2010, the Year of the Car Recall
2010 started off with a gigantic recall of Toyotas. Eight million vehicles needed new accelerator pedals and floor mats, costing Toyota over $2 billion. Recent news asserts that now Chrysler will recall 600,000 vehicles throughout North America. GM also just had a huge recall of 1.5 million vehicles over a faulty heated washer fluid system. While we haven’t seen numbers like 8 million, the recalls just keep coming. Car companies have been recalling cars at an alarming rate this year. Here are a variety of just some of the recalls:
Lexus
In May of this year, Lexus recalled one of its luxury SUV lines after Consumer Reports tested it and found a problem with the electronic stability control system during certain maneuvers. The recall affected 8,300 Lexus LS vehicles in Japan and in the United States.
BMW
In February, Insideline.com reports that, “BMW recalled 38,000 2008-’11 1 Series cars in the U.S. because of a possible fire hazard, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.” In a less significant number, they also recalled about 740 vehicles in April due to not meeting an American electric standard.
Volkswagen
VW is the latest industry leader to join the circus of car recalls. They recalled almost 16,000 Routan model minivans after a fault was found in its sliding door wiring that could spark fire, according to reports.
Kia
Yahoo reports, “Kia has recalled 468 cee’d and 6,585 Picanto models in the UK after identifying safety issues. According to Kia, affected cars could ‘suffer insufficient brake force,’ although the company is keen to stress there have been no reported incidents in the UK.”
This must be a pattern.
It is almost difficult to keep track of all the recalls. One can perform a Google search with just about and carmaker and the word “recall” and get results with staggering numbers from this year alone. This can be viewed as part of a larger pattern though. Mike Qunicy of Consumer Reports says government investigations have led to the recall of more than 25 million vehicles – by every major U.S. automaker – over the past three years. Many attribute this to all the new technology being packed into new cars, as with new technology comes unthought-of problems.
Recalls happen
It is comforting to know that most recalls are announced before any tragic accident occurs, but recalls can cause car accidents and they most certainly have done so. There are even a few deaths attributed to recalls. The only certain way to avoid automaker errors is to altogether avoid cars. Though it sounds unusual, one can get by without owning a car and there are many services out there that help to make it possible. So sell you car to bigbucksauto.com and get out of your car, because who knows what vehicle will be on the next recall list.
