US GM recall

[lari au]

Looks like General Motors is about to be hit with a class action regarding the recall of several vehicles which were involved in fatal crashes. The claimants are going for loss of value of their car because of the faulty switch.

Thanks to Reuters: (Reuters) - General Motors was hit on Friday with what appeared to be the first lawsuit related to the recall of 1.6 million cars, as customers claimed their vehicles lost value because of ignition problems blamed for a series of fatal crashes.
The proposed class action, filed in federal court in Texas, said GM knew about the problem since 2004, but failed to fix it, creating "unreasonably dangerous" conditions for drivers of the affected models.
"GM's mishandling of the ignition switch defect....has adversely affected the company's reputation as a manufacturer of safe, reliable vehicles with high resale value," the lawsuit said.
The recall has led to government criminal and civil investigations, an internal probe by GM, and preparations for hearings by Congress. All ask why GM took so long to address a problem it has said first came to its attention in 2001.
A GM spokesman, Greg Martin, said the company has apologized for how it handled the recall and that taking care of customers was its first priority. He did not comment on the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages from GM that include compensation for loss of the use of their vehicles and repairs and diminished resale value. They are not claiming they were injured in accidents stemming from ignition problems.
The lawsuit is reminiscent of claims faced by Toyota Motor Corp, which recalled more than 10 million vehicles starting in 2009. Toyota last year received approval for a settlement valued at $1.6 billion to resolve economic loss claims and is currently negotiating the settlement of hundreds of personal-injury lawsuits.
GM announced the recall in February, despite learning of problems with the ignition switch in 2001 and issuing related service bulletins to dealers with suggested remedies in 2005.
GM said that when the ignition switch was jostled, a key could turn off the car's engine and disable airbags, sometimes while traveling at high speed. GM has said it received reports of 12 deaths and 34 crashes in the recalled cars.
The Center for Auto Safety, a watchdog group, on Thursday said that data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed 303 deaths occurred when airbags failed to deploy in two of the models GM recalled. GM called the report "pure speculation" and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Center for Trauma and EMS at the University of Maryland said the figure did not take into account whether airbags would be expected to deploy in some crashes.
The plaintiffs in Friday's lawsuit, Daryl and Maria Brandt, said they own a 2007 Chevy Cobalt, which was one of several models recalled by GM. They said that they have driven their car less than they otherwise would because they feared being in an accident stemming from the ignition issues, according to the complaint.
Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who specializes in products liability, said he did not expect GM would have to pay as much as Toyota did if it seeks to resolve the economic loss claims.
The GM recall applied to older models and was significantly smaller than the Toyota recall, although that could change as the investigations against GM continue, he said.
GM also has offered owners of recalled vehicles $500 toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle, a factor that could mitigate any liability, he said.

[VICFPV]

Just wait till US manufactured cars hit our shores.
I am not going any where near them.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by VICFPV

Just wait till US manufactured cars hit our shores.
I am not going any where near them.

Yes, because faults only ever happen to American cars, and no American built cars are already sold here...

[UberKnee]

To be fair Australian cars are perfect and never have any issues what so ever...oh wait thats wrong...

Recalls happen to plenty of manufacturers, and hell end of the day Aussie auto manufacturing is pretty much just 10 year old American manufacturing.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by VICFPV

Just wait till US manufactured cars hit our shores.
I am not going any where near them.

Like all the BMWs and Mercs made there?

[robertjp]

Dont think this will go far as the New GM is a different entity.

[xxx000]

I just keep thinking of all the ongoing issues in various models that Ford Australia never corrected or conducted recalls over

[Bossxr8]

Must be a GM sales tactic, offer them $500 towards a new GM product after their current one f's up lol.

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by xxx000

I just keep thinking of all the ongoing issues in various models that Ford Australia never corrected or conducted recalls over

Have they ever caused deaths?

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Have they ever caused deaths?

At some early stage, that's what GM would have asked...

[lari au]

Quote "GM announced the recall in February, despite learning of problems with the ignition switch in 2001 and issuing related service bulletins to dealers with suggested remedies in 2005."

My 2000 Falcon Au2 had a recall for a faulty steering rack back in 2003. This was revealed to me when I replaced the old one last year and the mechanic said the design of the rack wasn't the best. So does the responsibility for faulty parts of the car finish at the end of the warranty period or is it on going? I've owned the car for just over two years.

[xxx000]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Have they ever caused deaths?

do they have to before they become important enough?

Territory ball joint issues seemed pretty major to me as just one example

Ford Australia seem to do little or no ongoing product improvement despite being made aware of quite major issues with their cars like rust, transmission contamination to name just two