AUTOMOTIVE RECALLS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2015

The first half of 2015 has been record-breaking with regards to automotive recalls. This May we witnessed the largest auto recall in US history affecting 34 million vehicles, due to the Takata air bag recall.

But the Takata air bag recall is not the only noteworthy automotive recall in the first half of 2015. Here is a recap of three (3) notable recalls in the first half of 2015.

1. Takata air bag recall – The Takata air bag recall is a recall affecting 34 million vehicles manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota. With so many vehicles requiring repair, on May 22, 2015 the NHTSA issued a notice of intent to coordinate and accelerate the repair of the millions of vehicles. The affected vehicles were recalled due to defective air bag inflators.

2. Acura, Dodge, Jeep, Honda, Pontiac and Toyota – This follow up recall in January of 2015 affected 2.12 million cars and SUVs. Vehicles included the Acura MDX, Dodge Viper, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty, Honda Odyssey, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix and Toyota Avalon built in the early 2000s. To add further confusion, this follow up recall includes the Takata air bag recall, as these vehicles may have defective Takata airbags which have an inadvertent deployment. Unfortunately, this also means vehicle owners may have to see their dealer twice to fix their recall issues.

3. Ford recall – This recall in late May affected 422,814 sedans and crossover vehicles due to a problem with the power steering in Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. The recall covers 2011 to 2013 Ford Taurus sedans, Flex crossovers, Lincoln MKS and MKT, along with the 2011 to 2012 Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and some 2011 Mercury Milans.

The second half of 2015, unfortunately may not be any better than the first. On May 18, 2015 the U.S. DOT announced the Fiat Chrysler public hearing and issues special order, which means the NHTSA will hold a public hearing on July 2, 2015 to determine whether the automaker has failed to remedy safety defects in 20 recalls. Those 20 recalls affect approximately 10 million vehicles.