GM Halts Cruze Sales & knew of defect for decade

[hypervish]

GM has now halted sales of the Cruze.

And in regards to the igntion recall (that lead to ATLEAST 12 deaths mind you),
Quote:
Congress and federal prosecutors probe why GM did not recall the cars for a decade after it discovered the problem.


So they were hiding it all along!

http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/28/autos/gm-cruze-sales-halt/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

[NHGUY]

GM is walking on eggshells now,and the new CEO doesnt want to anger the feds anymore than they already are.They will halt sales if even a lugnut is dented probably now...

 

[eljefino]

1) If my car stalls or gets switched off I can figure out what to do with the heavy steering and probably won't wreck.

2) I'm happy GM uses the same part over multiple carlines over a decade. Makes sourcing replacements super easy and cheap. Of course I'm naturally annoyed when a vital one doesn't live up to expectations.

I'll get mine fixed whenever it's convenient in my 2007 HHR. Let others get in on the rush.

 

[99Saturn]

My sig lineup is not looking so good.

Wonder why this halt is limited to the 1.4 only.

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

Interesting, Ford seems to recall for any issue. A few months ago I got a recall on my 01 Ford Escape for an anti lock brake issue. I have never heard of a car that old being recalled, the car has 200k on it and has never had an anti lock brake failure.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: hypervish
GM has now halted sales of the Cruze.

And in regards to the igntion recall (that lead to ATLEAST 12 deaths mind you),
Quote:
Congress and federal prosecutors probe why GM did not recall the cars for a decade after it discovered the problem.


So they were hiding it all along!

http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/28/autos/gm-cruze-sales-halt/index.html?hpt=hp_t2


I think you're overstating the situation. Initiation of an investigation is not proof of a cover-up. GM has also started an independent investigation to be headed by a former US Attorney. Wait for the results of the investigations to be released before cranking up the GM-Bashing machine.

 

[mrsilv04]

I'd love to know why none of this came out when the government was involved with GM... only *afterwards*...?


I have a co-worker who had a Nissan Altima bought back from him, because of a printing error on the window sticker.

He had factory ordered one with a rare (but available) V6 and 5 speed combination... but oddly enough, ABS wasn't available with that combination. He had to order it, as there were only a few cars in the entire US with the V6 and 5 speed in dark blue.

When the car showed up at the dealership, the window sticker listed that it had ABS, when it wasn't supposed to. He had them pull it into the shop, and a mechanic confirmed "NO ABS". Mystery solved. It wasn't to have ABS, and didn't.

A little over one year later, Nissan contacts him to buy it back, because of the typo on the window sticker. Nissan traded him a car that was 2 model years newer with a lot more equipment on it, for less than $2,000 difference.

 

[StevieBoy]

Dodge recalled my 2010 G.Caravan shortly after I bought it to replace the ignition switch. Supposedly the spring sometimes pulled it back too far and would shut off the engine unexpectedly. The government didn't have to get involved. I had no problems until they replaced it. Now it sometimes stays in the start position & I have to manully move it to "on" to use the accessories (radio, doors, etc.).

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
My sig lineup is not looking so good.

Wonder why this halt is limited to the 1.4 only.


Maybe there's some anti theft stuff like passlock in there that the "ghetto" 1.8 doesn't have?

 

[surfstar]

Somewhat related - my Vue has electric power steering - how does that affect steering with the vehicle off? I haven't tried it, nor wanted to.

 

[Sam2000]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I'd love to know why none of this came out when the government was involved with GM... only *afterwards*...?


That's a curious statement on many levels.

Problem stretches back a decade so before the bailout and after, yet you focus on the short period of government ownership?

The recalls have clearly begun under the new CEO who is an engineer and a woman. Seems there may be a different attitude at the top in GM.

Had this happened during the govt ownership period then we, the taxpayer would have been on the hook for this and returning GM to the public would have been harder.

Had GM gone bust then it is possible this would never have come out and people would continue to die or get injured in accidents. Or there would have been no recourse for owners and their car values would plummet.

 

[morepwr]

How weird is it that I was just looking at a new Cruze last weekend?! It will be interesting to see what the reason for the sales stop is.

 

[440Magnum]

I can't believe that just the ignition shutting off is responsible for any deaths. Drivers going into a panic because they dont know that they DO still have steering and brakes- just the forces required are greater- can lead to deaths. But that's hardly the car company's fault. Car engines stop for all kinds of reasons, and drivers should know how to cope with it.

Now if the steering wheel LOCKS when this happens, different matter. But I don't think that's the case from what I briefly saw on the news a couple of weeks ago.

 

[901Memphis]

Electric steering with the engine off isn't heavy, it just simply doesn't move....

I suggest anyone with am affected vehicle get it repaired immediately if you do any highway travel.

 

[dave1251]

Good for GM. Post bailout there has been a revolving door of CEO's at GM. The new CEO must of known there was going to be turmoil and daunting task ahead to get GM on solid ground. It seems she is determined to get GM right.

I have to give credit to her.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Electric steering with the engine off isn't heavy, it just simply doesn't move....

I suggest anyone with am affected vehicle get it repaired immediately if you do any highway travel.


I have been in three different gm vehicles with electric power steering and they are steerable with no power. Even Nissan's DBW steering has a fail safe mode in case of malfunction.

I think GM is going on a tear to get it all done and over with. When you make MILLIONS of cars there are going to be issues...

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I can't believe that just the ignition shutting off is responsible for any deaths. Drivers going into a panic because they dont know that they DO still have steering and brakes- just the forces required are greater- can lead to deaths. But that's hardly the car company's fault.


Originally Posted By: eljefino
1) If my car stalls or gets switched off I can figure out what to do with the heavy steering and probably won't wreck.


I think there are situations you both may not be considering that could have caused some of the deaths.

I will say, it's easy to say that "I'd never crash if the engine suddenly turned off," but I think there are situations in a turn or other instance where the ignition shutting off in a split second could easily lead to a crash for almost any driver.

But, it appears bumps may be one of the causes for the ignition shutting off. I read about this on another forum and it made sense to me:
1 - Driver loses control of vehicle or otherwise begins to leave the roadway.
2 - Car leaves road. It drives over a curb or other obstacle on the edge of the road and that large bump causes the ignition to shut off.
3 - Car crashes after leaving road and airbags don't deploy because the ignition is now off.

That's a situation where the ignition wouldn't necessarily have caused the crash, but it may have made it more difficult for the driver to control the vehicle and may have significantly increased the chance for injury or death because there are no airbags.

 

[A_Harman]

The major contributing factor is how much weight is on the key ring. GM early on when the problem first arose sent a bulletin to the dealers saying to instruct the customers to remove excess keys from their keyrings. If the weight of the keyring exceeds three pounds, hitting a bump could cause the lock cylinder to turn, shutting off the ignition, whereupon the steering wheel would lock, the engine would shut down, the vehicle would lose power steering assist, possibly power brake assist, and the airbags would shut off. It's easy to see that having some or all of these things happen would make some drivers panic and freeze behind the wheel.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
The major contributing factor is how much weight is on the key ring. ... If the weight of the keyring exceeds three pounds...

OT,
wow. in metric this is almost 1.5 kg.
that's a small dog/monkey/cat hang from the cylinder....
or a pair of decent boots.....
just wow.

 

[99Saturn]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
The major contributing factor is how much weight is on the key ring. ... If the weight of the keyring exceeds three pounds...

OT,
wow. in metric this is almost 1.5 kg.
that's a small dog/monkey/cat hang from the cylinder....
or a pair of decent boots.....
just wow.


Though the current recall letter says remove everything (even the key fob).