GM 'Waited to recall fatal-crash Ions'

[Pupik]

1 - How sensitive are these ignitions? How hard do you really have to hit that key, or by GM's measure, how heavy does your key ring need to be to make this a problem?

When I worked at Firestone, we'd get a lot of Cobalts from both customers and the rental fleets which had dud ignition switches. Which would make them an absolute bitch to get in/out of the shop. Sometimes, the key would get stuck in the ignition, sometimes it just wouldn't attempt to crank (i.e. not recognize the key).

We'd also get old GM vehicles with keys that wouldn't come out of the ignition, unless you took it out just right. And some, who'd remove the keys, but no actual key was required to start the car - just turn the tumbler, and you're motoring! But I'm thinking these had no issue with the myriad of electronics and safety controls we see today.

2 - How many people have that many keys to make it heavy enough to have it be a problem?

While I'm not exactly sure it's a cop-out by GM, there's plenty of ladies with every possible photograph of their kids, souvenir keychains, gag attachments, house keys, their friend's keys, a tiny bible, a remote opener, and a car key or two that might add a pound of added junk. It's entirely possible the downward force of the weight subsequently presses up on the metal key teeth, and could damage the internals of the ignition switch module. However, this isn't exclusively the domain of GM owner's massive key chains.

3 - How many people don't know how to handle a car that loses power steering and brakes - how many of those 17 deaths were a direct result of that, or, just something attached to the problem?

There's a big difference between:

Knowing you have no power steering right from the moment you've started the car.

and

No-room-for-error/spirited driving moment in which something suddenly fails.

Around a corner in which there's no tolerance for failures in the first place, say a mountain road, or a tight passage, the results of a sudden change in the driver's expectation of a steering input would be very troublesome to even the most seasoned drivers. It's one thing to have lots of room for running wide, or having another lane, but that's not always and not predictably the case.

 

[Tornado]

I don't see the smoking gun in that showing they knew a specific set of circumstances could be avoided if they fixed that problem

Oh, there it is.

The driver pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide because she had traces of Xanax in her system, but GM's death inquiry concluded that the ignition failure was the likely cause of the accident. Instead of producing evidence that could have cleared the driver in this regard, GM told regulators that it didn't have enough information to make an accurate assessment of fault in that case

 

[Azure Flare]

This whole recall kerfuffle has put me off of even considering any GM vehicle.

Forever.



(OK, except the Corvette, that gets a free pass.)

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I agree. I'd consider a Corvette, perhaps a Volt or an ELR, and maybe a really good Cadillac saloon if they made one. But other than those, which I'd make an exception for, I'm very sceptical of the quality of GM products, especially in North America, not that Vauxhalls/Opels are terribly nice.

 

[Azure Flare]

I wasn't even thinking about that.

Thanks for reminding me. 👍

 

[Tornado]

This whole recall kerfuffle has put me off of even considering any GM vehicle.

Forever.

Look at the recall list. It goes all the way back to 1997, and includes pretty much every passenger car GM debuted since then. N-Bodies, W-Bodies, G-Bodies, Kappa, Lambda, Sigma, Delta, Zeta, Alpha, Epsilon. Two completely different platform naming schemes. Four completely different Chevrolet Malibus.



And yet there is a car that is conspicuously absent.

BOOM.​

 

[Wolfe]

The C2 Sting Ray is the only desirable one for me, though I wouldn't pass up an early '90s Saturn with a 5-speed as a cheap beater, tough little plastic buckets they are.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

@Tornado

 

[Turtle]

All hail the mighty Seville!

 

[MatskiMonk]

Does anybody else hear Edward Nortons dialogue from Fight Club every time they hear about GM and recalls...

"A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."

"... Which ... car company do you work for?"

"A major one"

 

[Xilor]