GM will be paying a record-setting $35 million fine over its completely botched decade-long ignition-switch defect and subsequent recall, the Department of Transportation announced today. [More]
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GM Confirms It’s Being Probed On Multiple Fronts Over Ignition Recall
By 4.24.14
While there have been numerous reports of agencies poking their noses into General Motors’ long-delayed ignition-related recall tied to at least 13 deaths, today the car maker game some indication of just how many investigations it faces. [More]
Why Every Driver Should Care About The GM Ignition Recall
By 4.21.14
The massive ongoing recall of General Motors vehicles with faulty ignition switches (and the dozen years the company spent not issuing a recall) has made headlines, launched lawsuits, angered legislators, but many consumers who don’t own a recalled car have shrugged and said, “Glad I don’t drive one of them.” [More]
GM CEO & NHTSA Director Admit Maybe They Messed Up This Ignition Recall
By 4.1.14
This afternoon, two people who inherited the crud-storm that is GM’s ongoing, massive ignition-related recall sat before lawmakers in Congress and tried to both defend their respective organizations while admitting that mistakes were made, resulting in at least 13 deaths. [More]
NHTSA: New Vehicles Must Have Rearview Technology Starting May 2018
By 3.31.14
In four years, when you buy a new car or truck it’ll have a rearview camera as a standard feature. That’s because it’ll have to under a new rule just issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. [More]
Timeline Shows GM & NHTSA Failed On Multiple Occasions To Prevent Deaths Tied To Ignition Switch Recall
By 3.31.14
In advance of Tuesday’s hearing before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding the ongoing recall of more than 2 million GM vehicles for ignition-related problems tied to at least 13 deaths, the Committee on Energy and Commerce has released a detailed timeline of events, including all the times at which the carmaker or regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could have alerted the public to the defect. [More]
Court To Decide If Recalled GM Cars Should Remain Parked Pending Repairs
By 3.27.14
Earlier this week, plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against General Motors over the ongoing ignition-related recall of more than a million cars asked the court to issue an injunction that would compel GM to urge drivers to stop driving these vehicles until the repairs. Today it was announced that both sides will get to argue their position before the court on April 4. [More]
GM Announces Three Additional Recalls Affecting 1.5 Million Vehicles
By 3.17.14
General Motors Co announced three new recalls affecting 1.5 million vehicles for airbag deployment and other issues. The announcement comes on the same day it was revealed that the company faces its first class action lawsuit tied to February’s massive recall of vehicles for ignition problems. The company will also take a $300 million charge against earnings to pay for repairs as part of an initiative to be more responsive to problems with its vehicles. [More]
Review Claims GM Defect May Be Tied To Up To 303 Deaths
By 3.14.14
While data provided by General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration links at least 12 deaths to an ignition switch defect in Chevy Cobalts, Pontiac G5s, Saturn Ions and other vehicles, an independent review claims that the actual number of fatalities tied to this defect could be as much as 25 times that number. [More]
GM Knew Of Faulty Ignition Switches In 2001; NHTSA Says “Data Was Inconclusive”
By 3.13.14
The number of questions about General Motors’ recent recall of more than 1 million vehicles with potentially defective ignition switches continues to grow with the recent revelation that the automaker first learned of problems with the part more than a dozen years before issuing the recall that is now tied to at least a dozen deaths. [More]
Another 403,000 Graco Car Seats Added To Recall
By 3.13.14
Last month, Graco and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled 3.7 million of the company’s car seats for faulty buckles. Today comes news that an additional 403,000 seats have been added to the recall. [More]
GM Received Dozens Of Customer Warnings About Faulty Ignition Switches
By 3.11.14
Things are going from bad to worse for General Motors. First, it recalled nearly 800,000 vehicles because the ignition switches could turn off for no reason. Then it was revealed that the company was alerted to this problem by a NHTSA investigator back in 2007, and then the recall was expanded to 1.37 million cars, with GM saying that the defect may be tied to 13 deaths. New revelations show that GM had received dozens of complaints from vehicle owners about the faulty ignition switches, but still chose to not issue a recall until 2014. [More]
Aston Martin Recalling 17,590 Cars Because You Didn’t Pay $240K For A Luxury Paper Weight
By 2.5.14
There might not be many of you out there reading in Consumerist land who can afford/have the desire to buy an Aston Martin — after all, the luxury vehicles cost anywhere between $117,000 to $240,000, depending on the model. But if you’re one of the 5,001 owners in America of certain models, you probably want it to be able to accelerate. [More]
Better, Stronger, Faster? New Federal Safety Rules Proposed for Child Car Seats
By 1.22.14
From a parent’s perspective, frequent changes in car seat regulations and standards can be daunting. Still, safety is paramount, and so the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing a round of new safety standards for child car seats. [More]
Car Fires Prompt NHTSA To Open Official Probe Into Safety Of Tesla Model S
By 11.19.13
The smell of car batteries roasting in the flickering flames has reached the nose of he National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which aid it’s opened a formal probe into the safety of the Tesla Model S electric car after reports of two fires caused by cars hitting debris in the road. In other words, Elon Musk is probably not happy right now. [More]
Ford Agrees To Pay $17.35 Million To Settle Allegations It Was Slow To Issue 2012 SUV Recall
By 8.1.13
Ford is ponying up some big bucks to settle government allegations that the company putzed around and delayed the recall of almost half a million SUVs last year. The price tag to make it all go away: $17.35 million, the top penalty regulators can impose against automakers.
[More]
Chrysler Finally Agrees To Recall 2.7 Million Jeeps, Insists Vehicles Are Safe
By 6.18.13
Earlier this month Chrysler responded with a big fat “No” to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s request that it formally recall 2.7 million older model Jeeps, over regulator concerns that the vehicles could catch on fire when hit from behind. Today the car company announced that it’s relenting, and will in fact, institute the recall the NHTSA wanted. [More]
Chrysler Says No To NHTSA Request To Recall 2.7 Million Jeeps
By 6.4.13
If you’ve read enough recall notices, you’ve probably seen that most of them say something like “Company X, in coordination with Regulator Y, have issued a voluntary recall of blah blah blah,” but sometimes regulators and manufacturers don’t agree about whether a product merits being recalled. Case in point: Chrysler’s decision to say no to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall 2.7 million vehicles over fuel tank concerns. [More]
