You would be blind if you haven't noticed the ever growing number of recalls in the last year.
With all of the publicity over safety concerns, automakers are becoming far more aware of the need to recall vehicles over safety issues. On one side of the argument is we are placing public safety first, on the other side of the it also limits liability with a prompt response. Almost everyone wins in this case as far as safety goes.
However, did you know known defects that really aren't tallied and ranked out there anywhere for the consumer.
After all we all know about the JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study and just how well each brand is ranked as far as owner reported defects go. But were you aware that recalls not typically in these tallies?
I discussed this a while back with Michael Karesh over at True Delta, and basically safety recalls are technically optional, and not considered a mandatory repair. In essence a recall issued by the automaker to replace defective components doesn't count as a defect. Hmm.. Pretty interesting now isn't it. After all if my car gets recalled for bad brakes, it WILL go to the dealer to be fixed. Am I the only one with that opinion?
It all sounds simple to track this data and update it now doesn't it? Well sort of. It is difficult enough to track a snapshot in time of a particular segment of the industry. Now compound that which total industry recalls over numerous years. Don't forget to keep in mind there only may be a select number of vehicles affected in each recall. Top off, this massive jumble of figures and remember it gets readjusted with every recall. A HUGE undertaking to say the least.
But are the benefits worth it?
In a nutshell you could have two cars in the driveway. Lets say both are 2005 models of comparable stature. In this case an Audi A4 and a Toyota Avalon. The Toyota is reported as a more reliable vehicle (rightly so) with only 1.6 issues per vehicle on average for the first three years of ownership. The Audi ranks a bit lower in the standings with 2.07 issues. Pretty clear cut to the average consumer. Toyota is more reliable than Audi by .47 issues per over 3 years of ownership (what a revelation). Even with that small of a difference, most consumers can see it as black and white.
However if we weigh in the recalls we see a different scenario. As of today that same 2005 A4 has had 0 recalls. The Avalon on the other hand has been recalled a total of 6 times for various reasons. Now this paints a different picture doesn't it? The A4 could potentially be a hassle of one more visit to the dealer, but the Avalon now has 6 more chances of potentially going to the shop for safety reasons. It all becomes a gamble.
I'm not going to go to say that one vehicle is safer that the other. But you can see just how easily your ownership can be skewed not by a reliability issue, but also by a recall. All it takes is one visit to blow it out of proportion.
Should recalls be factored in to reliability rankings? Let me know.
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