Imagine your windshield wipers stop working while driving in a rainstorm. Unfortunately, that was the situation for a Redmond couple.
Phil Brady and his wife, Regina Walsh, own a 2013 Chevy Equinox. The vehicle is part of a nationwide recall for the wiper blades that was announced in September. More than 300,000 vehicles are involved and General Motors has not found a solution.
“We were coming home in a rain storm and our windshield wipers stopped in an upright position,” said Brady.
When the couple realized this was a serious issue, they called the auto manufacturer company themselves, General Motors.
“They’ve told us there’s nothing they can do. They could not give us a loaner car at that point because none were available and we have to just go home and take our chances. Wait and see until we are further contacted,” said Regina.
Recalls with no parts immediately available is troublesome to consumers. For example, the Takata airbag recall. More than 12 million airbags have been repaired but the total number of autos involved may reach more than 30 million.
The Brady’s case is different but the problem of recalls without parts is real.
Todd Johnson owner of Lee Johnson Chevrolet said these kinds of recalls have another surprising effect.
“One of the unintended consequences of that is sometimes people get notifications that their vehicle is subject to a recall yet a fix has not been provided and in some cases it hasn’t even been determined what the fix is. In other cases, they have a fix but they haven’t got the parts to the dealers yet,” explained Johnson.
Johnson also explained how recalls can impact a vehicle’s value.
“The unintended consequence is that a vehicle could potentially be worth less on the market because now you have a vehicle that’s subject to an open recall for the parts which haven’t been produced yet,” explained Johnson.
After I called GM about Brady and Walsh’s case, the automaker and Lee Johnson found a new 2013 part. It’s a short term fix but will give Regina a car to drive Phil to his knee replacement surgery.
For more information regarding vehicle recalls visit, http://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
