Automotive Recalls

Automotive Recalls

by Marilyn Mackenzie

 

 

On our 6 p.m. Wednesday local news, the consumer reporter mentioned the Toyota recalls.  No surprise there.  Everyone has been talking about these recalls.  This time he said that it could be that the problems are not with the floor mats or the gas pedals, but with the electronics and computer.  That would explain why some people who said that they got their feet under the gas pedal still couldn't get the car to stop accelerating.  And it would also explain why other car manufacturers that have used the identical gas pedals have not had trouble with their models.

 

The other thing that the consumer reporter said was the recalls are not unusual for any car manufacturer.

 

I did a quick search and the only one that I saw right away was a recent Honda recall.  And I found some information about the 1.5 million GM cars made between 1997 and 2003 recalled last year for possible engine fires.

 

There was this article of interest:  6 Myths About Car Recalls

 

And then I found this:  New Car Recalls and Used Car Recalls.  You can search the make, model and year of the car you drive to find out what, if any, recalls have been made.

 

I was quite surprised.  Both my husband's and my car have had recalls that I didn't know anything about.

 

And when I checked on cars I used to own, I was also surprised.  Every one of them had some kind of recall and sometimes they were recalled 10 years after the car was made!  One of the cars I used to drive had a recall that had to do with a fuel leak and I never knew, even though they recalled almost half a million cars.

 

So, our consumer researcher was right.  Recalls are not than uncommon.  I suggest you click on one of the links above to see what malady your own car might have.  And I would suggest keeping that as a resource as you buy any used or new cars.