GM recalls

Topic: GM recalls (Read 4824 times) previous topic - next topic

GM recalls

March 05, 2010, 12:59:58 AM

A couple days ago, GM announces recalls on several brand cars going back several years about power steering.

On one hand I have to say its probably better for GM to recall thier own stuff in light of how Toyota is being handled.

Saw yesterday where toyota repaired gas pedals were still accelerating and in some cases the brake override was failing as well.

Anyone know the scoop on GM's recall ,, anything about the reasons why they came out on thier own?

Ford must be riding in high cotton as of lately with best numbers against GM in over 10 years.

GM recalls

Reply #1 – March 05, 2010, 01:12:18 AM

move to correct section mods,, sorry

GM recalls

Reply #2 – March 05, 2010, 02:26:43 AM

Give Ford some time..we all know about their fires and such...:hick:

To say that Ford is giving GM a run for their money isn't really saying much. What's Ford compared to say...Honda, Toyota, or even Nissan?

And I don't mean vehicle safety, recalls or the like.

Go Fords!

GM recalls

Reply #3 – March 05, 2010, 03:06:58 AM

I personally don't think GM wants to build cars anymore. They are involved in so many other things their car division doesn't amount to much of their gross. They would probably be better off, but the country would falter.

GM recalls

Reply #4 – March 05, 2010, 09:14:55 AM

I personally don't think GM has wanted to build cars for decades. Just look at some of the they have built. And Ford was no better until very recently (if I wanted to I know I could find a mid 90's article in a car magazine with a quote from a Ford top exec bragging that Ford was a "truck company that also made cars"). The only reason Ford is shining in comparison to GM right now is that they had a head start by borrowing money when it was available to borrow. By the time GM's shiznit had hit the fan the taps had been turned off by the banks.

As for recalls, I think the whole Toyota thing has been blown out of proportion by the media, but I also think all is fair, since they would have (indeed, they HAVE) done the same thing to GM and Ford. It's nice to see Toyota fanboys getting a bit of their own for a change. I'm also not surprised that the Toyota fix isn't working. There is more than enough evidence to suggest that the electronics/programming is the problem (including one story of a Toyota owner bringing his car to the dealership with the accelerator stuck wide open but the pedal not sticking or jammed under floor mats).

This power steering thing is likely going to be an industry wide problem for years to come (especially as cars with this relatively new technology age), but again, it's blown out of proportion (for both Toyota and GM). A car suddenly losing power steering assist is not a new phenomenon. When pumps were belt driven the car would lose assist when the belt breaks. Now they lose it because the pump motor fails. I don't recall a recall (wait, what?) ever being announced because a belt broke...

In the end, it's not the recall itself that is damaging, it's the way the manufacturer handles it. If the manufacturer "mans up" and immediately (and willingly) takes steps to correct the issue the damage to the brand will be minimal. If, on the other hand, they decide to fight it every step of the way and deny any problems exist even in the face of mounting evidence, they will be damaged forever. And if it comes to light that the manufacturer KNEW about problems and willingly threw up roadblocks (IE hiding documentation, not cooperating with public safety agencies, etc) the shiznit REALLY hits the fan. Sadly, it appears that Toyota has taken this route (a route that is all too familiar to both GM and Ford).

GM recalls

Reply #5 – March 05, 2010, 09:25:08 AM

The power steering motors in question were built by a company called JTEKT, whose primary financial backer is TOYota. The motors were made in puppiesan. Back in Nov. 2009, GM began legal proceedings against JTEKT because they determined the motors were faulty. This recall is just the next step of that formality.

http://www.jtekt-na.com/

The lawsuit:
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20091123/FREE/911239988#

The Cobalt/G5/Pursuit are made here locally so we've been keeping up on the issue. It's not really a huge issue for GM but rather a huge issue between them and their supplier.

GM recalls

Reply #6 – March 05, 2010, 10:42:48 AM

Hmmm, very interesting.

GM recalls

Reply #7 – March 05, 2010, 11:23:37 AM

Quote from:

GM announces recalls on several brand cars going back several decades about everything.

fixed

GM recalls

Reply #8 – March 05, 2010, 01:53:44 PM

The truth is, GM and Ford have been having plenty of recalls over the last couple of months. Like Eric said, GM has been dealing with this recall for well over a month, publicly. Ford and Nissan have both had their own problems with their Dana sourced Drivelines, which Toyota recently did a recall for in their Tacoma's. As well, Ford sourced pedals from Denso, which is where Toyota lays blame for there UA issues (wrongly, since over 60 reports have been made of 'fixed' cars still exhibiting UA), and thus recalled their Transit Connect overseas. Nissan just recalled half a million cars and trucks for failing brakes and fuel gauges, and VW recalled 200k cars in Brazil over failing bearings. It's the nature of Auto Manufacturing, and always will be.

Why does Toyota stand apart from that? Because they NEVER had recalls. They had plenty of reason to recall their cars, but in order to keep their impossibly clean image with the public (who believed that Toyota was incapable of making a faulty part or putting one in their cars) they suppressed and destroyed information that showed these issues, issued service bulletins for numerous cars instead (you would bring your car in for a regularly scheduled oil change and have something fixed on your car without ever being told), and they did all of this in the face of over 50 deaths from one issue alone, which they blamed on the drivers, even after getting caught and called out by the press. Crooks and criminals, and the public fell for their self-proclamations that they were angels and unicorns.

As for Ford's numbers, it is a big deal, but it has still only been one month, and a month where the world's second biggest car-maker is losing sales in the double digits. It just goes to show that Toyota buyers are trading them in at Ford dealers. But it's only a month, during a market anomaly, and that doesn't mean it'll last for 12 months, or even three. Who knows, though. Carmen's right about the borrowing of money when it was available, and even after it was all but gone, they acquired even more financing, but only by offering up the entire assets of FoMoCo. as collateral. If they failed in making those payments, %100 of Ford would (and still might, depending on how they're doing on those loans) belong to a financial institution. Is that better than belonging to Governments who are doing a good job of turning GM around? Maybe, maybe not, but after seeing what happens to a car company after the 'return-on-investment-at-any-cost' types get hold of it, I don't have much hope that it is. It's a big gamble, to say the least.

Now, I'm just wondering when my electric power steering is going to start acting up. Not because it's in a GM vehicle, but because it's fairly new to the industry. The last thing I need is to get some sort of 'force feedback' feeling, pulling on the wheel because some sensor wore out, as all sensors do.

GM recalls

Reply #9 – March 06, 2010, 12:55:11 AM

Quote from: oldraven;312800

Now, I'm just wondering when my electric power steering is going to start acting up. Not because it's in a GM vehicle, but because it's fairly new to the industry. The last thing I need is to get some sort of 'force feedback' feeling, pulling on the wheel because some sensor wore out, as all sensors do.

does this now mean our cars are sort of like the A10 Worthog of today?
I think so:D

dependable, reliable and not over compliated with critical component technology which upon failure could cause serious injury or death.

True to the A10's history both past and present.

GM recalls

Reply #10 – March 06, 2010, 02:33:52 AM

Well, dependable and reliable are two words I've never once used to describe my TC, so I don't know about that. :D

GM recalls

Reply #11 – March 06, 2010, 03:56:19 PM

I've been driving my car around 150 miles a day for 8 months not, and well over 150 5 days a week for 2 months. I have only missed one day from my car, and that was the throttle cable popping off after I did not have it hooked back up correctly. I lost the clip that held the cable on and did not realize. Probably drove it like that for months until it finally came off.

GM recalls

Reply #12 – March 07, 2010, 08:58:03 PM

Quote from: jcassity;312863

does this now mean our cars are sort of like the A10 Worthog of today?

.

Incredible gun.....with a plane built around it.