By Carrie Napolean
Sticky accelerators, fuel lines that can burst into flames and even a hood ornament that may impale pedestrians are just some of the reasons auto manufacturers issue safety recalls for their vehicles after they have hit the roads.
General Motors is recalling certain model year 2009-2014 Buick Enclave vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through May 14, 2014, Chevrolet Traverse vehicles manufactured June 6, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and GMC Acadia vehicles manufactured April 9, 2008, through May 14, 2014, and 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook vehicles manufactured April 14, 2008, through March 18, 2010. In the affected vehicles, the flexible steel steel cable that connects the seat belt to the front outboard seating positions may fatigue and separate over time. This can be found at the National Highway Traffic Information website call safercar.gov.
While some recalls may seem innocuous others can be a matter of life and death.
“People absolutely need to respond to the recalls and get their vehicles repaired. Too often people ignore recall notices and they are sometimes serious,” says Russ Rader, vice president of communications for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
It may easy to ignore safety recall notices for an airbag label on the back of a sun visor that does not stay affixed, but the next driver of that vehicle may not be prepared for the risk involved when an airbag deploys because the label is missing. Other recalls may be more obviously dangerous if ignored.
“An alarmingly high percentage of safety recall notices go ignored and unrepaired,” says Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS). That could be a mistake. Take for instance a Ford Motor Co. safety recall concerning the popular F150 truck model, among others.
The control switch for the cruise control in affected vehicles could overheat and cause a fire, even hours after the vehicle has been turned off. Numerous house and garage fires were caused by the defect, which could have otherwise been repaired by changing a $21 switch.
“Cars catch fire. It’s actually one of the more common reasons for recalls (some component) is prone to bursting in flames,” says Shahan.
Insurance companies will continue to provide auto insurance for vehicles with a recall notice, but choosing to ignore a recall notice can be a costly mistake.
Generally insurers do not charge more to insure recalled vehicles or raise the rates due to a recall. They also do not add a surcharge on a policy when a recall goes unrepaired, but that does not mean the customer has no financial liability. Insurers can take into account whether a recall was addressed if a claim were to be filed, explains Loretta Worters, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute.
“Since a company has no way to consistently know when customers ignore recall notices, they don’t attempt to surcharge for this reason,” Worters says.
She compared the situation to when customers know their brake lines are wearing thin but don’t take the vehicle to the repair shop. Since insurers do not know about the situation they cannot charge for it.
“Of course, when an accident happens (because of the defective brakes) and the claim is made, a company is then able to take that into consideration for that customer’s rate going forward,” says Worters.
