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| Cars being shipped to dealerships. |
Last summer my old 2003 Cavalier died. It was spewing black smoke and wasn't worth the money it would take to keep it on the road.
My wife Heather and myself replaced it with a Chevy Trax, one of the smaller SUVs General Motors produces. It wasn't too big, something my wife Heather preferred because this would be driven by her primarily. It was also big enough to carry our three growing children with room for luggage.
Not long after we bought the Trax we received a 'Recall Notice'. I have been lucky during my car-buying years in that I had never seen one before. The windshield wiper arms needed replacing. I hoped that would be the last recall notice I'd get but two weeks ago we received another. This one was far more serious as the brake line had to be moved. It was too close to a heat source and could wear a hole in the line causing the brakes to fail. I took it in and had it fixed.
While I was sitting at the dealership waiting for the shuttle to take me to work I thought about recall notices and the increasing frequency you hear about them, not only from GM but most auto manufacturers. GM, in particular, has come under intense pressure lately regarding its ignition recall. According to a GM press release 1.6 million model-year 2003-2007 vehicles and 1 million model year 2008-2011 vehicles were recalled for the faulty ignition. That's a lot of cars with defective parts in them.
Not so many years ago Toyota issued recalls after its floor mats trapped gas pedals causing cars to accelerate wildly. Just last week Ford issued a recall notice affecting 1.4 million vehicles North American wide. Google 'car recalls' and you'll find no shortage of stories regarding faulty parts on vehicles.
I realize mistakes happen. But recall notices from auto manufacturers have become chronic in recent years. Wouldn't it be nice if these companies got it right the first time and didn't have to send out quick fixes to problems that should have been caught before these vehicles were put to market? They're so busy pumping out cars, trucks, SUVs, sports cars etc. that scant attention is being paid to quality.
Quality trumps quantity in my books. You pay enough for vehicles these days, new or used. The least these automotive corporations could do is get it right the first time.
I hope I don't find myself sitting at the dealership again day dreaming about recall notices.
What about you, have you ever gotten a recall notice for one of your cars?
