Recalls, and why they’re not so bad

Most of us have gotten one of these letters at some point. Something on our car is getting a recall. We’ve seen a lot of reactions to recalls, from annoyance (that’s fair) to rage (it’s OK, promise) to refusal to own something that gets recalls. Whoa, full stop there, let’s explore why recalls happen, and why they’re not really so bad.

A recall comes from safety related defect in equipment or a vehicle, or when a part does not perform to Federal Safety Standards. That’s the kind of thing you WANT replaced or repaired, right? When the recall is issued, the manufacturer is responsible for covering the parts and labor of the repair. Most of the things that are the source of a recall aren’t built by the vehicle manufacturer. Ford doesn’t build backup cameras, airbags, or many of the small parts that complete a vehicle. Speaking of backup cameras, that’s a current recall, and my daughter’s 2015 Escape is part of it. Ford is going to replace her backup camera on an 11 year old vehicle at no charge to her! Then there was Takata. Remember that whole Takata airbag thing? Every brand got nailed with that one, because everyone bought the same airbags. That’s still a thing, sub-suppliers still provide a lot of parts. By the way, that’s why a new vehicle has two different warranty lengths.

Another thing to consider is that Ford is VERY aggressive in identifying and resolving issues, or even potential issues. More recent vehicles all have the onboard modem we access with the Ford/FordPass app, and that works two ways. Your car sends diagnostic data back to Ford, and they can identify concerns before they’re an actual problem. So when Ford rolls out a recall, what they’re really saying is “we care enough to make sure your car is safe”, and they’re footing that bill.

One final thought on recalls. Remember the bit about so many manufacturers getting parts from the same companies? If they’re not recalling those same parts around the same time Ford does, does that say something about the other guys?

Ben