The North American automakers that received over $15 billion in bail-out funds from the American and Canadian governments eighteen months ago, announced this week that over 2 million vehicles are being recalled. This announcement includes an extensive list of cars, SUV’s, vans and Hummers.
GM Recalls
General Motors announced on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, it is recalling almost 100,000 vehicles in Canada which is part of a much larger recall including more than 1.5 million cars worldwide.
Canada.com reported that this recall notice is due to a washer fluid heater system that may overheat and cause a fire; this is the second recall on the same issue in two years. Although GM thought they rectified the problem in the 2008 recall, the automaker was made aware of five fires related to that fix. Now, dealers will remove the heater portion of the washer fluid system. Vehicle owners and those leasing autos that are affected will be re-imbursed $100 for loss of this feature.
In the United States, about 1.37 million vehicles are affected, 98,794 in Canada and another 65,000 in international markets.
Chrysler Recalls
Also this week, Chrysler announced a recall list that affects 600,000 vehicles in the United States and another 44,000 vehicles in Canada.
Almost 300,000 Chrysler Town and Country minivans and Dodge Caravan minivans (2008-2009) may develop a problem in the electrical system that could trigger a fire with the sliding door.
There are another (almost) 300,000 Jeep Wranglers (2007-2010) that may experience leaking brake fluid that can cause brake failure.
This news follows in the wake of last week’s announcement by Chrysler to recall more than 25,000 Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass vehicles due to the risk of accelerator pedals becoming stuck and causing unintended acceleration. This recall came five weeks after United States safety regulators opened an investigation into potentially sticky accelerator pedals based on five consumer complaints.
Recent Recalls
Owners of GM and Chrysler vehicles built between 2006-2010 are encouraged to call their dealership to find out if their vehicle is one of the automobiles that are on the recall list. Although an auto recall list is provided on a Suite101 blog, it is best to confirm with a GM or Chrysler dealership.
Car Recalls
Automobiles have been around for over a century and even though there are advanced technologies; automobiles are still subject to problems. Recalls are not to be feared, they are an action of either the goodwill of the manufacturer to keep consumers safe, or they are an action due to Transport Canada or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration acting on consumer complaints.
Auto Consumer Safety Concerns
Transport Canada and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are the governing bodies in Canada and in the United States that are responsible for responding to consumer complaints.
The NHTSA is dedicated to achieving high standards in motor vehicle and highway safety. They work to help prevent crashes and their attendant costs, both financial and people’s lives. NHTSA conducts defect investigations and administers safety recalls to support its mission to improve safety on America’s highways.
Transport Canada is responsible for enforcing the Motor Vehicle Safety Act that covers all original safety-related equipment supplied with a vehicle by the manufacturer. The Act also covers tires and child restraints.
Karen Stephenson - Karen has written for several newspapers and print media in addition to many online publications. She holds a B.A. in English and an ...
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