Indiana Lemon Law Blog

On Wednesday General Motors announced a recall of 44,117 Cadillac CTS vehicles in the United States to fix the cars rear suspension. The suspension is affected by a loose joint which could cause the rear wheel to become unstable which in turn could create a sudden change in the vehicle’s handling and make the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), General Motors is recalling Cadillac CTS vehicles from the 2009 and 2010 model years. All but 88 vehicles are 2009 models. General Motors is recalling 11,147 Cadillac CTS vehicles from the 2009-10 model years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

• In the affected vehicles, a wax coating on the rear suspension toe link jam nuts could cause the nut to loosen
• If the nut loosens sufficiently, the toe link could separate, and the rear wheel could turn inboard or outboard
• This kind of movement in the wheels can cause sudden changes in the car’s handling and increase the risk of a crash
• If a nut becomes loose, drivers may hear a metallic clanking noise from the rear of the vehicle

The Cadillac CTS has been ranked very high by the IIHS and the federal government as the Top Safety Pick.

Though the loose nut may not seem to be a serious safety issue, over which a total of 44,117 Cadillac CTS vehicles are being recalled, its role in a car’s suspension system is very critical.

However, there have been no reported incidents of injuries or fatalities arising from this issue. But, some consumers have complained of metal clanging sounds coming from the rear of the vehicle. GM has been investigating the issue since May when it has received four complaints.

Owners can bring their cars to a local GM dealership where the vehicle will be fixed free of cost. Dealers will clean the wax residue from the rear suspension toe link and install two new jam nuts.

The toe link will be replaced, if necessary free of cost to the owner.

The above instructions are not meant as legal advice. You may persist your lemon law claim or any other issue with your automobiles by contacting Indiana lemon law attorneys of Krohn & Moss Ltd., or Call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation.

Volkswagen Auto Group (AG) is currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a possible problem over a fuel pump issue. If the NHTSA confirms that the fuel pumps are faulty, the German automaker may be recalling several of its popular model vehicles. This investigation is related to 2009 and 2010 Volkswagen Jetta, Golf and Audi A3 models equipped with 2.0L TDI diesel engines.

According to the NHTSA investigation report, the high pressure fuel pump used by the 2.0L TDI if failed causes a loss of fuel and leads to contamination of the fuel system. After receiving five direct complaints and over a hundred complaints from Volkswagen, the NHTSA extended their investigation to an engineering analysis that can warrant a recall of the vehicles under investigation.

According to the NHTSA this investigation was carried out on 97,272 diesel powered Jettas, Golfs and A3s. Volkswagen has worked in close concert with the NHTSA for a successful conclusion over the issue.

This problem has surfaced within ten days of another investigation into an ignition failure and fire in Volkswagen Passat. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced an investigation of certain Volkswagen Passat sedans and wagons over ignition failures. These ignition failures have allegedly led to engine fires in extreme cases. The cars that were investigated late in 2010, included VW Beetles, Jettas, Rabbits and Golfs for a fuel leak issue that may have resulted in an engine bay fire.

The NHTSA investigation of the Passat over ignition failure and an initial VW Passat ignition investigation mainly covered the 2002 and 2003 models.

Though the investigation of the Passat was intended for the 2002 and 2003 models, it also extended to Passat sedans and wagons from the years

• 2001 till 2007 in the wake of the complaints that were constantly pouring in:
• The NHTSA has received around 160 complaints of power loss and stalling problems in these VW models
• One of these conditions of power loss and stalling problems had resulted in an accident
• Half of the complaints resulted were due to issues that occurred while traveling at highway speed when the vehicle had a sudden and substantial loss in power
• In the worst case scenario, the vehicle would stall and not start the back up
• The engine bay developed fire concerns from an ignition coil failure
• The NHTSA Office of Defect Investigation has received 35 complaints of problematic ignition coils
• 21 of these 35 complaints were about the coils that routinely failed and they needed replacement, some of them more than once
• The remaining 14 complaints were more grave, with the engine bay fires started due to faulty ignition coils

The NHTSA has extended the investigation into the 2001-2007 models of VW Passat for fire risks and these vehicles could be facing a recall if the NHTSA finds the ignition coils to be at fault.

Even if the fires are not caused by the ignition coils, the fire reported in the engine bay of the 14 vehicles suggests the presence of a more serious safety issue in the engine.

The directives given above are not intended as legal advice. You may pursue your lemon law claim or any other dispute with your automobiles by being in communication with Indiana lemon law attorneys of Krohn & Moss Ltd., or Call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation.

It is now speculated that sudden unintended acceleration in cars can be caused by electro-magnetic interference and other computer glitches given the sophisticated drive-by-wire systems in modern cars. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now all set to investigate if the electro-magnetic interference (EMI) from cell phones and other computer glitches causing the Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) have led to many casualties in several Toyota models.

• Cars have become increasingly reliant on electrical, rather than mechanical, components
• Many modern vehicles use electronic throttle sensors, rather than a mechanical system where a pushing the gas pedal actuates a wire than opens the engine’s throttle body
• It has been suggested that the issue over Toyota’s “unintended acceleration” problem could be due to electronic interference and may not be a mechanical fault

Cars, computers and cell phones inexplicably malfunction as the EMI induced malfunction of electronics equipment is a common occurrence:

• One may recall the fact that the all the flights request passengers to switch off their electronic equipment like the lap tops and mobile phones prevent any electrical interference with the flight’s electronic functioning
• It is often witnessed that when a cell phone is put next to a computer, a loud static can often be heard on the computer’s speakers
• A car’s CD player produces a loud static whenever a call is made or received via the cell phone
• When a number is dialed on a cordless phone, one can hear the number being dialed through a baby monitor too
• When a truck goes by, its Citizen’s Band (CB) radio system can overwhelm the FM radio station tuned in the car
• Most of us have come across motors that cause radio or TV static

Although the root cause for Toyotas’ Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) remains unknown, some engineers believe electromagnetic interference from cell phones, satellite radio and even microwaves may be contributing to the problem. Electromagnetic interference may disrupt the electronic signals to the throttle system, which controls the acceleration.

Toyota has currently issued a recall for 2.3 million vehicles over alleged faulty mechanical brake pedal. The recall includes the 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia.

Information given above is not intended as legal advice. You may continue your lemon law claim or any other contention with your automobiles by contacting Indiana lemon law attorneys of Krohn & Moss Ltd., or Call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently issued a bulletin citing that fuel filters on certain Mercedes-Benz models. The fuel filters could leak at the O-ring seals due to their improper lubrication.

The NHTSA bulletin has specifically focused on diesel-engine models but M-B extended the recall to gas engine vehicles as well.

The recall affects

• Around 2,300 vehicles of select U.S. models
• 2011 E-Class passenger cars and the GL
• M and R-Class SUVs/Crossovers

According to the Mercedes-Benz the defective fuel filters will be replaced by authorized dealers, beginning this month. The fix will be made free of cost to the consumers.

The above instructions are not meant as legal advice. Please direct your specific questions to Indiana lemon law attorneys of Krohn & Moss Ltd., who will handle your lemon law claims for consumers in Indiana or call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation.

Nissan is recalling 2.14 million Nissan and Infiniti vehicles worldwide. This number includes popular Cube subcompact. The recall is over an issue relating to an ignition problem. The ignition problem may lead to stalling the engine. The problem was found in an ignition-system part called the relay.

The affected car models were produced from August 2003 through July 2006, including small cars such as the March, Cube and Note, and about a dozen other models, such as the Tiida sedan, Titan pickup and Infiniti QX56 luxury model.

This recall of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles is its third-largest recall ever. The recall affects cars in the United States, Europe and Japan. Fortunately there has been no report of any accident resulting from the ignition problem.

According to the Nissan spokesman, in an extreme case, the engine may stall and fail to start. Nissan is allied with Renault SA of France. Nissan has not disclosed the costs it will incur for the recall. It is only claimed by Nissan that fix might be relatively inexpensive. The fix requires just around half an hour.

The recalled cars were produced in Japan, the U.S., Great Britain, Spain, China and Taiwan.

There have been massive numbers of cars recalled recently. It is alleged that most of these recalls are resulting from cost-cutting strategies that involve sharing the same parts. Same parts are increasingly being used in many models by many car makers.

The above instructions are not meant as legal advice. You may persist your lemon law claim or any other issue with your automobiles by contacting Indiana lemon law attorneys of Krohn & Moss Ltd., or  Call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation.

Nothing seems to be as surprising to the consumers any longer as the way auto recalls are announced this year. The latest on the recall anvil are the luxury cars by the automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) and Rolls-Royce luxury cars built by Rolls-Royce in Britain. The BMW recalls around 354,000 BMW cars and Rolls-Royce luxury cars worldwide.

Last year BMW, the world’s largest luxury automaker sold 1,068,770 BMW’s and 1,002 Rolls-Royce’s worldwide. Now 348,000 BMW and 5,800 Roll-Royce limousines are being recalled globally.

BMW is the world’s leading premium automobile manufacturer and the US market is its biggest, after Germany.

The German luxury automaker BMW said on October 1st that it was recalling 350,800 BMW and Rolls-Royce vehicles worldwide because of brake problems that a spokesman assured were not so dangerous. The recall is to fix an issue in the power-braking system.

According to their British BMW spokesman this voluntary recall affects large-engined BMW 5-, 6- and 7-series BMW’s and Rolls-Royce cars. Large engined models are those vehicle that are equipped with V8 and V12 engines. These series were built between 2002 and 2008 and Rolls-Royce Phantom models were built between 2003 and 2010. Of the total 11,427 cars, 905 Rolls-Royce’s were sold in the UK and, 198,000 in the US. With a total of 198,000 vehicles the US is most affected by the recall. In the UK 10,522 BMW’s and 905 Rolls-Royce cars are affected by the recall.

According to the BMW sales director, recalling their cars is just part of a normal practice followed in the auto industry as a preemptive safety measure. The motor giant feels that theirs are very complex products with very robust systems. BMW hopes that this recall would not affect its brand image or its sales. BMW cars have consistently received highest safety ratings so far.

However, the BMW spokesman assured the public that the problem was not hazardous for passengers. The potential fault in the braking system is caused by a small leak which may develop in the power-assisted braking system. According to the British spokesman if there is a leak, the car would lose some braking power but it does not inhibit the car from stopping. In the worst scenario the braking system could become slightly difficult to use and would require some time before it actually gets into working.

A mechanical braking is still available to slow and stop the vehicle.

The German spokesman for BMW is optimistic that not all the vehicles are affected by the problem. But he feels that the owners should nonetheless bring their cars in, for checks. The fixing of the problem requires replacing simple part/s, in case the vehicle has any issue. Fortunately no accident has been reported because of this issue.

Other luxury car makers who had issued recalls in recent months are as the following:

• General Motors (GM) announced a recall in late September for their 20,000 Cadillac CTS models, to address injury concerns to shorter people who did not wear seat belts and for glove compartment issues
• GM recalled more than 160,000 Hummers in the month of May for a defect that could cause part of the hood to blow off while the vehicle was on the road
• The Italian automaker Ferrari in September had recalled all of its model 458 Italia sports cars manufactured before July 2010. This recall was announced after the reports came in of four of the Italia cars that caught fire. The 458 Italia recall affected 1,248 vehicles, worldwide
• The Japanese auto giant Toyota this year recalled around 10 million of its cars worldwide because of the accelerator pedal problems that reportedly caused unintended acceleration in the vehicle and fatalities on the road
• In mid-May BMW recalled 122,000 motorcycles around the world because of potential problems with the brakes

Though the percentage of the cars recalled by the BMW for the braking system problem is small the recall is instituted as part of a good will by a responsible manufacturer. Despite the recall of a whopping 5,800 Rolls-Royce cars, BMW/Rolls are hopeful that this would not mar their image in the market.

This information is not intended as legal advice. If you want to pursue your lemon law claim or If you have any problem with your automobiles contact Harry Bradley, the Indiana lemon law attorney of Krohn & Moss, Ltd, who will handle your lemon law claims for consumers in Indiana or call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation.

Toyota Motor (TM) has taken a voluntary step recalling about 1.13 million Corolla and Matrix compact cars. This recall is to fix a faulty engine control module in Corolla and Matrix compact cars that can create problems such as stalling while driving.

In North America the recall involves 2005-08 model year Corolla and Matrix compact cars. These 2005-08 model year Corolla and Matrix compact cars are equipped with 1ZZ-FE engines and two-wheel drive. No other Toyota or Lexus brand vehicles are involved in the recall.

The stalling problem in these 2005-08 model year Corolla and Matrix compact cars is believed to have been caused by cracks that can develop at certain solder points or on the electronic component. These solder points and electronic components are used to protect circuits from excessive voltage on circuit board of the module.

• When these points develop cracks
• The vehicle’s check engine may illuminate
• Harsh shifting could result
• The engine may not start

The engine of a 2005-08 model year Corolla and Matrix compact car could stop while the vehicle is in motion.

There have been three alleged accidents one of which is a minor injury due to this condition. In response to complaints by consumers, federal officials stepped up their investigation into 2005, 2006 and 2007 model year Corolla and Matrix cars. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the investigation into 2005, 2006 and 2007 model year Corolla and Matrix cars began on the 18th of August.

General Motors is also recalling more than 200,000 Pontiac Vibes for the same problem, separately. The Vibe, like the Matrix was built under a joint venture between Toyota and GM at the same factory in Fremont, California.

Toyota and GM will begin notifying consumers of affected vehicles by mid-September. They will be instructed to take their cars to a dealer to have the module replaced at no charge. The Pontiac brand has been phased out but the Pontiac Vibe owners can take their cars to other GM dealerships for service.

The recall of 1.13 million Corolla and Matrix compact cars is the latest in a series of recalls by Toyota, the world’s largest automaker this year. Since January, Toyota has recalled about 10 million cars worldwide. This was to fix problems related to unintended acceleration, erratic brakes, defective software and other issues.

This information is not intended as legal advice. Please direct your specific questions to K&M attorneys and know more about your lemon law rights. If you want to pursue your lemon law claim, call 1-800 US LEMON® (800-875-3666) toll free, to reach Krohn & Moss for your FREE initial consultation. Or submit your information online for your free case evaluation.

The latest to join the Toyota Recall Club is Toyota’s top-priced luxury cars, and it includes the “LS 600h” hybrid. Lexus LS is the only vehicle from Toyota that is priced in excess of $100,000 and it has now joined the casualty ward because of steering problems.

Toyota Motor Corporation does not appear to be allowing itself a breather from recalls of its prestigious cars when it has decided to recall its high profile sedans. The company has sold about 7,000 Lexus “LS” sedans in the U.S., Europe, China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. The recalls to fix this steering problem will apply to the LS 460, LS 460 L, LS 600h, and the LS 600h L. and affects 3,800 2010 “LS” in the United States.

The recall figures of Lexus LS may not be overwhelming but it would be a cause of embarrassment to Toyota considering its promise of a flawless and outstanding car to its consumers. Sadly, the steering problems have let this supreme vehicle down, adding to the spate of Toyota recalls.

This was after a series of complaints from consumers in Japan about steering problem.

The issues:

• Steering wheels in the affected cars came off center and out of alignment with the direction of the car’s wheels

The issues involve a computerized system that oversees how the steering wheel controls the tires

The steering system oversees the steering wheel that turns the tires on a car. The drivers can turn the wheels at a very low speed while attempting to navigate as in small parking slots and at very high speeds. Drivers complained that during both these processes, the wheels of their Lexus LS failed to quickly return to their original position but took “a few seconds”.

According to a Toyota spokesperson, the problem is due to mechanical components and software issues.

This debacle of recall of the luxury car Lexus LS from Toyota would do no good to the morale of the auto giant and the trust of the consumers. Toyota has agreed to pay a record fine for failing to maintain acceptable safety standards in its vehicles. The series of recalls and the congressional hearings are only adding insult to injury. Tuesday Toyota had paid a record $16.4 million fine in the U.S and still has to clear scores of state and federal lawsuits.

Toyota has ordered a recall of over 8 million vehicles since November 2009, mostly for the well publicized floor mat and accelerator pedal issues and unintended accelerations. Toyota believes that faulty electronics are not to be blamed for unintended accelerations in those vehicles. Toyota has recalled about 10,000 Lexus SUVs in April in the U.S. after Consumer Reports magazine put a “Don’t Buy” recommendation on them for failing an emergency handling test. The magazine relented and lifted the rating only after 34,000 vehicles were recalled worldwide.