Vehicle Recall

There is a media frenzy underway with the recall of a large number of Toyota vehicles. The media seems to be fascinated, even happy, with the recall. A good question would be, in the past 50 years, how many cars have been recalled, and what companies built those vehicles? Another question, when a problem is identified, wouldn’t you rather the company recall the vehicles and fix the problem?

About a month ago, I received a recall notice from Nissan for my car. I don’t remember seeing any big news stories in the media about my car being recalled. Several cars I have owned over the years, Fords, GMs, etc. have had recalls. In May 2009, GM issued a recall for 1,497,516 vehicles from the late-1990 and early-2000 model years.

When I received the recall notice for the Nissan, I called the dealer, took it back and it was fixed. I have to ask myself, if there is a problem, wouldn’t I want the company to recall the vehicle, repair it and let me get back to life?

That’s exactly what Toyota is doing with the recall. Last week, I read in Consumer Reports, that Chrysler is recalling about 170,000 vehicles. Since then, I learned that Honda has issued a recall for nearly a half-million vehicles. And now, GM has issued a recall for 905,000 Chevy Cobalts. Does that mean that Honda or Toyota now sell low quality vehicles? I don’t think so! What it does mean is that Honda, Toyota, Nissan and many other foreign-owned auto manufacturers now sell millions of vehicles in the U.S. each year. With production and sales numbers in the millions, it stands to reason that there will be problems. The odds are simply greater with the larger numbers of vehicles sold. Sometimes, common sense has to prevail.

A permanent fix for the gas pedal/floor mat problem in the vehicles is the most important issue. The fix had to be approved by the government – no small task - and they approved the fix. The parts have been shipped, dealer’s service technicians are being trained to make the repairs and everyone that owns one of the recalled vehicles can soon have it fixed.

A recent newspaper carried a “paid” advertisement as an “Open Letter to Toyota Customers” from Toyota’s President and COO, Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. As the letter states, “for more than 50 years, Toyota has provided you with safe, reliable, quality vehicles and first-rate service.” Toyota’s reputation for quality vehicles and their loyal customers will certainly make this unfortunate event only a long-term bump in the road. Consumers expect quality and safety. In my opinion, Toyota owners will continue to count on Toyota to provide just that.