Recalls problem for GM, owners
DETROIT — Nine million parts.
That’s what General Motors needs to repair millions of cars it has recalled since Feb. 7. With ignition switches, power steering motors and other parts slowly arriving at dealers, frustrated drivers face waits of weeks or months, some while driving cars they fear are unsafe.
Any recall can present challenges for automakers and customers. Still, most recalls include less than 50,000 vehicles and are typically completed in two or three months.
But experts say eight simultaneous recalls covering 7 million vehicles is too much for any organization to handle quickly, even one as big as GM. Suppliers have to make the parts — millions aren’t sitting in stock. GM has to notify customers, ship the parts to dealers worldwide and train mechanics how to do repairs.
GM says it will take six months to make and distribute all the parts for the largest recall: 2.6 million small cars with faulty ignition switches that the company links to 13 deaths.
The switches, mainly in older Chevrolet Cobalts and Saturn Ions, can slip out of the “run” position into “accessory,” shutting off engines and disabling power-assisted steering and air bags. GM has told dealers to offer concerned owners a loaner car while they wait for parts.
At least initially, the GM ignition switch recall didn’t go smoothly.
“This is a big ol’ hot mess,” said Blair Parker, a Houston attorney who owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. Her dealer can’t tell her exactly when parts will arrive.
A few months ago, Parker’s engine shut off unexpectedly when she hit the keys with her hand, an incident she had chalked up to user error. Now she worries the Cobalt’s switch is defective, and is driving a loaner car.
“We just decided it wasn’t worth the risk,” she said.
Wendi Kunkel’s 2010 Cobalt is part of the switch recall. Her dealer told her to pull everything off her keychain, which GM contends will stop the switches from turning off unexpectedly. But she’s nervous about her 30-minute one-way commute near Dallas.
Kunkel says her dealer, Lakeside Chevrolet in Rockwall, Texas, didn’t initially offer her a loaner, although she plans to ask for one.
Frank Pecora, Lakeside’s service manager, said the dealership doesn’t offer loaners unless customers express concern for their safety, per instructions from GM.
So far, GM has put 45,000 customers in loaners, equal to 1.7 percent of the cars recalled for the ignition switches.
GM isn’t offering loaners to car owners affected by the other recalls. Duane Paddock, owner of a Chevrolet dealer near Buffalo, N.Y., says he’s offering loaners on his own dime to keep customers happy.
