Recall-free cars and manufacturers: are there any out there?

[dd74]

Seems to me almost every large manufacturer has had a recall: Ford, GM, Toyota, etc.

Is there any large manufacturer who has not yet had a recall of their product?

Subaru come to mind, though I'm not certain about that.

[Z-man]

All car manufacturers will have cars that need to be recalled.

My Subaru (1995 Legacy) was recalled for two things:
- The tie down hooks up front were determined to be too low and could cause the airbags to go of, if it hits the ground in uneven pavement. Solution: Cut the tie down hooks off.
- The power steering boot was prone to cracks. Solution: Replace boots with more robust units.

I don't know of a single car maker that has not had a recall. Some are more severe like Toyota's current crop of issues, and some are less severe, like what I experienced with my Subbie.

There's a US government website which documents all of the recalls - sorry, I'm too lazy to search for it.

-Z

[tcar]

No.

Go crazy.

ODI - Office of Defects Investigation

[Scuba Steve]

My 2000 Celica was recalled for something to do with the daytime running lights. Think they were too bright for one state... can't imagine which one it was.

[legion]

Yes, there were several manufacturers without a single recall last year:

Plymouth
AMC
Duesenberg
Bricklin
DeLorean

[Jim Richards]

Studebaker

[yellowline]

Originally Posted by dd74

Subaru come to mind, though I'm not certain about that.

My dad's 07 was recalled for the computer settings. They reflashed it. Apparently it was too lean and the catalytic converter heated up too much. They also had some issue with a check valve in the fuel tank, also recalled.

That and they have a small head gasket issue. Subaru relabels stopleak, marks it up at the parts counter, and sez it'll fix it.

My dad ranted and raved about his car, then he tried my E36. Now he window shops E39s.

[dondarnell]

It would seem with the complexity of modern autos, all will have some problem or another. The character of a car company lies with how quickly they admit the problem and fix it. Toyota has done quite the opposite, and continue to deny that electronics are the problem. Owners are reporting that cars "fixed" continue to have unintended accellaration.

[Tobra]

Oldsmobile
Plymouth

[lm6y]

Hudson, Tucker,Edsel.

[GH85Carrera]

I thought all recalls were free to the customer

[dd74]

Originally Posted by dondarnell

It would seem with the complexity of modern autos, all will have some problem or another. The character of a car company lies with how quickly they admit the problem and fix it. Toyota has done quite the opposite, and continue to deny that electronics are the problem. Owners are reporting that cars "fixed" continue to have unintended accellaration.

Yeah, I think you nailed it. This will now become the new standard, IMO, and recalls will simply be part and parcel to auto ownership.

[Rick Lee]

I wish Porsche would do a recall on 993 valve guides and/or the SAI issue, though neither have popped up on my car.

A recall for the coolant plumbing on my E30 ended up with a cure that was worse than the disease. They forgot to tighten a hose clamp and all my coolant ran out less than a mile after I had left the dealership.

[sammyg2]

Here is a list of recalls by manufacturer. Auto Recalls, Component Recalls, Recalls by Makes and Models
Ironic that yugo only had three. guess they weren't around very long and everyone who bought one expected it to be a POS. Also, Rolls Royce, reported to make the best automobiles in the world, has had 204 recalls.

Manufacturer, and number of recalls:
ACURA (272)
ALFA ROMEO (69)
AM GENERAL (141)
AMERICAN MOTORS (174)
ASTON MARTIN (35)
AUDI (391)
BENTLEY (235)
BMW (1,170)
BUICK (672)
CADILLAC (409)
CHEVROLET (4,311)
CHRYSLER (686)
DAEWOO (44)
DAIHATSU (3)
DODGE (2,550)
EAGLE (93)
FERRARI (159)
FIAT (53)
FORD (5,039)
GEO (44)
GMC (2,816)
HONDA (1,065)
HYUNDAI (314)
INFINITI (134)
ISUZU (245)
JAGUAR (290)
JEEP (771)
KIA (102)
LAMBORGHINI (11)
LAND ROVER (152)
LEXUS (139)
LINCOLN (305)
LOTUS (35)
MASERATI (34)
MAZDA (406)
MERCEDES BENZ (608)
MERCURY (696)
MERKUR (1)
MG (35)
MINI (31)
MITSUBISHI (489)
NISSAN (733)
OLDSMOBILE (590)
PEUGEOT (64)
PLYMOUTH (736)
PONTIAC (965)
PORSCHE (240)
RENAULT (78)
ROLLS ROYCE (204)
SAAB (195)
SATURN (206)
STERLING (293)
SUBARU (296)
SUZUKI (281)
TOYOTA (775)
TRIUMPH (300)
VOLKSWAGEN (723)
VOLVO (1,384)
YUGO (3)

[kaisen]

Worthless list, and no context

[m21sniper]

Yep.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by kaisen

Worthless list, and no context

OH BS.
Do you know how to use a mouse? Move it around until the arrow on the screen points to that link I provided in my post and push down on the left button.
That will take you to the place I cut and pasted that list from. Click on any one of the manufacturers and you can go see any recall you want to see.
There is a ton of info available on that site but it takes a tiny but of effort to actually see it.

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by dd74

Yeah, I think you nailed it. This will now become the new standard, IMO, and recalls will simply be part and parcel to auto ownership.

People already accept it with software and operating system updates to fix stuff that didn't work right upon release.

[Tobra]

Poked around on that list. VW beetle did not have any recalls until 1968, for lug bolts. Only recall on Super Beetles was for inverted tail light lenses in 1977. They sort of went to crap after they went away from air cooled

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

OH BS.
Do you know how to use a mouse? Move it around until the arrow on the screen points to that link I provided in my post and push down on the left button.
That will take you to the place I cut and pasted that list from. Click on any one of the manufacturers and you can go see any recall you want to see.
There is a ton of info available on that site but it takes a tiny but of effort to actually see it.

I said the LIST was worthless, not the data.

If you present a LIST of manufacturers and the NUMBER of recalls they've had, WITHOUT providing ANY CONTEXT (like a range of years the data was collected from, severity of recall, recalls per year, recalls per number sold, etc) you'd be fooled into thinking that Merkur was BETTER than, say, Toyota because the list YOU provided says 'Merkur - 1' and 'Toyota - 775'...... in fact Merkur just might be the best car ever made, judging from your list.

Garbage in, garbage out

BTW, does anyone know where I can buy a 1989 Merkur Scorpio? I read somewhere that they were rock-solid!