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:
OH! I can finally contribute something of substance here!!
I have a 2013 BMW X5 xDrive35d with 195k miles now. back in 2020, it had 85k miles, and I had just driven it from Milwaukee WI to Elizabeth City NC after removing the front passenger seat. My wife had just had our daughter and I wanted her to be comfortable sitting next to our rearward facing carseat with our two-month old in it. and our 5 month old kitten.
Fast forward to landing in Elizabeth City, the seat I had removed had beat us there in our PODS unit. So the first weekend after we had gotten there, I installed the seat to no real fanfare. Except when i started the car- the windows wouldnt work. the turn signals wouldnt work. the headlights stayed on, fun dash warning lights, etc.
Turns out my one of my vehicle’s computer modules, specifically the footwell module (FRM) had fried. Sometimes it happens without warning, sometimes it happens when electrical connections are made. But it was part of a recall that had a 8yr/120k mile timeline from date of manufacture.
Wouldnt you know it, dear reader? It was Halloween 2020, and my car was built in November of 2012. That following Monday, I called BMW VA Beach as I drove there from EC. They honored the warranty and asked ‘what kind of loaner would you like? this is gonna take a few weeks’
I drove away in a 400-mile 2021 740i and drove that car for TWO MONTHS until they finally called me and said it was ready. “We’re so sorry, the part had to come from Germany, and scheduling the master technician to do the programming was a chore, etc, etc…’ my friends, i got to drive a brand new 7 series for two months. I appreciate your transparency, and accept your apology, but please, this was awesome!
So, in summary, I’ve been lucky enough that every experience I’ve ever had at a dealership has been so much more than just pleasant. this recall was as smooth as could have hoped for, and even the initial purchase was a ‘check engine light on the drive home, bring it back, take this brand new range rover sport while we fix it for a month’ ordeal that i would love to repeat
Yes, 2017 Pacifica. It took the dealer way too long to update software, even though I had an appointment.
I have 3 I need to take care of on my 2024 Wrangler 4xe…
Batteries may catch fire – parts available
Engine may fail due to sand in the casting – parts not available
Software update issue that briefly bricked the vehicle and was covered here -parts not available.
Even with all of this I would still buy another. I’m not aware of another five passenger convertible that can run on electricity, at least some of the time. I’m annoyed Stellantis canceled it and the Gladiator 4xe they planned, but never released. Hopefully, it’s only temporary while they develop a better system.
I don’t mean to be a Jeep apologist, but it’s a unique vehicle in a sea of boring crossovers. It never falls to make me smile to roll along with the top down with the quiet of battery power. It’s not a rational take, but I read on some website, that people don’t buy cars for rational reasons.
I bought a very early 2013 Scion FR-S in July 2012.
I had to bring it back for several recalls/TSBs, including the tail lights.
The last TSB I discovered when my engine ate itself at ~38k miles. This was likely due to a valvetrain TSB although nobody ever confirmed this to me. That took a month because of parts availability.
I also have an 09 Outback subject to the Takata recall. I haven’t brought it in because it’s been sitting for well over a year. When they first notified me, they did not have parts. By the time parts were available, I was only using it it as a one passenger vehicle (recall was for passenger airbag).
At this point, I’ve become attached to the frequent contact from Subaru regarding the recall. After a while, they assumed I could not read English and stared sending me notices in different languages. It’s like getting postcards from around the world. I don’t think I’ll ever bring it in!
I forgot about the tail light flooding issue! I think they did that for me when I was in for an oil change.
I don’t remember if either of my wife’s and I’s Subarus had takata airbags but if they did, I had it done.
Did have the wife’s Impreza get the valve spring fix. No issues at all getting it fixed.
Car actually went in for an engine light that was unrelated to the springs. I didn’t know crap about car maintenance at that point and her car was an oil chugger. Misread the manual and added the full 5 qts the engine takes instead of just 1. The tech was like “wth is there so much oil” in the nicest of ways in the report. Dodged a oily bullet there….
I had a similar Takata airbag recall story on my 2004 Subaru Legacy with about 300k miles at the time. The dealer went ahead and gave me a free inspection and list of work the car needed. It was pretty hilarious. I had to wait about 3 months for an appointment because I live in one of those states with snow and mountains in which you see Subarus everywhere. Luckily it was my passenger airbag.
Other than that, I’ve never owned anything new enough to get a recall.
My worst recall experience was my 2002 BMW R1150R. It was recalled because the tank fuel quick connects could leak. They didn’t but I took it in anyway. The bike was my daily commuter and it was winter.
So I took it in and they replaced one side of one quick connect. No problem but then AFTER the repair to fix leaks the bike would leak fuel if the temperature was below freezing. So I took it back in and they replaced another quick connect – still leaks. Another trip – still leaks. Finally on the 4th trip they discovered that in the first recall they had pinched the quick connect between the tank and frame just enough to bend it a bit and make it no longer round. Not enough to leak if the o-rings were warm but when they were cold and stiff the gas could squeeze by. They replaced the original part again and no more leaks.
That was a lot of cold rides – especially on their loaner bike that did not have heated grips or a port for my heated vest.
Quite a few times…
2006 Solstice had both the ignition and passenger airbag sensor recalls, and my 2012 328i had the water pump shield recall. Never had upsells or anything, just went in and got the specific done and back out.
Debated taking my wife’s ’20 Kona in because the car was fine and what if they upset the equilibrium we had.
Decided free recall was low risk and scheduled it. Part of the recall involved updating diagnostic software to detect potential hidden issues.
Shortly after we get the car back, sure enough, the MIL goes off. So we head back for another($200) diagnosis. After holding the car overnight, we were told that, yes in fact it looked like the potential issue was presenting itself and it would be $$$$ to fix.
Couldn’t afford that-and also couldn’t’ shake feeling incredulous that such a consistently reliable car could have anything wrong with it.
Went to a private mechanic recommended by a friend.
Turns out the dealer had left a connector off after performing the initial (free)diagnosis. They were not open to discussing it. Never went back to the dealer and wife refuses to buy Hyundai’s now.
BMW 325is – brakes, differential, instrument cluster sold it. Mercedes 190e 2.6, various electrical gremlins never resolved, left front wheel bearing, shifter, brakes, sold it. Chev Cruise – something or the other with the cooling system. Took them three days to fix it. At least the gave me a gratis loaner. Subaru Tribeca – another cooling curiosity. Two days free loaner. Honda Accord – fuel pump. Made me wait in the customer lounge for six hours. I don’t get the car serviced there any more. Accord again – 2 x on the condenser recall. I gave up waiting for a replacement condenser to be manufactured after six months and paid for a new
one out of pocket. I still get recall notices for the ignition tumbler on my long departed (11 yrs) Oldsmobile Intrigue. GM is way down on my list of potential cars.
Honda makes really good cars overall, but their service / parts department desks want to treat you like a Kia customer but charge you like an Audi customer.
I’ve had good experiences with the dealer I switched to. The dealer I bought the car from has bankster hours and attitude.
The car has been great overall, I still like driving and owning it. I do a lot of my own work on it; brakes, engine and trans fluids, seasonal tire swaps so far. It’s not much cheaper, but I can check out how the car is aging and deal with issues before they become problems.
Technically “not a recall” I took my 06 Magnum RT to the dealer to get the “lifetime warranty” replacement fuel tank. Basically stalls the car after you fill up the tank all the way, unless you leave the cap loose for a few miles. I lived with the issue for a while but the whole process was pretty painless once they got the tank in stock. The dealer installed exhaust rattle was really nice, but not worth complaining much about to be honest.
2020 GMC Acadia – There was a recall for the rear camera cable that required the headliner to be dropped in order to replace it. The dealer needed to keep the car overnight. They provided me with a loaner vehicle. It was ready the next day; everything was reassembled properly and they even washed the car. A good experience.
Went through a few unremarkable ones with a 2019 WRX STI, with the most interesting being the big, brand-wide, battery-eating DCM module recall. While it was annoying to deal with random rapid battery drain for a few months until the recall was expanded enough to cover me, it did at least provide me the opportunity to fully opt-out of having a “connected” car in a warranty-friendly manner, so I’d call that a win.
Much less of a win though was my partner’s ’13 FR-S, taken in for the now-infamous valve spring recall. Why infamous? Well, this recall requires removal and replacement of a front timing cover, and putting it back on requires some delicate, manual reapplication of RTV around a number of holes where vital engine fluids pass. You can probably guess where this one is headed…
Right around the time of having the recall completed, COVID was just hitting its stride. Our jobs went remote and its regular (SCCA SSC class) autocross activities were placed on hold for several months, so the car didn’t see a whole lot of miles for a while. About a year later, we finally got it back out to autocross event where it quickly started to sound off in the middle of a run for all of 5 seconds before going pop. One long tow and an engine teardown at a trusted indie shop later, we were treated to the sight of a sloppy RTV job and a bunch of little slivers of the stuff ingested into the oil pickup and beyond.
The best theory the shop could come up with was that Toyota’s techs did the job *just* badly enough to fly under the radar during the infrequent, mundane usage it saw during the peak of the pandemic, but then starve out oil flow when it could finally be pushed for a longer period of time. The final cause of death? Busted rod busting a hole in the block. Unfortunately, even with evidence in hand, a bit too much time had passed and the dealership was a bit too aware of the car’s frequent autocross activities (despite no engine mods), so our requests for repair compensation from Toyota were met with requests to go pound sand.
It didn’t quite feel worth the risk to try and fight a legal battle here, so we bit the bullet on a fresh bottom end and rebuilt valvetrain. While painful to the wallet, it did at least get us 80% of a new (and importantly, still legal for its autocross class) engine, and a hopefully longer overall life for the car. So far so good at 130k+ hard miles and counting…
Ah the famous Sprinter diesel recall – I was contacted by .. probably some representative of the class action lawsuit, and because that specific sprinter was a freightliner rebrand it resulted in a little bit of a nightmare.
The letter sounded very nice, like you get 1500 compensation, and additional 2000 or so worth of work from the dealer.(the catch was that you have to perform the recall before a certain date
The reality is that mercedes claimed they don’t have the parts until the deadline passed, so I don’t think anyone got their $1500 compensation.
Mine took 8-10 months from the initial date until it actually got fixed
See I do have a mercedes dealer right next to my place(like 12 miles or so). SO I made an online appointment they cinfirmed and all was good, I paid to have it towed there, only to find out that they wont take it in, despite the fact that they did accept the appointment.
Now the next part of the nightmare, I had to schedule with some idiots that were servicing freightliners. Now thinking that I will do better, I called to confirm the appointment, and this place didn’t even have an online option to do so, they gave me a date because supposedly they did not even have the part ready until a specific date.
Only to find out on that date when i sent the van there, that they have no record of my appointment. And the funny thing is that the recall letter came from them I think?
Also like the first time I called they gave me the same BS that they don’t have the part.
I only got it fixed the 3rd time, and apparently they do such a bad job for the recall and all this time I could have had mercedes pay for the towing and all that.
So this time they towed it and took it in, and it was sitting with them for a good few months, so I had to leave out of state.
Of course there is another twist – when they finished they told me that I have like 2 days to pick it up, I am like you guys had almost 6 months, and you could not figure it out to give me more heads up? … and that’s not the worst of it, I talked them down to keep it for like 5 more days so I can arrange a flight and be ready for it, and everything was fine except it wasn’t.
while they kept it for those 5 days they parked it illegally, and got 2 parking tickets.
Somehow that is my responsibility….
2016 Mazda6. Recall:
2015–2016 Mazda6 vehicles are recalled because passenger seat frame welding debris can damage the occupant classification system (OCS) wiring, causing a short. This defect may deactivate the passenger airbag and cause a loss of power steering assist. Dealers will install protective pads and repair wiring if necessary, free of charge.
Took about 20 minutes. The dealership put a piece of Velcro over the weld area that was rough with debris and gave the car back to me. Worked for me. As long as the wires wouldn’t rub.
None of my cars have ever had recalls.
Just lucky I guess.
Why wouldn’t you bring it in? It’s free and it’ll make your car better/safer. I’ve even done the quiet recalls. Got a new dashboard out of it.
A 2022 VW Atlas is the most recent. It was recalled a couple of times, the last one because of potential metal shavings left in the block. Volkswagens first class method of dealing with that was to take the car, put on a fresh oil filter, and for the tech to take it out and drive it up to the red line 10 times. Return to the shop, remove the oil filter, cut it open and look for metal bits. If not were found, put on another new oil filter and send the owner on his way. If shavings were found, it was time for a new engine. And engines were on a 6 month back order. The whole thing just seemed half assed. The car was a company car lease and I was glad to be rid of the thing.
2001 Dodge Dakota V8 – recall on some suspension or something bushing; handled quickly and efficiently by local Dodge dealer.
2010 Dodge Ram 1500 – some recall on steering rack IIRC; again, handled quickly and efficiently by local Dodge dealer.
2011 BMW 328 – multiple recalls on variety of things over a very long period of time (owned the 328 for 14 years); handled quickly and efficiently by local BMW dealer when the parts were available which took, at least for the driver’s airbag, several years. Thanks Takata!
I know BMWs get a bad rap – I’ve owed 4 – and perhaps that is well-deserved given the stupid engineering decisions BMW has repeatedly made – PCV anyone?? oil pan gaskets?? – but their dealers that I’ve worked with – BMW of Anchorage and Knauz – are absolutely fantastic.
Also, Dodge also has history of bad decisions but my 3 Dodge trucks were absolutely rock solid. Maybe because all were made at the same Warren Truck plant and not on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning? I miss my 1991 Ramcharger despite it’s piddling 170hp from a 5.2l V8 engine that barely got the truck up to 55mph. The 2010 Dodge Ram still going strong at 250,000 miles – now my friend’s teenage son’s truck.
I’m pretty sure we took my SO’s long-ago X1 in for the Takata recall. Per a VIN check, my current E39 had the airbag recall taken care of before I got it, but oddly enough, the first time I removed the steering wheel a couple of years ago, I found a parking receipt from 2007 tucked behind the airbag, so how that managed to escape the notice of whoever (allegedly) did the recall work is beyond me.
Funny thing about that receipt, though: I live in Oakland, but bought the car near Seattle back in 2023. That 2007 parking receipt…was from Oakland. I knew that the car had been sold as CPO by BMW of San Francisco in 2006, but it’s funny to think I brought it back to a place it had been before.
What was the question again?
4 times across 3 RX8’s. One was for a manufacturing defect in the cast lower A-arm identical to the one you had about the Ford GT recall (https://www.theautopian.com/i-made-a-huge-engineering-mistake-on-the-2005-ford-gt/) and the other was the Takata one. Think they both came out right around 2008 but don’t remember the order. Was offered a loaner but didn’t take it and 1-2 days later the car is ready and fully detailed.
I later built 2 lemons RX8’s and took them both in for the lower A-arm recall. One was fully race ready with a stripped interior, cage, etc. and they did it without any issues. We did this mainly so that we’d get a free alignment after they replaced the arms. The second one we had to tow in before we ever got the engine to work as there was a seized bolt that fused with the arm that even after breaking off both ends of it we just couldn’t figure out how to remove. This car was only about 1/4 stripped at the time so we had to get the Takata recall done even though it was obvious to everyone that in a week or two it was getting ripped out and this car was never going to see a public road ever again.
My 03 Accord was part of a certain airbag recall. Normally you get a call or a letter, all normal. But not this time.
I bought the car from my aunt, who received the call(or letter, i dont know what) from the local dealer it was purchased from. “Oh no, I dont own it anymore. I sold it to my nephew.”
Next step would be they call or write me. Right? No. I get a facebook message from the service scheduler. Not from the dealer, not from honda relations, the schedulers personal facebook. Who explained this and got me in.
My vibe 7 years later was also part of that recall. But I just got a letter that time.
I also had to have the torque converter replaced in my 2017 accord last winter under a TSB extended warranty. The new swaybar endlinks i installed were mysteriously bad. When I told them not to do it, they had already cut/torched them off. And broke a bunch of plastic clips that they replaced with zip ties. Screw you Lia Honda- not only did you buy my dream house out from under me, you busted up my car.
Ah! Lia!
Here we go again
Ah! Lia!
Is it ever gonna end?
Ah! Lia!
Here we go again
Ah! Lia!
My 2012 GT86 got recalled for valve spring replacement. My local Toyota dealer dropped the engine out and rested it on a tyre on the floor under the ramp my car was on. This is not a clean environment to take the cam covers off an engine.
Anyway, they set the timing wrong, so it had to go immediately back for that.
At some point during this process some idiot screwed a long bolt in to a short hole, and broke the end of the bolt boss off inside the RH cam cover.
A few hundred miles after that a cam hit that lump of casting just right and punched a hole in the cam cover, through which the oil escaped.
I was deeply unhappy with the whole experience, obviously.
Toyota fixed it for free, or put another way, Toyota broke it for free and then kept my car for weeks.
I have a 2025 CBR600RR that has an engine recall looming. If the fix means a dealer rebuilding my engine I’m going to lose my shit.
Good luck with the CBR.
Thanks!
I only bought it because I was worried about something catastrophic going wrong with my 30 year old RVR400.
I’ve done several recalls over the years, and all have been handled well. For the Takata airbag recall on my ’08 Ford Fusion, they didn’t have parts but also instructed owners not to drive the cars. So, I had a rental car at my disposal for an entire summer paid by Ford until the part came in.
Austin Infiniti was horrible about that on my ’03 G35. I’d just have them do the recall work and ask for the list of other things they recommended. Then I’d either fix myself, have an independent garage do the work, or decide it was unnecessary and ignore it.
For my ’16 Volvo S60 otoh, both Volvo of Austin and Premier Volvo and San Antonio were great about doing the work and not trying to upsell additional work. Only issue with the Austin location was a two month wait to get an appt. San Antonio Volvo was able to make appts the following week. Recall #1 was a seatbelt attachment replacement, done by Austin. Work done in a couple of hours, but I got it home and wife noticed the plastic cover over the seat belt retractor was all wonky. Fixed it myself.
Recall #2 was actually a technical service notice for engines burning oil. I was already having to add 1+ qts of oil between changes, so I jumped on this offer. But used San Antonio due to ridiculous wait for Austin appt. Annoying since it involved them changing the oil and then putting tamper seals on the fill cap and drain plug. Then driving for a month and returning for them to check oil consumption. Mine didn’t even make it 2 weeks before the add oil warning came on. So I got an engine rebuild for free and now there is no oil consumption between changes.
Additional props to S.A. Volvo, they made a video of them performing various checks on the car. Instead of “You really should have blankety-blank checked soon!” it was, “everything checks out, you’re good to go!” So big recommendation for these guys if you are in central Texas and need your Swede worked on.
First recall – 2005 Prius. It was useless as they just cut off the bottom of the accelerator pedal because some people had giant aftermarket floor mats that cause “unintended acceleration”
The 2017 Bolt got a battery swap – that less than a day but they put the recall sticker on crooked. (I’m irrationally upset about this to this day). On the positive side I got a 10% bigger battery and a new 8 year warranty.
The Bolt was also recalled because the seat belt tensioner could start the carpet on fire.
Right now I have an open recall for my Express 4500 that says some wiring could cause a fire. Hasn’t in 15 years but I’ll eventually take it in.