall notice for SUVs due to a fire risk. More than 8700 ix35 mid-size SUVs built between 2012 and 2013 are affected. The notice issued by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said a manufacturing defect could lead to a fire while the car was driving or parked.