Move over, Toyota. The beleaguered Japanese automaker’s not the only one singing the recall blues. On Monday, the General Motors Corporation announced it will recall 1.3 million cars sold in the U.S Canada and Mexico because of faulty power-steering issues.
Handling response may be compromised at speeds under 30 miles per hour, say GM officials who noted they had seen an increasing number of complaints about this issue over the past year.
The safety recall is slated for the 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5 and 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuit models. Older cars will be more disproportionately affected by the problem than newer models, noted GM.
The problem’s there but GM’s not quite sure what to do about it. “GM is still working to determine what is the most effective remedy,” said GM spokesperson, Tony LaRocca. “We’re not sure what that will be.”
In 2009, GM sought protection under federal bankruptcy laws, and received financial guarantees from the US government in return for an equity stake in the company.
In January, Toyota announced it was recalling 8.5 million vehicles worldwide – five million of them sold in the US – for acceleration problems. More recently, Toyota recalled the Prius hybrid for brake problems.
I will tell you that GM is not as concerned for there consumers as the claim to be in the media. I had my unit go out on Feb 25, 2010. I had it replaced because I needed my car to get back and forth to work. After doing some research on the internet about my car, I found out that the power steering unit I had just paid $400 to have replace was under investigation for defect. I called the dealearship to inquire about the information I had read and was told that the information was false. Well 3 days later it was announced on the news that the part was in fact faulty and being recalled. I have been on the phone just about everyday with GM and all I get is the runaround regarding being reimbursed for my repair. Don’t believe the hype about their concerns for their consumers. They appear not to care about me at all. I would like to tell any one, if you can wait it out without causing yourself injury, don’t fix the car yourself. You will definitely get screwed!!!!!
We have had issues with the “front end” of our Cobalt since we bought it in 2005. We have taken it several times to the dealer for the ongoing issue only to be told they couldn’t find anything. Of coure it is now out of warranty and has been getting worse. We were all set to bring it to another mechanic when we heard the news about the recall. Needless to say we did not take it in because of the news. Our local dealer has heard anything about the recall to date. So here we sit and wait because GM is “still working to determine what is the most effective remedy”. Well we aren’t stupid and know this means they are looking for a way to get out of this without paying much. In the meantime, lives could be on the line. It will be interesting to see if government looks as closely at this issue as they are with the Toyota issues. Hmmm, GM, government political supporter , huge bailout money given,hmmm. I wonder but in the meantime, I continue to drive my car praying nothing happens. If it does though, we know where to look first. BE CAREFUL all of you who are amongst the owners of the vehices being recalled. I pray to God for traveling mercies for all of us.