General Motors said on Monday it has issued a recall on 20,224 Cadillac CTS and CTS-V cars from the 2009-2010 model year to replace the glove box compartment. NHTSA's tests showed in the event of a frontal crash, if the front passenger is not wearing a seat belt, the risk of leg injury is higher than permitted under Federal law. It goes without saying that despite the NHTSA's findings, passengers should wear their seatbelts at all times.
Being a manufacturer recall, GM's dealers will replace the glove compartment assembly and, if necessary, in some vehicles modify the instrument panel structure, free of charge.
The Detroit automaker said the safety recall is expected to begin on or before October 20, 2010. For more information, owners of the affected CTS and CTS-V models may contact Cadillac directly at 1-866-982-2339.
More than 3,300 units of the 2010MY Honda Accord Crosstour are being recalled in the States because of a potential issue with the front passenger airbag.
The Japanese automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the airbag " may not have been assembled according to correct specifications" and that in the event of a crash, "it may not deploy as intended and could place an unbelted child seated in the front passenger seat at greater risk of injury should the airbag deploy." No incidents or injuries have been reported related to this issue.
Honda said its dealers will inspect and replace the passenger airbag module if necessary free of charge on the affected Accord Crosstour models. According to NHTSA, the safety recall is expected to begin on or before September 22, 2010.
Owners seeking more information can contact Honda's customer service directly at 1-800-999-1009.
After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.
The recalled Garmin units can be found on certain Suzuki vehicles including the 2008-2010MY SX4 crossovers, 2010MY Grand Vitara SUVs, and 2009-2010MY Equator vehicles, and the 2008-2010MY Nissan Altima, Frontier, Pahtfinder, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles.
In both cases, the automakers will notify owners of the affected models, and the repairs will be performed by Garmin technicians who will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery free of charge.
It took 11 accidents involving the freshly launched 458 Italia with five of them being ruined by fire, and a whole lot of media attention from the internet, for Ferrari to finally investigate the issue and announce a total recall on their latest supercar.
Being that Ferrari considers itself as something out of this world that is not subject to the same unwritten rules as the rest of the automakers, the company did not publish a broadly available press release to inform the media, and consequently, the public, about a problematic product that puts at a fiery risk the lives of its clients. Instead, the Italian brand simply answered questions to individual media outlets such as CNN through its spokespersons.
According to CNN, Ferrari's investigators discovered "defects in the bonding adhesive used to attach the heat-shield to the wheel arch in each of the five cars" that caught fire. Since the heat-shield is used to shelter the wheel arch housing from the exhaust pipe, if the glue dissolves, then the housing is exposed to extremely high temperatures and can catch on fire.
However, the Italian company claims that it takes a combination of extreme conditions to actually cause a fire.
"Heavy usage of the car, such as driving very fast down a twisty road or up a mountain, will increase the temperature inside the engine bay," the Ferrari spokeswoman said. (And we all know that everyone buys a Ferrari to cruise at 50mph on the highway...)
"If that is combined with extremely high ambient temperatures, which has been the case throughout Europe especially this summer, then this will cause the defamation of the wheel arch, bringing it closer to the exhaust and causing the car to smoke or ignite."
The company told the news site that it plans to recall and examine all 1,148 cars produced up to July 30 this year. The five fire-related incidents have occurred in the U.S., Britain, France, Switzerland and China.
"We're contacting clients across the world to get them to bring their cars back to the dealers so we can check the wheel arch," the spokesperson said. "If necessary we will replace the heat-shield with a new heat-shield that is riveted to the wheel arch rather than attached with the adhesive."
The first recall of the month comes from Kia, which is recalling approximately 23,973 Soul subcompacts from the 2010MY and around 11,213 Sorento crossovers from the 2011MY, all built from September 7, 2009 through July 30, 2010, due to a potential fault with the vehicles' electrical system.
In a letter to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), the South Korean automaker said a limited number of wiring harnesses supplied by JCI and used in the Soul's lighting speaker system, located in the front door trim panels, and the Sorento's interior accent illumination, placed in the front and rear door trim panels, may have been improperly soldered.
Even though there are no reports of accidents or injuries, the safety agency said under certain conditions, an electrical short may occur and result in a fire.
Company officials said dealers will replace the wiring harnesses for the lights on both vehicles, free of charge with the recall expected to begin later this month.
We all know Hyundai has pulled a 180-degree turn in brand image over the past few years, but alas, no one (including Ferrari) is immune to the threat of recalls. The NHTSA has recently begun a preliminary investigation of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata for an issue with the steering system. Approximately 16,300 of the Alabama-built units could be affected, although there have been no official complaints, injuries, or accidents yet.
According to the NHTSA, "the intermediate steering shaft assembly upper universal joint" can fully detach or a "cross-threaded pinch bolt" could strip upper universal joint connection threads; both these issues could lead to a loss of, or faulty, steering.
Regulators also mentioned the steering problem could lead to a "compromised brake system", a case in which the shaft drops out and could hinder brake application.
Thankfully, this is being caught and handled early on. The last thing Hyundai needs is a major safety hiccup as it expands its range into Lexus territory and hopes to bring out a new Azera in 2012.
