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Worst Car Recalls

An exploration into some of the worst car recalls in automotive history.

By Ray ShikinamiPublished 7 years ago 6 min read
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Cars get recalled. This is a fact of life. The paint can be toxic. A windshield wiper can malfunction. Maybe a certain kind of tire is made of weaker stuff than standards allow. Either way, plenty of cars get called back for tweaks.

Sometimes, though, the cars are recalled because they are dangerous. And sometimes a lot of cars are defected. Sometimes, a lot of lives are at risk. Sometimes, people died before the recalls were even done.

For auto enthusiasts, there are a few car recalls that stand out in memory against all others. One only hopes that car companies remember the worst car recalls, so they can make sure to never put out a faulty product again (though we all know that will never happen).

Ford - 1972 - Detachable Seat Belts

It's commonly understood that seat belts are instrumental to saving lives in a car accident. They keep you from flying from your seat through the windshield, keep you from colliding into your steering wheel, or, worst of all, watching your child's booster seat become a volatile projectile.

So what if those seat belts... detached?

In 1972, Ford recalled over three million cars. The reason? The seat belts detached from the buckle. This meant that over three million families – potentially, if four people sat in each car, 12 million Americans – could have died.

GM - 2004 - Tailgate Snapping

Tailgates, the rear part of a truck's trunk that opens up, are often times used to help heave things inside a truck. People sit on them, stand by them, crack beers open on them... in some parts of America, they are something of a social gathering place.

So, if you're sitting on that tailgate, you better pray to God that the cables holding it up don't snap.

In 2004, General Motors recalled 3.6 million trucks because the tailgate cables snapped. That made tailgate dangerously unstable and unsuitable for most things.

Honda - 1995 - Cracking Belts

Another major seatbelt recall, this one resulted in over 3.7 million Honda vehicles being recalled in 1995. The reason? The seat belt buckles would crack.

The belts were not designed to withstand pressure exerted against them, which meant that, should they be tested by holding a passenger down, they might crack. The cracks could be either minor... or severe. Side-effects of cracked seat belts include, but are not limited to, the belts not freaking working.

GM - 1972 - Bad Steering

This recall is an examination of how, sometimes, one thing can lead to another. In 1972, General Motors recalled 3.7 million vehicles for an undercarriage problem. Small stones would get caught in the car's undercarriage, which led to... problems.

Problems with the steering wheel.

Now, obviously, if a car can't steer, you are going to run into a few problems. Most notably, that the car couldn't actually go in the right direction, change directions, etc. This led to car accidents. Lots of car accidents.

Toyota - Starting 2009 - Unintentional Acceleration

When driving a car without your foot on the gas, you can expect your car to start slowing down a little. Maybe easing into a pace. You don't expect your car to suddenly kick it into acceleration, and speed up.

In 2009, Toyota started recalling vehicles that would start to accelerate without warning. At first, it sounded like a few cars... until they recalled more. And more.

As of now, 4.4 million vehicles have been recalled. Investigators came to see if Toyota had or had not deliberately underreported the number of cars affected to avoid a PR disaster, simply because recalls keep happening.

Ford - 2005 and 2009 - Exploding Cruise Control

Ford made the same mistake twice.

In 2005, 4.5 million trucks, cars, and SUVs were recalled by Ford due to a cruise control device that had caused a few problems. Said devices would leak and overheat – a bad combination that led to the vehicles bursting into a fireball.

Awful, but Ford acted fast, and installed a replacement... that also turned out to overheat, leak, and blow up.

Each recall led to 4.5 million vehicles being deemed too dangerous to drive. So Ford recalled 4.5 million vehicles, sent them back, and recalled them all back all over again.

GM - Late 1970s - Things Fall Apart

You ever read "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats? There's a line in that poem that goes "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold." You didn't think I could apply that to General Motor's second-largest recall in history, but, guess what, I can.

In the late 1970s, GM realized that 5.6 million of their vehicles had a faulty control arm. The control arm is an essential element of the car. It keeps the rear axles attached. So if that thing came loose, then... well, you lose control of your rear wheels. You sort of need those.

Without the wheel axle, you lose control of your car. Imagine the disasters that could ensue if nearly six million vehicles went lose upon the streets. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."

GM - 60s and 70s - Engines Can't Stay Still

Ah, General Motors. Your recalls are among the most egregious and wide-spread in the industry – not to mention constant – but this recall, the biggest in your history, may be the worst of them all.

Over the course of two decades, investigators realized that GM's car engines were poorly mounted inside the vehicle... meaning they'd shift. Sometimes, dramatically. The unstable car engines bouncing around would result in sudden and abrupt accelerations, sometimes without warning.

As a result, 6.7 million vehicles were recalled! 6.7 million! Imagine all the potential people who could have died, had this not been caught early – oh, wait, it wasn't caught early! Even though GM installed belts and straps to keep the engine stable, new vehicle models over the course of two decades were found to have the same problem, so GM kept having to recall new vehicles, which made this for GM one of their longest lasting disasters in company history.

Ford - 1996 - This Car is on Fire

Ford is another company with many large scale disasters on their hand... but this recall may be one of the most terrifying of all, as the problems start just turning on the car.

Ignition is something that car makers should have perfected by the 90s, but apparently not. You'd think that the car makers would be careful designing the thing that turns your car on. But no. Ford's vehicles had faulty ignitions, that would short circuit. Sounds bad, right? Since a faulty ignition means your car won't start.

Oh, but it gets worse.

The engine might not ignite... but your steering wheel would.

Let us consider what parts of your body could be lit aflame if your steering wheel exploded or started burning. Your hair, face, torso, legs, genitals, hands... everything. Your everything would burn, leaving crisp flesh melting into your car seat.

Ford recalled 7.9 million cars after news broke that their cars could literally grill your flesh.

But if you can believe it – if you can really believe it – it... gets... worse!

Ford - 1980 - No Parking For You!

Ford takes the top place for a recall that happened too late for over one-hundred people... or, at least, one-hundred confirmed cases they could prove.

By 1980, Ford released that, for the last ten model years, their vehicles all came with a lethal "bug." It turned out that there was a problem with the car gears that just happened when their vehicles went into park. Turns out... the car would just automatically go into reverse. Imagine that! And it happened that 6,000 car accidents happened as a result (that could be confirmed).

You park on a hill? You're going down into oncoming traffic. Parked in a lot? You're plowing into your neighbor's side door. You want to go into a driveway? Just wait for someone to park behind you, and, guess what? You're gonna hit them.

A decade's worth of Fords – recalled.

21 million vehicles – recalled.

This was the largest auto recall. Ever.

If there's anything you can learn from this, it's this. Seven out of 10 cars are American. Maybe... don't buy American.

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About the Creator

Ray Shikinami

Freelance writer between jobs. Will write for food.

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