It seems to be ‘factory recall’ season, at least of which is simply fall-out from the Toyota floor-mat fiasco that has spun out of control. Alongside further worldwide recalls by Toyota, Peugeot is doing a precautionary recall for their Toyota-rebadged models. Meanwhile, Hyundai and Honda are having recalls of their own, both related to safety issues.
If you haven’t heard, Toyota now holds the record for the largest single recall ever. Involving nothing more than replacing overlong accelerator pedals that are prone to get stuck when a floor-mat slips under it, the recall was extended to an additional 2.3 million vehicles in the United States, up from the 3.8 million that were already recalled. Word is now that the recall will extend to 2 million cars in Europe, while Toyota offices around the world are in talks with various countries to make the recall global.
Toyota is having a string of bad publicity in the United States, the company’s largest market, where Toyota’s perception of quality helped it become the largest automaker in the world this year.
General Motors is recalling some Corvette C6 and ZO6 models, models years between 2005 and 2007, but only those equipped with a removable “targa” roof. The adhesive between the roof panel and the frame may separate. According to the U.S. NHTSA safety agency, if there is a partial separation, the driver may notice one or more symptoms, such as a snapping noise when driving over bumps, wind noise, poor roof panel fit, bouncy roof panel movement when a door or hatch is closed, or a water leak in the headliner.
The U.S. NHTSA safety agency has announced two factory recalls for the Volvo XC60 and various other older Volvo models involving problems with fuel systems. The recall covers more than 140,000 vehicles manufactured since 2000.
Toyota has agreed to replace the accelerator pedal with a shorter one on 3.8 million cars sold in the United States as part of its biggest factory recall in history. Cars receiving the modification will include the Toyota Camry, the Toyota Avalon, the Lexus ES and the Lexus IS.
The U.S National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating hundreds of reports that the 2004-2005 Ford Freestar and rebadged Mercury Monterey minivans have defective automatic transmissions that could fail without warning. The uproar is over the fact that many of the transmissions reportedly failed at highway speeds.
Chrysler is recalling 84,680 examples of the 2007 Dodge Nitro in the United States. The windshield wiper system may experience a condition over time where high usage of the variable pause wiper function, or “delay” mode, may eventually affect wiper functionality, rendering the wiper system inoperable.
Chrysler is recalling 161,500 Jeep Wrangler models of years 2007 through to 2008, manufactured between June 2006 and July 2008, specifically those equipped with the automatic transmission. These vehicles were not equipped with a transmission fluid temperature warning system.
Over the years, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been recalling a number of older American-made models over the issue of “leaking” cruise control switches in certain brands. By 2008, the agency had recalled around 9.6 million vehicles to repair a faulty Texas Instruments cruise-control deactivation switch, and now after an NHTSA investigation, Ford is the target of the latest recall, adding 4.5 million Ford and Mercury vehicles to the list.