The Spate of Recalls - Your Opinions Please

[unit731]

Thank you all for stating the recalls of all brands. Much appreciated.

 

To me, and I don't have data, it appears that there are more recalls for ALL manufacturers now.

 

What is the reason for so many recalls - all brands.

 

Do you think that this is a part design issue or a part manufacturing issue?

 

Henry Ford mastered vertical integration. Ford in the old days manufactured just about every part. Henry Ford wanted to control price, quantity, and quality of all components. Henry Ford even bought vast amounts of land in Brazil to harvest his own rubber for the Model T tires.

 

Today, all is just about the opposite. Almost all parts are sub contracted out - and probably to the lowest bidder. Airbags are made by an outside contractor - and entire dashboards are contracted out to another company. Seats are contracted out.

 

And how do foreign component manufactures fit in? Parts or parts for parts made in China or Mexico. Is this the main problem.

 

Or do we go back to design?

 

What's your opinion to all of these recalls for all the brands sold in North America?

[MikeNH]

It's very simple-

 

1- Every time a manufacturer has a major recall, they and every other automaker take a good look at open issues to try and stop the next big issue before it is one. After the switch recall, GM realized that the old (hopefully just the old anyhow) corporate culture buried potential issues and is going through everything now. The next few months will probably result in some of the most carefully vetted cars in years.

 

2- The global supply chain. I think I read that there are essentially three or four major airbag suppliers. This Japanese firm responsible for this latest recall was a big one. When one of these suppliers makes a bad part, it is a huge issue.

 

They're currently blaming the issue on improperly stored airbag igniters but some articles claim regulators don't know what the issue actually is. It isn't specifically foreign manufacturers that are the issue, but their quality control. China cannot make anything worthwhile on its own but with quality control being overseen by a company from a civilized nation, it obviously works (look at pretty much any electronic device). It's what you said- the lowest bidder. They obviously have some interest in designing a quality part as they're on the hook when it fails but in the end a cheap part is a cheap part. With auto manufacturing what is is today, we're way past where GM, Ford or anyone else will be able to bring all that back in-house.

[KARNUT]

My father in law is in town for a visit, we allways get around to talking about cars the subject of recalls came up. I told him about my latest recall, he drives a Honda mini van he toped mine, gas tank recall possible explosion. They all have them, just keep us notified so we can deal with it, seems reasonable.

[truckofwinandawesome]

its My Belief that GM's Negligence and Cover Up prompted other Automakers to be Proactive on the Safety Recall Front.

[SnakeEyeSS]

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/162457-gm-announced-new-recall63014-84-million/

[j-ten-ner]

The very first idea of an airbag was invented in the 50's.

Tie rods probably a hundred years ago.

So were ignition switches.

 

I don't understand. What went wrong?

Problems with this stuff should be history.

 

so long

j-ten-ner

[Luster]

It's not so much about safety as it is about money.

 

The car manufacturers think it will cost them less, to do recalls than to have out-of-control lawsuits by ambulance chasing lawyers, who will gouge them for millions and give the liberal news media a field day!

 

In a back-handed way, manufacturers probably feel that the "safety" recalls will give the public more confidence that they are doing the right thing............

[KARNUT]

Could it be that there is just too much stuff hanging off the key ring? Ive seen some pretty busy key rings.

[SnakeEyeSS]

Gm has recalled more cars in the last 6 months than it has sold in the last 7 YEARS.

 

Sales are up again. They say a lot of people are just trading in their recalled cars for new GMs.

 

Question is, are the people stupid, or is GM smart?

[RyanbabZ71]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152276659479092&substory_index=0&id=65323249091

 

Not just the auto industry

 

 

Ryan

[cobrajet84]

I'm wondering if they are more prevalent now because we all know about them, social media, forums, ect. Way more ways to convey information than there used to be.

[Luster]

are the people stupid, or is GM smart?

 

Yes.

[Bassboats]

When parts sourcing gets more complicated and taking pride in one's work gets less, problems arise in any manufacturing process. The auto industry is well entrenched in both aspects now that it's a "global economy."

[SnakeEyeSS]

 

Yes.

what I was thinking also

[Cowpie]

You have a lot of dynamics going on that increase the risk of bad components making it into assembled vehicles. The vast majority of components are made 3rd party. Those folks do not want to hire more people, for a laundry list of reasons, so you have many employees putting in a lot of overtime, some going several weeks without a day off. I regularly pick up loads from manufacturing places that employees are putting in 10-12 hr days and doing so 6 days a week and sometimes 7. Quality control takes a hit. Folks get sloppy. CNC machines are only as good as those that set them up. And the list goes on. A recipe for problems.

 

True, taking pride in one's work is lacking nowadays, but when you are putting in 60-70 hours a week, you really can't afford to switch jobs due to various economic conditions depending on the area you live in, you're missing out on a lot of family moments, it becomes a real challenge to give a rip if all the parts coming off the line are up to snuff.