Toyota Recalls
April 9, 2014
Toyota is recalling 6.4 million vehicles globally because of five separate issues: seat rails, steering columns, wipers and an engine starter glitch that poses a fire risk.
Though no crashes, injuries or fatalities have been linked to these issues, there have been two reports of fires linked to the engine starter problem. According to the carmaker, “Due to inefficiencies in the design of the starter motor relays, metallic particles might accumulate on the contacts within the relay.” If these particles enter the relay’s circuitry, then it could lead to a fire.
Young Drivers and GM Recalls
April 1, 2014
The Seattle Times provides an in depth look at the GM recalls, and the reason why most of the victims were young, female drivers. See the full story here:
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2023272335_gmdeathsxml.html
GM Recalls
March 31, 2014
If it seems like GM has had a lot of recalls lately, it’s because it has. With 4.8 million vehicles being recalled in 2014, the company has recalled 6X the number of vehicles in three months as it did in the entire year of 2013… and those are just the figures for the United States.
It all started when faulty ignition switches in compact cars were linked to 13 deaths. This first, and most prominent, recall was for the Chevrolet Cobalt. The recall was then expanded to include six models: 2005-2010 Cobalts, 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstices, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5s and Saturn Skys, 2006-2011 Chevrolet HHRs and 2003-2007 Saturn Ions. Then, more recalls were added, this time in larger pickups, Suburbans and SUV’s, because oil transmission lines had loose fittings, which were linked to three fires.
It’s been a rough year under the new chief executive, Mary T. Barra, the first woman to become the head of a major automaker. However, it’s good to know that this new blood is cleaning up GM’s act. The company previously had a reputation for avoiding recalls, even at a risk of injury or death to its customers. In fact, it is now well known that the company delayed recalling the Cobalt for years.
Hopefully, GM has reached a turning point, and can begin to mend its broken reputation under new leadership.
Future of Vehicle Repairs
March 23, 2014
The always informative geeks at Wired tested Zero’s electric motorcycle and came away with some interesting thoughts. For one, electric motorcycles are much easier to maintain, that is, until they lose thrust while traveling down the highway because of a computer glitch. For now, Zero will have to recall its 2012 and 2013 models for repairs, however, future models will be able to diagnose and upload quick fixes wirelessly.
In fact, Tesla already has the ability to update its cars wirelessly. The company even made some tweaks to their Model S series last year after repeated incidents of battery fires. Tesla was able to manipulate air suspension to increase ground clearance, and because the cars are so highly-computerized, they were able to do it wirelessly. There’s no doubt that many common issues will be able to be fixed wirelessly in the future. However, there’s also reason to believe that the computerization of our vehicles is causing the need for these fixes.