January Recall Roundup: Is Your Car On This List?

As of January 2011, certain units of the following vehicle models are under recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to address these potential issues:

• 2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Colorado, Express, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Canyon, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles for rear axle lock (p. 3).
• 1999-2003 Ford Windstar in certain states for lower control arm separation (p. 8).
• 2010 Honda Accord, CR-V for engine stall (p. 3).
• 2006-2009 Lexus IS models for fuel leakage (p. 8).
• 2006-2007 Lexus GS models for fuel leakage (p. 8).
• 2010-2011 Saab 9-3 for engine stall (p. 5).
• 2009-2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara equipped with 4 cylinder engines, certain 2011 Suzuki Grand Vitaras and certain 2010-2011 Suzuki SX4 vehicles for drive belt tension adjuster pulleys (p.15).
• 2011 Think City for seat belts and heater-defroster systems (p. 7).
• 2010 Volkswagen New Beetle, New Beetle Convertible for replacement due to noncompliance with crash test requirements (p. 9).

For details on any of the above recalls click here for the full report (PDF).

Cars Under Investigation

Automobiles that might be recalled pending a current engineering analysis are:

• 2002-2005 BMW 3 series sedans (E46)
• 2007 Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon
• 2001-2004 Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute
• 2002-2005 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer
• 2004-2006 Ford F150
• 2004-2005 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey
• 2002-2003 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable (in Salt Belt states)
• 1999-2003 Ford Windster (in Salt Belt states)
• 1999-2003 GMC C/K pickups and SUVs (in Salt Belt states)
• 2003-2004 Infiniti M45
• 2003-2005 Infiniti Q45
• 
  
• 2007-2008 Kia Sorento
• 2001-2007 Volkswagen (VW) Passat

[Source: NHTSA]

Recall Roundup: Is Your Car On This List?

As of November 2010, certain units of the following vehicle models are under recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

• 2010-2011 Cadillac DTS and Buick Lucerne models with V8 engines for starter cables (p. 5).
• 2004-2011 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups (also some Isuzu trucks) with 60/40 split bench seats for a lack of child restraint anchorage systems (p. 10).
• 2010-2011 Jaguar XJ for windshield wiper arm synchronization (p. 11).
• 2008 Jeep Liberty for windshield washer motors (p. 5).
• 2011 Kia Sorento for rear brake calipers (p. 16).
• 2010-2011 Land Rover LR2 for driver's side airbag deployment (p. 12).
• 2009-2010 Mazda 5 for fuel pump connectors (p. 16).
• 2002-2004 Nissan Frontier and Xterra for steering shaft failures due to corrosion (p. 6)
• 2010-2011 Nissan Sentra for battery cable terminals (p. 6).
• 2010 Volvo XC60 for curtain air bags (p. 8).
• 2011 Volvo S60, S80, XC60 and XC70 for engine control module programming (p. 12).
• Volvo vehicles equipped with portable Garmin 760 GPS units for overheating batteries (p. 8).
• Volvo models with power front passenger seats for seat rails (p. 14).

Volvo is not having a very good month with recalls that are affecting most /all of their model lineup. For details on any of the above recalls click here for the full report (PDF).

Cars Under Investigation

Automobiles that might be recalled pending a current engineering analysis are:

• 2002-2005 BMW 3 series sedans (E46)
• 2007 Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon
• 2001-2004 Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute
• 2002-2005 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer
• 2004-2006 Ford F150
• 2004-2005 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey
• 2002 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable
• 2003-2004 Infiniti M45
• 2003-2005 Infiniti Q45
• 2007-2008 Kia Sorento

Ford has numerous vehicle models under investigation, along with several from other manufacturers. The full list of vehicles and the reasons for their investigation by NHTSA is located here (PDF).

[Source: NHTSA] 

2001 Kia Rio: Your Basic Korean Bargain, En Espanol

When it was new Kia really broke new ground, not with automotive engineering but with a 5 year 60,000 mile warranty and a 10 year 100,000 powertrain warranty on a car with a base price of $8,595. That takes confidence.

The car itself was equipped with a 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine that made 96 hp, and came with dual front airbags. Adding options such as air conditioning, ABS and an automatic transmission would bring the price up to around $11,000.

You may well find a specimen that is still under the powertrain warranty.

Que es el precio ahora? That’s about all I learned in three years of high school Spanish class. What’s really worrisome is that there are American kids who come out of school (notice I didn’t say graduate) who have about the same command of the English language.

Any way, the Blue Book value is now a mere $1,300 (108k miles) which is only 12% to 15% of its original sticker. This is one of the top candidates for “cheapest used car that still runs”.