The Most Recalled Cars of 2007, So Far

BusinessWeek has compiled a list of the 14 most recalled new cars so far in 2007. We follow recalls religiously here at KickingTires, but it’s always interesting when someone lays them out like this in order for all to see. Looking at the list of 2007 model year vehicles, what really caught our attention was that four out of the top five were imports and not domestic products, with the Jeep Liberty being the lone domestic.

GM had two vehicles and Ford had just one on the list, and with very low numbers. Chrysler, on the other hand, had three more significant recalls, including all-new models like the Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler Sebring. Who were the worst? Volkswagen and Toyota topped this year’s list. Surprised? Click below for the full list and total number of recalled cars. 

Auto Makers’ Total Recalls (BusinessWeek)

Comments

uh oh... I smell another import vs. domestic battle brewing...

having said that, I think people would agree with me on my contention that people wouldn't mind going back to their dealership once or twice over the lifetime of their cars to get something replaced, as long as their car serves them reliably...
ex: My '03 Pilot was recalled twice so far, but I really wouldn't grind my axe over it because its still a reliable vehicle with great build quality.

1 thing that this topic needs to be clarified is that...the # there reflects the # of vehicles that are being affected. For example, it doesn't meant that there were 1,002,000 recalls for the beetle, but rather there were 1,002,000 beetles being affected by the recall. Also, there may be more than 1 recall, as well as the severity of the recall. For example, there is only 1 recall so far for the Nissan Altima because of the air filter element, and not 140,582 recalls. OTOH, the Nissan Versa has a couple of recalls, but they are - if my memory serves me well - all cosmetics related (nothing mechanical). 1 interesting thing you can see is how some of these vehicles have been selling successfully so far. Again, using the Altima & Versa, in their 1st intro year, the Altima has sold over 140K, and the Versa has over 16K (it may not be "many" to you, but the Versa have been having a tough time to meet demand as supplies to US is very limited!)

*waits for someone to claim Buisness Week was bought out by GM*

1st year recalls really aren't that big a deal, the car is under warranty and the dealership still wants to make a good impression on the customer. (or at least J.D. Power)

A better indicator would be a 3 year window of recalls on a given model. And if possible a sliding scale of how critical the componant that needs replacement might be.

1.) small trim repair (bad seam on seat, panel gap)

2.) minor inconvenince items (truck light switch, rattles)

3.) minor software glitch (radio won't hold presets)

4.) minor safty risk (airbag mounts, loose seatbelt anchors)

5.) major software/electronics risk (faulty ABS, underhood component fire, engine computer failure)

6.) Major safty risk (suspension failure, brake failure, steering failure, seatbelt failure, ABS failure)

7.) "Park the car now" (Engine failure, Fire risk, wheel failure)

Ergo if a BMW was recalled for a software glitch that affected iDrive it would be a recall factor of 3, but Bentley's recent wheel recall would be a factor of 6 or 7

Do they really do recalls on seam not straight, panel gap? And rattles? I suppose on rattles if they discovered someone had put something on wrong but otherwise? I do agree though that there should be differentiation between recalls, minor-not safety, safety, drivetrain, etc. That would be helpful.

Would be helpful to know what factory was responsible. I think Beetles are made in Mexico and there have always been probs with them. If it was known that certain factories always had recalls maybe they would get their act together, consumers could avoid cars built there, etc. Mercedes had probs with vehicles coming out of Alabama and Nissan had probs with vehicles coming out of Mississippi. Maybe probs are fixed now. But for awhile anything coming out of those plants was suspect.

Somethings doesn't seem right here. If this is really supposed to be a list of "the 14 most recalled new cars" there can't be over 1 million New Beetles on it. That would have to include a lot of old New Beetles - probably every one ever produced. The Sequoias and others couldn't possibly all be 2007s either.

Funny how Businessweek only counted models recalled up to and including the 2007 model year. Ford got a complete pass on their 3.6 million recalled vehicles earlier this month, because none of them were 2007's.

It's important with the list is to NOT jump to conclusions.
Big recalls occur infrequently enough that averaging over a year is not long enough to really see how companies are doing with the recalls. Even to just get the trend on the rate of change, one year is not a long enough timeframe. Therefore, the ranking on these lists changes drastically year after year. We shouldn't look at this list and say, "Oh my gosh, VW must be the worst car ever built! I will never again buy a VW!" or "Mercury is nowhere on the list! They are the best vehicle EVER!"

Besides, as happymantis said, recalls aren't necessarily a bad thing. It shows a commitment to quality that continues after the vehicle leaves the assembly line. Ofcourse a long list of severe recalls can make you wonder how much commitment there was BEFORE it left.

I would like to see a top 10 list of models with the most recalls ever. That would certainly be an indicator of quality control in engineering, design and assembly.

Why only make this list concerning 2007 models? It only shows part of the big picture.

I used to work in the auto service industry at the dealership level. The highlight of my career was going to Detroit and touring an auto assembly plant. The robot welders and painters were interesting, I saw each step of how a car was built. At the end of the line, they put gasoline in the car, and started it for the first time. If it wouldn't start, the car was sent to a repair station -- if it did start it was sent to the parking lot. My point is that only a small percentage of new cars are driven before delivery to the dealer. After seeing this, I made sure my make ready mechanic drove the car several miles and I also drove the car 5 miles to make sure the new car didn't have a problem.

There are thousands of parts in a new vehicle -and a part can go bad at any time. You can have the greatest build quality around and parts failure will kill your reputation.

Recalls are a PITA to the dealer. They don't pay well and some customers are upset that they have to bring their car in for the work. They think the car shouldn't break because they paid a lot of money for it.