Carl F. Thelin

Handicapping the Competition

Maybe I am just dreaming but I have fifty years as a consumer advocate, and have been instigating and rebutting auto-safety recalls about that long. The well publicized recalls affecting Toyota and Honda might be, at least partially, attempts by Government Motors to handicap the competition. Why do I think so?

In general, each recall is made to cover a broad range of vehicles so that any of the “dangerous” ones would be included. So, when the recall is alleged to bring in millions of Toyotas because of a defect in the brakes for instance, it gives the typical consumer serious worries.

But, within that huge bunch of vehicles, maybe the defect might be within a few produced during a month’s time at the factory. So, out of millions recalled, only a few thousands actually have a problem. Even among those “sick” cars, the problem that does exist might become serious for the last week of production – after which the defect was discovered and corrected.

That is only part of the difficulty in telling the public how a recall really works. Suppose the problem with the brakes, serious as it can be, will manifest itself only when the driver tries to use the brakes very hard during a rainy day while driving on a banked section of asphalt pavement. One-in-a-million, you say. If the crash does kill someone, triggering an extensive NHTSA / NTSB investigation – that could result in the massive recall.

If you doubt me, ask your friends at the NHTSA, the NTSB or in the auto industry. They don’t want to say out-loud what I just explained. No one wants to be accused of covering up for the bad guys. If you want to argue with me, here is my email cfthelin@gmail.com