Originally Posted By: dishdude
A few years ago it was Toyota, before that Ford...it happens. In those cases I think the media and the government blew both out of proportion a bit, and the same is happening here.
The roads are dangerous, hundreds of people die on them each day.
I would say more than a bit. Automakers are an easy target...the "big bad corporation" out to get you.
There is a cost/benefit equation with every part that goes into a car. Sometimes things are overbuilt, sometimes they are underbuilt. It happens. My truck has one of the infamous Texas Instruments cruise control switches. At 12 years, mine is still fine...I used cruise a day ago. My truck had the fused jumper harness installed in 2007 or 2008 as its switch was not leaking at the time, and it has never popped. Others were no so lucky, but I doubt anyone at Ford or TI was being malicious...the part seemed fine in development and initial use, and later on problems cropped up in some, but clearly not all of the switches. I still see a lot of the old TI switches out there. The idea that GM knew this would cause death and destruction and did it anyway is overblown. To "car people," the idea of a loss of power being catastrophic probably did not seem likely/reasonable, so this part was not seen as a pin on a grenade.
Obviously, manufacturers should err on the side of caution, but it's really impossible to take into account everything people will do, and things they might do that would lead to a certain outcome (IE, pounds of material on a keychain).
This particular uproar has no bearing on whether or not I would buy a GM vehicle. In fact, I drive a GM vehicle 4-5 days a week and "OMG I MIGHT DIE!" never factors into my thinking. I'm way more worried about other drivers than what the truck might do.
