We know that auto recalls are a cost-based decision: will it cost more to defend the lawsuits resulting from the defect than to recall? Then, recall!
Consider this, then:
My car has a Takata airbag, apparently. The recall notice was sufficiently horrific in its detailing of "potential harms" that I immediately went to the dealership to ask what my options were. "Continue driving it until we get parts" was not an acceptable option, so I took them up on their offer to rent me a vehicle until the parts come in and the car can be repaired. I was told to garage my car (signed an agreement that I would, even) and pick up my rental at Enterprise.
After one month, I had to "re-up" the paperwork on the rental. I glanced at the bill that the dealership/manufacturer is paying: $973. My dealership said they'd have the part "sometime in the summer of 2016." So, potentially, August 31. That would mean I have billed about $6000 to the dealer/manufacturer.
I was talking to the manager at Enterprise about that cost. She said I'm the only recall rental she has at her store...but her sister store in Fort Walton Beach has 200 of these rentals out. That's about $200K a month...at one tiny Enterprise store in a very small town.
Ponder what the potential liability had to look like (in the form of wrongful death and injury suits) to justify that recall cost.
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