These Are Your Auto Recall Horror Stories

Building cars is hard, and when you build a lot of cars every year, it's especially hard to build more than a million cars a year without there ever being a mistake at the factory or a flaw in a batch of parts. That's where recalls come in, and in general, they're a good thing. You don't want your car to have a dangerous flaw, but you definitely want the automaker to fix it (for free) once they notice.

Then again, not every fix works the first time, nor does the process of getting something fixed always go smoothly. On Tuesday, we asked you for your auto recall horror stories, and you definitely delivered. Some are worse than others, sure, but we wouldn't want to deal with any of these situations except possibly the first one. Let's take a look at the most popular answers.

My wife purchased a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV brand new and about a year and a half in the battery fire recall came to be. GM not having a fix basically qualified the vehicles to be lemon law'd in many states. Ours was purchased back and we received about $12,000 as well as the $7500 rebate.

So now we are in the beginning of Covid 2020 and the Bolt isn't selling well due to the recall. We end up deciding to lease a new 2021 due to them not being included in the recall. So we lease this 2021 Premier with msrp if $44k for only $235 per month after all discounts and Costco rebate, almost nothing down.

A couple months pass and now the 2021 is qualified for the recall. We end up having to reduce our charge capacity and lose roughly 20-30 miles of range. I figured no way they would do the same buyback, but I was wrong.

This time we asked to have a collateral swap into a 2023 (which again was not included in the recall). The collateral swap essentially just swaps vin numbers on your lease and you continue leasing as if nothing ever happened. By this time GM had reduced the price of the Bolt models multiple times already and moved some options into the EUV that we had in the premier. So the Bolt we went with was now roughly $32,000 and we lost some options.

So now my wife is leasing a 2023 Bolt for $235 per month and GM cut her a check for the difference in msrp between her 2021 and the replacement 2023. ON A LEASE!

When we discuss these moves I often wonder if I've pulled off the best car purchases ever, we crack up like we won the lotto.

Suggested by: Curbsenthusiasms

Not a recall, more of a lack of recall.

All Chevy Suburbans have problems with rust on the brake lines going over the rear axle. ALL OF THEM. My Suburban lost brakes entirely and the only safe bet was to replace all the lines. GM seems to think this is normal, and there's a class action suit in the works to make them issue a recall.

Honorable mention to Ford for the electric coolant pump on the Escape Hybrid. They quit working intermittently and the drivetrain just shuts off like you flipped a switch. Doesn't matter where you are when that happens, it's dead.

Fortunately they did issue a recall, but that was two months after I spent $400 on a replacement.

Suggested by: AngryBob-VA

Airbag. Recalled! Wait a year. Installed after what seemed like an entire day at the dealership. BUT – Apparently that one was explosive too. Repeat.

Then notification regarding another recall – the airbag. PASSENGER side. Seriously? I could have told you to do them both at the same time. At least that one only had to be done once.

Suggested by: sybann

Took our Kona in and for 4 recalls(3 inspections & upgrade the diagnostics). The day after we get it back it throws a check engine light. I put a code reader on the car and get P0326- knock sensor failure. Huh...I was advised this was a potential outcome, but the car is driving fine in Safe mode..so I drag my feet scheduling another appointment.

Eventually the dealer sits on it for nearly a week conferring with Hyundai tech support. This get a biy annoying as no loaner is available so I have to take 1.5 hrs off work every day to take my wife to work.

The direction from Hyundai is to redo the recall inspection. With no improvement/insight from that, they recommend we replace the knock sensor. They want >$600 to replace the knock sensor. Also, as the fault is assumed to be a non-recall, non-warranty(expired) covered part, we also have to pay $200 for the "diagnosis".

We take the car to a local guy to save money on replacing the knock sensor on our out of warranty car. He calls me back and says, "the knock sensor was disconnected. Still wanna replace it?" Of course not. He plugs it in clears the code and we drive 600miles. No more Check Engine light.

I paid the dealer $200 dollars to figure this out.

Apparently, as part of the recall work, the knock sensor is disconnected from the ECU and a direct reading taken from it. It seems the tech forgot to hook it back up.

I understand how it could have happened the first time around, but I'm not sure how they missed this if they redid the recall.

From where I'm standing, it seems that the tech either for got to hook it up 2x, or didn't perform the second inspection-the one i paid $200 for.

I only have my mechainc's word that the sensor was disconnected, and I didn't return the car immediately after the check engine light came back on, but I'm hoping that I can still persuade the dealer to refund me my diagnosis fee.

Suggested by: stiggums

Not really a horror but not too much fun, A2 Jetta I got a recall notice in regards to the heater core, oh well get that done some day. Decided to drive to Vancouver from Edmonton in January, middle of the Coquihalla the car suddenly fills with steam coating all the windows with sweet sweet glycol. I was able to open the side window and pull into a rest stop about 5km down. I bypassed the core with a bit of hose and filled the thing up with melted snow. Then got it replaced in Vancouver, I guess I should have not delayed that repair

Suggested by: sklooner

I had a 2008 Saturn Astra that within 6 months of owning the car the finish had started corroding off of the plastic roof rails. When I first went to the dealer they basically told me to eat my hat, they had never seen that happen before and it must have been something I drove through or washed it with etc. About 3 months later there was a full recall for it because the manufacturer of those strips didn't treat them properly and it was happening on almost all of them. When I went back in to have them replaced I was told that starting about a month or so after I was in with my initial complaint, almost every other Astra they had sold came in with the same problem. I like to think I helped kick that campaign off.

Suggested by: AlphonzeMephesto

Dealing with recalls when your Manufacturer goes out of business was fun on two levels. 1. the issue kept reoccurring 2. we were now quasi orphaned

Our then new 2007 Saturn Vue with the AWD V6 had issues with the front strut tower seat or something like that. It would prematurely wear (within a couple thousand miles) and then you'd get a pronounced clunk from the front end. We had both struts replaced twice in 2yrs due to this then with the fall of Saturn (Pontiac, Olds, etc..), the warranty/recall work fell to a local Chevy dealer. So when we went for a third replacement the Chevy dealer said GM is only authorizing the side that makes the noise! I noted that it is highly unusual and generally frowned upon to NOT change the struts in pairs. They relented and changed them. By this time I was fed up and discovered that a permanent fix (can't recall what) was out there in the aftermarket so next time we had the issue I performed the fix myself and the noise never returned in the intervening 13yrs of ownership. Interestingly the Equinox based on essentially the same platform but without the Honda V6 did not have this issue. I never checked if the Pontiac version suffered similarly.

In the first year of owning the Saturn however we had these other items under recall done:

-Ignition replaced due to bad / sticking keys

-poor window/door weather stripping causing whistling noise. (never trully resolved)

-Auto trans flash due to too early torque converter lock up causing shudder and premature wear.

Non recall and happened later in its life: Weak spot was the drive shaft to the rear wheels. Factory shaft is essentially made with CV joints in lieu of the normal universals that would first moan and then fail. New shaft from GM was $900 and since the car was out of warranty this was on my dime so I sourced a custom shaft made with normal universal joints from a guy in midwest for less than half and had a local shop install.

Suggested by: Monsterajr

The high pressure fuel pump went out my wife's 2011 Mini Cooper S. I had it towed to the stealership and they told me that the part was $1200 plus labor. But, they said they'd do it for free if I did my other maintenance (all fluids changed and some other stuff) for $800. I said sure, since I thought I was saving some cash. About 6 months later I got a recall notice in the mail for the high pressure fuel pump failure. Mini would reimburse anyone that had the repair done and paid for it. I paid for it the hard way. Lesson learned. Thankfully, I now have a great independent mechanic to take care of it.

Suggested by: DudeRudy

I've got an elderly Pontiac Vibe. When the airbag recall was first announced, I called the nearest GM dealership about getting it done. They said there wasn't anything they could do about it yet. So I gave it some time. I periodically checked in, trying to get it processed, and kept getting similar responses.

Earlier this year, I started getting bombarded with attempts to get me to take the car in for the recall, that seemed to indicate that specific dealership was ready for it. So I made an appointment online, noted the reason was for the recall, showed up for my appointment, and they couldn't even find the appointment, and when I told them I made it online, they responded that it was ridiculous to do something like that and expect someone to do anything about it.

They didn't have the parts in stock, but gave me a number to call. I called them, they said they'd order the part (and the date they penciled in was March of 24), and that they'd call me when it was ready. That was August. Still waiting.

I don't think my next car will be a GM product.

Suggested by: Ben Grimm

I bought a S-10 new in 1985.

We had an S-10 at the weld shop where I worked. It was well on it's way a second time around the odometer, used and abused, but still running strong. Probably still be, had it not been T-boned in the driver door by a roach coach in a hurry to get back to its barn. Driver was very bruised and dinged up, but otherwise fine. Truck was half the width from when it came from the factory. Insurance paid it off as a 50k mile car, not the 150k that it was.

I used mine as a DD and towed a boat around the country on the weekends.

80k miles in, I get a recall notice. Someone left off the wiring harness in the transmission that locked the torque converter at cruse. "This could cause the torque converter to overheat and fail prematurely."

I pleaded my case with the dealer. Thanks to their (Chevy's) incompetence, I have 80k miles on a torque converter that has probably been overheating half its life. They would only install the missing harness under the recall. Surprise, surprise, the torque converter shit the bed a couple months later.

Suggested by: Clay_T

This is less horror storry and more funny,

My dad owns a 2012 VW Passat (NMS) and it was under recall for a possible clock spring failure.

Turns out his Passat was also recalled for the Takata airbag.

He did get both of those recalls sorted but I find it funny that a recall that could prevent the airbag from working in a crash would technically be a good thing.

Suggested by: Garlos Chosn (in honor of Mergio Sarchionne)

Plugs and wires on my old Firebird, they started going out before 20k miles, dealer said SOL as a wear and tear item, ended up paying to get them replaced as the back plugs on the 3800 were damn near under the dash so removing the cowling was the EASIEST way to replace and I had no garage and few tools. A few months later get a letter recalling for the issue, yay, so I got my money back, eventually, after a shit ton of back and forth with the dealer that probably worked out to minimum wage for the time and effort to recover it.

Suggested by: CitronC

I bought the new 2012 Ford Focus with the dual clutch transmission right after my first job out of college. I then doubled down and got a 2013 Fiesta (my wife loved the idea of the car). What total pieces of garbage. Within 3 months, one of the Focus' clutches went out, luckily Ford fixed it right away. A year later, same thing, but Ford refused to fix it this time with no apparent reason given. 6 months after we got the Fiesta, the clutch gave out too, again no fix. Then, less than a year after buying the Fiesta, one of the rear doors wouldn't latch shut *most* of the time.

I couldn't get rid of them fast enough and will never buy another Ford product. Then got the recall notice and compensation offer 3 years later.... What a headache.

Suggested by: lazyblazer

My Ford dealer not knowing what the term 'APPOINTMENT' means. I ended up with like 4 or 5 active recalls on my '96 Ford Contour. Made an appointment at the dealership where I bought the car, and gave them all the recall #'s. I show up at the appointed time and hand them the paperwork and they say "We can't do any of this. We didn't plan for the necessary time and we don't have the necessary parts." I ended up re-scheduling, but they made ME go down to the Parts department to show all the recall notices and get the parts ordered. Then they kinda did the same thing when I showed up for the 2nd appointment. They had the parts, but said they would need to keep my car for like 5 days and over the weekend because they hadn't scheduled the proper amount of time. Loved the car; HATED the dealership.

Suggested by: WeryPert1

I worked at Hyundai (corporate)....I recall recall nightmares.

Suggested by: CanKnuckles