I personally don’t have an Autopian Answer to today’s Autopian Ask, but that’s OK. I have received recall notices, mind you, but they were so minor that I either fixed the thing myself (I believe one was “loose battery strap”) or I just decided I wasn’t worried about whatever the recall was for. I admit, the bar I set for when to worry is pretty high; if a recall says my car might catch on fire, but it sounds like it will ignite slowly, I’m probably gonna put that off way too long.
Let’s check in with the gang …
The Bishop
I just got another recall notice!
When I take the car in, they always find “other stuff.”
So I never leave for less than around $1500 for the “free repair.”
Mercedes
You people bring your cars in for recalls?
My 2016 Smart has a recall because the headlights have a lateral adjustment screw that’s non-compliant with FMVSS. The recall blocks off the screw so the headlight cannot be adjusted laterally.
Pfft, I’m not deleting a feature from my car!
Matt
My not-so-beloved Forester had to be recalled three times, including for a battery recall, the sunsetting of 3G, and something to do with the brake pedal. All I remember is they left an extra bolt in the footwell, and I had to text Bozi to double-check that I didn’t need that bolt. [Ed note: Yeah, but free bolt! – Pete]
Antti
I’ve only ever had recalls done on cheap beater cars. Takata airbag on my 1.5-liter JDM Impreza and the ignition switch on the Demio
On both counts, it was hilarious to take old, 1000-1500 euro cars in for recall work.
Brian
I actually brought my M5 in to get the air conditioning fixed in like 2017, expecting to have to go without a car. But they were like, “Oh your car has a recall we need to do, here’s a free X3 for a week.”
Which was nice.
Stephen Walter Gossin
Upon receiving the Takata Airbag recall notice for my ’04 Durango in the mail a few years back, I immediately knew I had to take action. I had been following the international, wide-spanning effects and reach of the issue with those problematic (and deadly) airbag units for years as a voracious consumer of automotive media. I didn’t want to roll the dice with potentially having shrapnel launched into my face while driving.
Taking the car to the local Dodge dealer was actually wicked simple and easy. I dropped it off after work and placed the keys in the late-hours Dropbox. The next afternoon, I got a call back from the service advisor inviting me to come get the truck. It only cost me a nominal amount of time and effort to gain a massive amount of peace of mind.
Your turn:
My 128i has been recalled for VANOS bolts, CCV heater, and Takata airbags, but that’s pretty much it. My wife’s 2018 Leaf has been recalled for a few electrical-related issues, but nothing mechanical.
My 2012 VW Sportwagen TDI was recalled due to Dieselgate – hard to top that.
Years ago I took my old e90 335i in for a HVAC wiring harness and fuel pump recall. They gave me a nice 5 series to use for 3 days. Upon pickup the tech let me know that he could detect a tiny amount of play in the HVAC blower bearing and he went ahead and replaced the whole blower assembly free of charge – completely unrelated to the wiring harness recall.
They knew I had a mild tune on it and I think they gave me a little extra love knowing that I was a bit of an enthusiast.
I took my Mazdaspeed 6 in for an intake manifold runner motor recall and a cam phaser extended warranty replacement.
I picked it up (after service had closed) and the check engine light was on and the car was in limp mode. Drove it home, pulled the code and it was for the manifold runner actuator arm failure. I googled it and up came my recall procedure from Mazda with a ALL CAPS warning to follow a specific procedure or the arm inside the manifold would break causing the exact code I had.
I took the car back the next morning and sure enough, they had broken the actuator arm and I had to wait 3 weeks for a replacement intake manifold from Japan. They grudgingly gave me a base model Mazda 3 as a loaner.
They also refused to fix the cam phaser under the extended warranty because I couldn’t provide proof of oil changes from new (I’d bought the car used). I paid for the repair, then sent the bill to Mazda Canada who promptly reimbursed me. Needless to say, I never went back to that Mazda dealer.
I took my 4WS 1989 Prelude into the Honda dealership in like 2018 as one of the seatbelts quit clicking in. It clicked but you could pull it back out. Turns out there was a recall in like the mid 90s but since it was seatbelt related, it was still active. The entire team of techs in the dealership came out to look at the car.
I only ever got one for my 2003 Mini. It’s been so long I don’t remember what it was for. It wasn’t a big deal, combined it with some of the covered first two years of maintenance included.
Some minor stuff on the BMW which got fixed during service, so no additional effort. But hilariously, grandma’s 86 Mazda 121 got a recall after 35 years. It wasn’t material either so we didn’t follow up on it.