Chevy cruze recall (best, buy, Civic, costs)

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by texdav

No toyota agree to pay the fine ;big difference. Alos the toyotaq was not foud to be a defe3ct at all by MTSB. Now world class car having the sterrig wheel fall offf;that osud rather bad engineering and very dnagerous. rememeber the fors fires ;i do. Toohk years for Frod to acknopwledge;no fine or press.I don't thnik nayone is foloed why toyota was hounded. Unions inflkuence ;pure an simple ebcause they help make crap out of the amreican auto industry.

The steering wheel falling off was not caused by a design flaw in the car, but by an issue at the manufacturing plant. It shouldn't have happened, but at least it was handled quickly and correctly. As I pointed out earlier, other makes including Toyota and Honda have had this happen before on limited batches of cars.

The only thing that Toyota was cleared of was a larger suspected flaw regarding the vehicles electronics. The underlying issues with the accelerator pedal design and floormats were still issues and what the recalls were based on. However, what Toyota was found guilty of was failing to follow the proper protocols regarding notifying NHTSA and conducting a recall. They had knowledge of these flaws for years before the incident and in sufficient numbers to require them to notify NHTSA and begin an investigation. Toyota has been fined for similar things in the past. So, no they were not given an all clear sign that there never was an issue.

As for the "Ford fires" the reason they were not fined is that the collected evidence of vehicle fires did not point to a sufficient cause to initiate a recall by either Ford or NHTSA. It was only following a trial and public pressure that NHTSA leaned on Ford to act. The difference between Ford and Toyota in this matter is that Toyota's internal records showed enough reported incidents of unintended acceleration do to floormats and trapped pedals that they should have initiated an investigation on their own. The NHTSA records did not show enough cause to initiate an investigation from that direction. Remember NHTSA only knows what is reported to NHTSA and can only act unilaterally when they notice a statistical trend. Automakers are required to contact NHTSA if their own internal records show any trends or issues. This is what Toyota failed to do.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

The steering wheel falling off was not caused by a design flaw in the car, but by an issue at the manufacturing plant. It shouldn't have happened, but at least it was handled quickly and correctly. As I pointed out earlier, other makes including Toyota and Honda have had this happen before on limited batches of cars.

What was the cause determined to be? Assembly?

[NHDave]

Originally Posted by IDASpaceman

Stuff happens...thank goodness the family is okay. Still a good little car.

Now that's funny, if this happened to an import or a Dodge, the naysayers would be screaming for blood, but it's a piece of crap chevy so even though the steering wheel pops off at highway speeds it's still all good

[dansdrive]

Originally Posted by NHDave

Now that's funny, if this happened to an import or a Dodge, the naysayers would be screaming for blood, but it's a piece of crap chevy so even though the steering wheel pops off at highway speeds it's still all good

Give it time its a first model year car more 'fall off's' will eventually happen. Rest assured, the quality is built in every vehicle!

[RandyWatson13]

Originally Posted by NHDave

Now that's funny, if this happened to an import or a Dodge, the naysayers would be screaming for blood, but it's a piece of crap chevy so even though the steering wheel pops off at highway speeds it's still all good

Exactly....damn shame

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by burdell

What was the cause determined to be? Assembly?

The root cause was determined to be the wrong steering wheel being installed on the car during initial production on the line. The cars that had that happened were sidelined and then workers installed the correct steering wheel by hand.

[RedZin]

Originally Posted by NJGOAT

The root cause was determined to be the wrong steering wheel being installed on the car during initial production on the line. The cars that had that happened were sidelined and then workers installed the correct steering wheel by hand.

Any idea where they were assembled?

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by meh_whatever

Any idea where they were assembled?

Lordstown, Ohio. Thats not good....

[NJGOAT]

Like Frank said, Lordstown, OH. It's a shame too. That plant has been through a lot the past 10 years or so and at one point was facing the prospect of being shutdown and at one point was down to a single shift and 1,000 workers. When GM decided to bring the Cruze stateside and build it here, the plant got a new lease on life, a complete re-tooling and 4,500 previously laid off GM workers were brought in from all over the country to work at the plant.

While many deride the auto-bailouts, Lordstown was an example of what it helped accomplish. There are 4,500 more Americans working today in Lordstown, OH because of them and an entire town whose economy depended on that plant is flourishing once again. It would be a damn shame if this screw up hurt demand for the car as they were anticipating needing to add additional shifts and return another 500 laid off GM workers to the lines after the summer maintenance shutdown.

[jc76]

Originally Posted by IDASpaceman

Stuff happens...thank goodness the family is okay. Still a good little car.

Did you side with Toyota when the brake problems came about? Just curious. Some people who are partial to certain makes will defend them but slam others for the same thing.