Recalls Plague Auto Manufacturers
Air bag, transmission, driveshaft and fire issues force nearly 2 million pickups, SUVs and cars back to dealers this year
by Bruce W. Smith
Today’s recall by Toyota of more than 170,000 U.S. cars, pickups and SUVs manufactured between 2001-2003 is just one of a long string of auto manufacturers going on the hunt for manufacturing defects this year.
Owners of Tundra, Sequoia, Corolla and Lexus SC 430s are being notified their vehicles may have defective air bag systems caused by missing rivets and faulty circuitry.
Earlier this month Chrysler recalled 6,600 2013 Ram 1500s to fix a faulty parking brake cable.
Another 6,100 2013 Ram 2500/3500 HDs with the 6.7L Cummins have been recalled to replace an engine cover to prevent possible engine compartment fires.
In March Nissan alerted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that they were recalling certain 2013 Titans and NV vehicles for problems associated to column-mounted shift levers moving out of Park without the brake pedal being depressed.
And in February another Chrysler recall alerted owners of 278,220 2009-12 Ram pickups and Dodge/Chrysler SUVs about a potential problem with rear axles that could lock up.
Ford and GM have had their share of recalls as well.
More than 54,686 2013 GM pickups and SUVs were recalled to fix steering column anti-theft and automatic transmission shifter issues; a similar issue 2011-2012 plagued F-Series according to a NHTSA recall last year.
All told, there have been nearly 2 million U.S. vehicles put on the recall list this year.
