A recent article by Yahoo discussed the large number of automobile recalls issued so far this year. Experts say that with the recent addition of 2.7 million recalled Jeeps, 2013 might be on track to beat the 16.2 million vehicles recalled last year. The Yahoo piece gave a rundown of the top ten largest automotive recalls so far this year. To keep things a bit more brief, we’ll go over the top five recalls and what technical problems they involved.
Bringing up the rear, with the fifth most recalls of 2013, is Subaru which has so far recalled 630,000 vehicles. The recalls included Forester, Legacy and Outback models. The issues included trouble with potentially faulty headlight wiring, which has been found to lead to dangerous short circuits.
Honda issued the fourth most recalls in 2013, affecting nearly 750,000 vehicles so far this year. This includes large numbers of Pilot SUVs and Odyssey minivans made between 2011 and 2013. Problems with driver-side airbags deploying improperly have been blamed for the large number of recalls.
The third most auto recalls were from Toyota, which recalled 752,000 vehicles including Corollas and Matrix hatchbacks. The problem was again related to airbags. Toyota said that it has received reports that the cars’ airbags can deploy unintentionally or fail to deploy when needed.
The second largest recall this year goes to Hyundai, which recalled more than 1 million vehicles, an extensive recall that impacted nearly their entire line of cars and SUVs. Hyundai recalled thousand of Accents, Tucsons and Elantras made between 2007 and 2010. The Santa Fe, Veracruz, Genesis and Sonata were also recalled for trouble with the brake light system, a problem that can lead to dangerous and deadly rear-end accidents when others do not know that you are slowing down.
The largest recall by far this year was issued by Chrysler. The automaker has said it will recall 2.7 million Jeep Grand Cherokees and Jeep Liberty models due to an especially vulnerable fuel tank system that has been found to catch fire in the event of a rear-end accident. This recall was the result of a lengthy fight between the car company and the NHTSA. Though it was for a smaller number of vehicles than federal regulators wanted, it will still mean increased safety for millions of American drivers.
So far this year 8.6 million vehicles have been recalled across the country. Whether the trend of abnormally large recalls continues remains to be seen. Though it’s good to see car companies taking responsibility for defective products, it’s troubling that so many millions of poorly designed or manufactured vehicles were able to make it out onto the roadways in the first place, jeopardizing the safety of millions of innocent motorists.
CA
One Comment
Adam Kielich
Is that an indication that cars are increasingly less well designed or that there is increasingly more successful product liability litigation? Either way, seems bad for consumers that so many vehicles have to be recalled because it suggests there may be lots of other unsafe vehicles on the road that have yet to be recalled or never will be recalled.
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