Irreversible recalls

Toyota Motor Corp has announced the recall of nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems as it seeks to address criticism over the handling of its worst safety crisis.

The move came on the heels of problems with sticking accelerator pedals and floormats that spiralled into a recall of over eight million vehicles worldwide.

Here are just a few of the large scale recalls which have sent motor companies into havoc.

1971
General Motors recalls 6.7 million vehicles due to engine mounts that separated from the vehicle and impacted the throttle.

1981
GM recalls 5.8 million vehicles due to loose suspension bolts that affected steering.

1996
Ford recalls more than eight million vehicles to replace defective ignition switches that could have led to electrical shorts and engine fires.

July 1998
GM recalls close to one million Cadillac, Pontiac and Chevrolet cars because of fears the air bags may have deployed by accident.

August 2000
Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corp recalls 14.4 million ATX, ATX II and Wilderness tyres of certain sizes installed on Ford’s Explorer SUVs and sold separately in stores. The recall applied to all tyres produced at the company’s Firestone US division.

2004
GM recalls nearly four million pickups because of corroding tailgate cables.

April 2005
GM recalls more than two million vehicles to fix a variety of potential safety defects, most of them on cars and trucks sold in the US, which includes 1.5 million full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles from the 2003 to 2005 model years with second-row seat belts that GM says may be difficult to properly position across passengers’ hips.

October 2005
Toyota recalls about 1.41 million cars globally, including the Corolla and 15 other models, due to trouble with their headlight switching systems.

December 2007
Chrysler LLC recalls 575,417 vehicles as long-term wear on the gear shift assembly could cause them to shift out of park without the key in the ignition. The recall involved 2001 to 2002 model-year Dodge Dakota pickup trucks, Durango sports utility vehicles and Ram van models and 2002 model-year Ram pickup trucks.

August 2008
GM recalls 857,735 vehicles equipped with a heated windshield-wiper fluid system in the US after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a short-circuit in the system may cause other electrical features to malfunction, increasing the risk of a fire.

September 2009
Toyota recalls approximately 3.8 million vehicles in the US because of floor mats that can come loose and force down the accelerator. The problem is suspected in crashes that killed a total of five people.

October 2009
Ford completes a series of recalls affecting 14 million vehicles over what it says was a faulty cruise control deactivation switch made by Texas Instruments. The latest recall involves some 4.5 million vehicles. Texas Instruments says the swtich, made by a former business unit, is not the “root cause” of the fires and that a 2006 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation had concluded that there were multiple factors involved.

January 2010
Honda recalls 646,000 of its Fit/Jazz and City automobiles globally over a faulty window switch after a child died the previous year when a fire broke out in one of its cars the previous year.

Toyota issues a series of recalls covering 5.6 million vehicles in the US due to sudden acceleration in some vehicles. It is the largest ever recall for Toyota and among the biggest for an automaker in US history.

France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen recalls nearly 100,000 Peugeot 107s and Citroen C1s as they have the same accelerator-related problems afflicting Toyota.

February 2010
Toyota recalls 437,000 units of its 2010 Prius, Sai, Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid) and Lexus HS250h hybrids globally, including 155,000 in North America, 223,000 in Japan and 53,000 in Europe. It brings the total number of vehicles the world’s largest automaker has recalled over the last two months to 8.5 million vehicles.