Total Recall: How Vehicle Manufacturer Recalls Affect You

The word ‘recall’ brings to mind the very worst; brake pads shredding in a heartbeat, steering going AWOL or a vehicle spontaneously exploding. Recalls can prove to be a nightmare for vehicle makers too; these corporate giants can be felled by innocuous details such as mere car mats.

Recalls can also give fleet managers and financial controllers sleepless nights because of the sheer randomness of a recall notice suddenly appearing in their inbox. After all, any recall-affected vehicle must be fixed as soon as possible due to concerns over driver safety and the potential legal ramifications if the corrective work is not carried out promptly.

Recalling is rampant, but it’s worth bearing in mind that most recalls are undramatic and humdrum. If 2010 is a typical year, forty-five percent of all cars leased or sold will be recalled due to a safety issue at some point during their lives. Many vehicle makers will have one or more recalls on the go at any one time.

Searching for recalls reveals that even the most trusted and respected vehicle makers have recalls out. For instance, BMW currently has a global recall in place on 1.3 million of its 5- and 6-series models built between 2003 and 2010 because of a potential battery cover cable issue that could result in the vehicle not starting or even catching fire. The company has also recalled over 30,000 of its Mini Cooper S and John Cooper Works cars due to a water pump issue.

If you’re leasing your fleet from a company, the onus is on them to contact you as soon as a recall announcement is made by a vehicle maker. Same for the manufacturer if they know your details (they won’t if you’re leasing through a third party company, though). For extra peace of mind, carry out your own regular searches on your fleet vehicles by heading to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency’s recalls page.

Covering vehicles from cars through to trucks, you can enter the details of a fleet vehicle, including its age, and hit the search option. It will list all the known recalls past and present. Better still, sign up for automatic email updates on vehicle recalls.

Some vehicle recalls have rocked vehicle makers to their very foundations:

14.1 million units - Ford, 2008-2009
A faulty switch that operated the cruise control system could potentially set the vehicle on fire even when parked. The headache for Ford was that the component was used across multiple brands and sectors, from cars and SUVs through to trucks.

9 million units - Toyota, 2009-2011
A humble floor mat could rise off the floor and end up on the throttle with disastrous results.

8 million units - Ford, 1996
An ignition fault caused a multitude of problems from steering issues through to outbreaks of fire.

6.7 million units - General Motors,1971
Weak engine mounts meant that engines were sliding down on to throttle cables, causing an unexpected and sudden increase in acceleration. Not a good thing when driving a muscle car like a Chevy Camaro.

5.8 million units - General Motors, 1981
Suspension bolts had a tendency to loosen and, in some cases, drop off and impede the steering mechanism.

NAFA Fleet Management Association
125 Village Blvd., Suite 200
Princeton, NJ 08540

Telephone: 609.720.0882 Fax: 609.452.8004