GM Ignition Recall Snowballing

[FoMoJo]

I know plenty of people with GM cars and that isn't even close to being true. 

Its OK to not like a certain companies cars, but why "be a hater" to such an extreme extent? GM makes some really good cars and some mediocre cars and some crappy cars. Just like every other automaker (to some degree or another).

I don't think anyone is "hating" GM here, but their quality control, lack of care or however it is described, is setting new levels of breakage.  Yes, they make a number of very good cars but there is no excuse for continuing to install parts that they knew were not up to standard.  This is the real problem...when manufacturers do not learn from past mistakes.

[Byteme]

What? How was that a hating post in any way?


Besides I work at a Chevy dealer, a lot of cars start wearing out, coming up on general maintenance at about 3 years, 36k. Tires, possibly some other bushings and shit wearing out.  That's with any manufacturer....

If nothing ever wore out, we wouldn't have to recondition 2-3 year old trade ins.


For many, it's great peace of mind to dump a car right out of warranty.

With the average age of passenger cars on the road being about 11.3 years and light trucks 11.4 years it's apparent that most buyers are holding on to their cars longer than 3 years.


The stats are according to R. L. Polk in August 2013.

[MX793]

With the average age of passenger cars on the road being about 11.3 years and light trucks 11.4 years it's apparent that most buyers are holding on to their cars longer than 3 years.


The stats are according to R. L. Polk in August 2013.

Not necessarily.  Based on means, there are really a couple of tiers of buyers.  Those that buy new, those that buy gently used (2nd owners), and those that buy well used (folks who are always the third or later owner).  That average age is the age of vehicles being driven by people of all 3 buyer types.  So the question is not what the average age of a vehicle on the road is, but rather what is the average age of a vehicle still owned by its original buyer?  I'd be surprised if the answer were more than 5 years.  In fact, I'd bet it's around 4 years.

[MrH]

With the average age of passenger cars on the road being about 11.3 years and light trucks 11.4 years it's apparent that most buyers are holding on to their cars longer than 3 years.


The stats are according to R. L. Polk in August 2013.

Wow, that's a lot older than i imagined. Interesting information though.

Is that based on registrations or what? If I've got a 20 year old car that barely runs, and a 5 year old car i daily drive, I'm a bringing the average down ?

[MX793]

Wow, that's a lot older than i imagined. Interesting information though.

Is that based on registrations or what? If I've got a 20 year old car that barely runs, and a 5 year old car i daily drive, I'm a bringing the average down ?

Go down south or to the southwest and there are lots of 15+ year old cars (and trucks) being daily driven that were all but rusted to extinction in the salt states.

[Byteme]

GM today announced the recall of another 2.6 million cars and trucks.    Yeah, they are erring on the side of caution and thinking when in doubt recall it, but still That's over 15 million vehicles so far.





By Ben Klayman
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DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co said on Tuesday it is recalling another 2.6 million vehicles globally, raising the number of vehicles it has recalled so far this year to almost 15.4 million.

The four recalls are the latest announced by the largest U.S. automaker, the highest profile of which is the recall of cars with defective ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths. GM has been criticized by safety advocates and fined by U.S. safety regulators for not catching the faulty switch earlier.

GM also said on Tuesday that it is doubling the charge it expects to take in the second quarter to about $400 million, mostly for recall-related repairs. In the first quarter, GM took a charge of $1.3 billion, mostly related to the ignition switch recall.

The Detroit company said Tuesday's actions raises the number of U.S. recalls this year to 29. That includes the earlier high-profile recall of 2.6 million vehicles to replace defective ignition switches. The total number of recalled vehicles this year is more than the previous five years combined.

The latest actions cover possible faulty seat belts, transmissions, air bags and fire issues, and mostly affected vehicles sold in the United States.

GM said there have been no fatalities associated with the latest recalls. The actions affect the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook full-size crossover vehicles; older-generation Chevy Malibu and Pontiac G6 mid-sized sedans; and newer versions of the Cadillac Escalade SUV and heavy-duty Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks.

Last week, GM announced five recalls covering almost 3 million vehicles globally and said it would take a second-quarter charge of about $200 million. It also was fined by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a record $35 million for its delayed response to the defective ignition switch.

GM is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, Congress, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and several states for its handling of the faulty ignition switch, which engineers first discovered in 2001. GM has been criticized for failing to detect the faulty part and for not recalling the vehicles before this year.

The automaker expects to complete an internal probe of its handling of the issue within the next two weeks.

The largest of the four new recalls announced on Tuesday covers more than 1.5 million full-size crossovers from model years 2009 through 2014 to replace potential defective seat belts. GM has told dealers to stop selling the newer models until they are repaired.

The other large recall covers almost 1.1 million older-generation mid-sized sedans with 4-speed automatic transmissions where a shift cable could wear out. The total number of vehicles affected by this recall outside the U.S. market was not yet available. This is an expansion of a previous Saturn Aura recall.

GM also put a stop-sale order on the 2015 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV full-size SUVs, recalling about 1,500 vehicles because the passenger side air bags may not deploy properly in an accident. The company said it has emailed the 224 customers who had taken delivery of the vehicles, telling them not to let passengers sit in the front passenger seat until the repair has been made.

The company also recalled 58 heavy-duty versions of its 2015 full-size Chevy and GMC pickup trucks in the United States for potential fire issues.

GM shares were down 3.1 percent at $33.20 on Tuesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis, Bernard Orr)
  GM today announced the recall of another 2.6 million cars and trucks.    Yeah, they are erring on the side of caution and thinking when in doubt recall it, but still That's over 15 million vehicles so far.

[FoMoJo]

A new record.

[Payman]

Son got his 3rd letter from GM Canada. Still waiting on parts to fix his 2006 G5 coupe. 

[Byteme]

Ah, the new General Motors.  The same old organization that never hesitates to deflect the blame. 

GM To Hide Behind Bankruptcy For Crash-Related Lawsuits

Under intense grilling once again in Washington today, General Motors executives made it clear that lawsuits filed over the ignition switch defect are going to be "Old GM's" legal problem, not theirs.


GM CEO Mary Barra, top lawyer Michael Millikin, Delphi CEO Rodney O'Neal and others testified today before the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee about the defect and the crashes linked to it.P

During the hearing Millikin simply said "We will not" when asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal whether GM would waive the immunity to individual legal claims provided under its 2009 bankruptcy protections. When GM emerged from bankruptcy as a new legal entity after the bailout, the government ruled the automaker was not liable for anything prior to that. P

So, yeah. Even though "New GM" has many of the same employees it did before its bankruptcy, many of whom are still making cars, lawsuits related to crashes before 2009 aren't their problem. P

On the plus side, GM has said it will not invoke its bankruptcy protections for its victim compensation fund, and taking that compensation will not waive someone's ability to sue.

Senators like committee chair Claire McCaskill criticized the company's "culture of lawyering up and whack-a-mole to minimize liability," and wondered why Millikin — the company's top lawyer, pictured above at left — was also not fired as a result. Millikin said he only learned about the ignition switch problems in February.

But senators said Millikin should be held responsible for lower-level lawyers who for years worked on private lawsuits involving deadly crashes in which a vehicle's ignition switch could slip out of position, causing the car to stall, disabling air bags, power steering and power brakes.

"I do not understand how the General Counsel for a litigation department that had this massive failure of responsibility, how he would be allowed to continue in that important leadership role in this company," said Senator Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce subcommittee.

McCaskill also compared GM to the beleaguered Veterans Administration, and said that former secretary Eric Shinseki was removed from his post even when he wasn't told of long delays at their hospitals. Why then, McCaskill asked, is Millikin still around?

Millikin was not among those 15 people fired as a result of the ignition switch debacle, and Barra has said everyone who needed to be fired or disciplined already has been. Today she defended him as a man of "tremendous integrity" whose subordinates failed him.

But hey, GM's corporate culture is changing. We know that because Barra says it is.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

It's all they know how to do. Lose money, build shitty cars and blame everyone else for all their problems.

[Mustangfan2003]

I think my mom got a recall letter or so after getting that Impala.  Don't think it was ignition though.  But on the subject of ignitions it's amazing that GM screws up something that's been around for nearly 100 years and no other car company has an issue with. 

[MX793]

I think my mom got a recall letter or so after getting that Impala.  Don't think it was ignition though.  But on the subject of ignitions it's amazing that GM screws up something that's been around for nearly 100 years and no other car company has an issue with. 

Apparently they held a consumer survey on ways to improve the quality of their vehicles and one of the complaint items was that their old ignition switches felt "cheap" and low quality due to the smoothness and effort required to turn the switch.  They designed the faulty switches in response to this complaint.

[ifcar]

Apparently they held a consumer survey on ways to improve the quality of their vehicles and one of the complaint items was that their old ignition switches felt "cheap" and low quality due to the smoothness and effort required to turn the switch.  They designed the faulty switches in response to this complaint.

How does that match previous reports that the parts weren't built to the proper specification?

[Byteme]

How does that match previous reports that the parts weren't built to the proper specification?

February 2002: GM switch engineer Ray DeGiorgio approves the design of a new small-car ignition switch, even though Delphi, the supplier, says the switch doesn't meet GM's specifications. The switch goes into the Saturn Ion in late 2002. Later, it's used for the Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, Chevrolet HHR, Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.

Let's say the GM switch felt "notchy"; it didn't turn smoothly because the detent plunger, essentially a shaft on a spring that engages a notch that holds the switch in certain positions (run, acc, off) required too much force.  Shorten the shaft and the force is reduced making the switch action seem smoother.  Unfortunately that also makes it easier to slip out of position. 

I think of it like a handsaw.  It takes a certain amount of force to force new, sharp saw through wood; the teeth resist being pushed through the cut.  Grind off most of the height of the teeth and it's much easier to push the saw through the cut, much less resistance.     

[veeman]

I don't blame GM for their lawyering tactics right now.  They screwed up big time and have set up a compensation fund for the victims which will probably be more than a million per victim.  Now it's about dealing with the present and future.  Of course they have to try to limit liability and shield themselves against lawsuits.  What company or individual wouldn't?  You either close up shop and go home or you position yourself in the best way to limit monetary damage.  It's not like they're not going to compensate the families of the victims.