Toyota's recall of more than 8 million cars shocked the auto world, and now Honda is having a crisis of its own. The Japanese carmaker has issued a statement about its Odyssey minivans and Element small trucks in the US. But owners say they were never notified.

The Honda models reportedly have braking system problems, that make it more difficult to stop. A Honda spokesman said if left un-modified, the problem could cause loss of braking power and possibly a crash.

The U.S. Safety Administration has reported three crashes linked to the malfunction, with minor injuries but no deaths. Although Honda says it's authorized the recall, customers have complained they didn't receive any notice.

Marine Preap, Honda Odyssey owner, said, "Quite shocked, I did not receive anything in the mail on it. Again I would expect Honda to at least issue a statement to all the customers, but again I did not receive anything on it so I’m very much surprised. Especially for something like Honda who we bought the car initially for the reliability and all the safety features, and I would image the breaking system would definitely qualify as a safety feature, again I'm very shocked."

The problem was traced back to the device which powers the electronic stability control system. It involves more than 400 thousand vehicles. Honda says it will voluntarily repair all the affected cars and assure customers good performance.

The safety recall is Honda’s second in the past two months. In February it recalled almost 1 million vehicles globally, due to air safety bag problems.