Recent Recall News Has Shown GM Has Added An Additional 1.2 Million SUV’s To Its Recall List And Honda Has Issued A Vehicle Recall Due To A Potential Fire Risk
General Motors is in a lot of hot water this year due to the controversy surrounding the recall of over 3.5 million vehicles due to a faulty ignition switch responsible for the death of at least 12 drivers and thousands of accidents. In the wake of this massive recall, additional vehicle recall news was announced by GM in mid-March 2014 that the company is recalling another 1.2 million vehicles due to faulty wiring in some vehicles with side-impact air bags, 300,000 vehicles with faulty instrument panels, and another 64,000 vehicles due to a fire risk from overheating brakes.
The faulty airbag models are the 2008-2013 GMC Acadia, the 2008-13 Buick Enclave, the 2009-13 Chevrolet Traverse, and the 2008-2010 Saturn Outlook. GM is also recalling over 300,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans due to a safety risk involving unbelted passengers and the vehicle instrument panel. These vehicles are sold for commercial use. 64,000 Cadillac XTS sedans from 2013 and 2014 are also under recall, due to overheating brakes which have resulted in two fires.
According to GM, the vehicles with faulty air-bag wiring have a warning light that states, “Service Air Bag.” If a customer ignores this warning, then the airbags will not deploy in a side-impact collision. Other safety features designed to reduce the danger of side-impact crashes will also fail to engage if the warning light is ignored. The spokesperson for GM, Greg Martin, has stated that the company is unaware of any existing injuries caused by the faulty air bags, instrument panels, or brakes. [CNN, March 2014, http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/17/autos/gm-recall/]
GM has received much criticism for their response to the ignition switch problem, since new information has come out that GM knew about the faulty ignition switches since 2001. GM failed to respond to the issue until February of 2014, leading to the death of at least 12 people. Originally, GM was going to recall a smaller number of vehicles until car manufacturers found that the same faulty ignition switch was used in several models of GM vehicles. According to GM CEO Mary Barra, the recalls will cost the company about $300 million, which is less than $100 per recalled vehicle. Due to the response of GM during the recall, the company is currently under criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney in New York.
In related vehicle recall news, Honda instigated the voluntary recall of nearly 900,000 Odyssey minivans due to a fire risk. The vans were manufactured between 2005 and 2010 in Alabama. According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the vans contain a fuel-pump part that could crack and cause a fuel leak. The company has not reported any accidents or injuries related to this problem. Honda has stated that the proper repair parts will be available in the summer. Until then, drivers of recalled vehicles will be provided with “interim” parts, starting in April.