Honda recalls Jazz Sport, City models in NZ

Japanese car maker Honda is recalling about 1200 vehicles in New Zealand because of defective parts that could stall engines.

The company says owners of the 1.5-litre Jazz Sport and City 2009-2010 models have been notified of the recall.

Honda New Zealand says there is a potential fault with small springs in the engine valve control gear.

It says if a fault does occur an abnormal noise will be generated or, in extreme cases, there may be damage causing the engine to stall and not restart.

Honda New Zealand head of marketing Graeme Meyer says for most people with these models, nothing will go wrong.

Mr Meyer says it is possible the car could stall at speed - but that would be under exceptional circumstances and only one minor incident has been reported in New Zealand.

Nearly 700,000 vehicles have been recalled worldwide.

In December, Honda recalled more than 1 million Fit models to repair a headlight fault.