In apparent response to our request, General Motors announced today that it would recall 1.3 million vehicles that may experience sudden power steering loss.
We made the request on March 19 after NLPC Associate Fellow Mark Modica found a glaring anomaly while examining documents on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website. NHTSA had already ordered a recall in March 2010 of Chevy Cobalts and Pontiac G5s for the steering loss defect but three years later had not yet ordered a recall of Saturn Ions, which have the same power steering system. In my March 19 letter to GM CEO Mary Barra, I wrote, "We do not know why NHTSA has not already ordered a recall or whether politics enter into its decision-making process. It doesn't matter. You have the authority to immediately recall these vehicles."
The recall is even broader than we requested. We asked GM to recall 382,000 Saturn Ions. The recall announced today also includes the Chevy Malibu, Malibu Maxx, Chevrolet HHR, Saturn Aura and Pontiac G6, for a staggering total of 1.3 million vehicles. Although it includes many of the same vehicles, this recall is separate from the recalls for the ignition switch defect. As pointed out by Modica earlier today, the steering loss defect is far more expensive for GM to fix than the ignition switch problem, perhaps accounting for GM's slowness in ordering a recall.
Our March 19 request generated coverage by the Associated Press and Automotive News . In the interim, we repeated our request several times, including in Modica's website posting this morning titled "Congress Must Ask Barra Why GM Hasn't recalled Saturn Ions With Power Steering Loss."
No worries — it’s Government Motors. We, the taxpayers of America, will pay for this one way or another.
Lawyers are going to feast on the wrongful death lawsuits.
are there any gm cars left on the road?
My wife’s Saturn Ion’s steering went out while in a parking lot a year ago. Hate to think if this had happened on the Interstate. I wrote a letter to the dealer and GM that if she had been hurt or killed by the time I was done with them I’d own the dealership. The steering unit was replaced without charge —— Big Deal! GMC has known about this for years. They deserve everything they get.
Shoot the company and put it out of its misery.
It has long been run by MBAs, financeers, politicians, and others of ill repute that did not listen to its engineers (the dumbest of whom had an IQ roughly twice the highest IQ of its leaders). And no, do not mention the pseudo-engineers who made it to the top...they did that by making sure that their lobotomy destroyed any real technical ability...how else to explain the cr*p...er....sticky Obama-stuff that oozed out of their factories.
Die, GM, die. I want to take a bodacious Obama-thing on your grave. And take the UAW with you.
I would just point out to those bitching about the mandated back-up cameras, this kind of screw-up is what give the gov’t the idea they have to mandate stuff.
I drove a Chevies for more than 40 years, but my last GM vehicle, a Chevy Blazer, had so many problems starting within the first week I owned it, that I sold it bought my first foreign made vehicle a Mazda. My Mazda 3 with just short of 120,000 miles has had zero repairs and even the brakes and exhaust system are still factory original. The is no way I would ever by another GM product.
well she’s got a man-sized problem to deal with sitting i n the big chair. she knew about this in her former high-level gm position, so don’t feel bad for her. she knew.
Ahh... no thanks. I bought one back in the '80s, when I didn't have much money. Thing was a total pain. I got hooked on foreign cars in the '90s, and I'm never going back.
No prob, guy! You're going to pay for a new one anyway, through your taxes! Ha ha! Have a great union day, pardner!
Any calls to bail them out yet?
GM CEO Mary Barra has just started testifying at Congressional hearing.
11:30 pacific time.
BFD. GM has been dead to me since they killed off Oldsmobile and Pontiac.
Maybe I have had to drive a lot of defective cars but in the 10 years as a driver 4 different cars I have owned have lost power steering ether momentarily or permanently and I never even worried about it.
If you cant safely operate a car without power steering or breaks, or you panic....I don’t know if you should be driving. No mechanical system is ever 100% reliable. Cars are designed to be operable with the loss of power to steering and breaks. It is just harder.
A friend has a 2006 HHR with the power steering cutoff problem - what is she supposed to do, besides sue GM for coverage.