When a car manufacturer in deep trouble, hemorrhaging customers and goodwill by the minute, promises to turn themselves around, that would be a good time to start taking them on their word, wouldn't it? That depends on how much information you have on the latest GM recall on Corvettes; as it happens, GM did not suddenly turn around and realize that some of the Corvettes they made back in 2007 were defective. No one in America called the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with complaints either. What would we have clued him in then? It was the Japanese Transportation Ministry that was unhappy with the defective Corvettes that had been shipped over to Japan.
They looked closely at the problem, and realized that there was some truth to the accusations. In Corvettes from that year, at good speeds on highways, the car's body-colored roof panels tore away and just blew off. Chevy says that the glue that used to anchor the roof panel to the frame, was just not strong enough. On this GM recall, they plan to change the glue, and also change the material they make the roof panel out of. You would think that after what happened in 2006, Chevrolet would at least be alert to this problem. That's right, this is dj vu of a similar recall in 2006 for the same kind of problem, that the roof just decided to go in a different direction. When Chevy recalled more than 30,000 Corvettes back then, there idea in effect was to use new glue. Consumers have been complaining ever since that their roofs fly off like kites anyway, and the company has not really paid attention. It took a call from Japan to make it jump.
There are recalls coming out of the woodwork these days. Another GM recall on the side this year has to do with the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain SUV vehicles. That was a less serious problem; the interior lighting, the air conditioning system, the window defrosting unit, and the entertainment unit all would just fail. A simple software patch set that one right. Vehicle recalls are really doing the auto industry in a year it can least afford such luxuries. Hyundai, barely up for the count in America, is recalling more than 50,000 of its 2006 Azera cars. Apparently, using the passenger side seat belt wears out wiring that deploys the airbags on that car.
Chevrolet says that like the gas pedal issue on Toyota cars, this problem with the roof working itself loose is not likely to show up all of a sudden. It will just get looser and looser, buffet about and in general call your attention to it. And when it rains, water leaking over you will certainly call your attention to the problem. With all these GM recall issues out there, one wonders, how safe is it to buy a GM car now? How safe is it to buy any car at all? Is there a basic safety issue that all car companies are battling with? If Toyota cannot be trusted for some basic quality that won't send your car flying off a bridge, who can you trust?
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