Good thing the taxpayers bailed them out ...
Posted on 08/26/2015 6:28:31 AM PDT by Zakeet
For more than a year, Ken Feinberg and his team have had the grim task of sorting through thousands of claims against General Motors, all of which allege that the company's faulty ignition switches led to injury or death. The last claims were filed on January 31, and now, nearly seven months later, Feinberg has finished assessing them all.
[Snip]
399 claims were approved. Of that number:
Though GM had put no cap on the Fund, the automaker estimated that it would make around $400 million in payouts. Feinberg hasn't released the total sum to be paid to claimants, but we know that death claims carry a $1 million payout, plus $300,000 for surviving spouses and dependents. That alone could easily run between $250 and $300 million. Add in injuries, some of which will require lifelong treatment and care, and GM could near its top-end estimate of $625 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecarconnection.com ...
Good thing the taxpayers bailed them out ...
Some Dodge vehicles have the very same defect. Their vehicle will just suddenly shut off without warning while you are driving. Its definitely a defective ignition switch. I’m guessing they might all come from the same manufacturer.
Did government spy regulations force them into doing things that made the switch vulnerable ?
You mean like mandatory steering wheel locks? Air bag enabling switches?
Things like that?
No idea...
The switch interface looks to be made out of cheap plastic which is not a good match when the FOB is also made of cheap plastic and has to be seated perfectly to work correctly. From what I’ve seen any wearing out of the plastic coupler or the FOB will cause them to have connection problems / issues and disengage if the vehicle hits a big enough bump in the road or if the key ring has too many keys on it. Not good if you’re driving on a roadway in a pool of cars and your engine just cuts off. And yes I am speaking from experience here. It costs over a thousand to get it fixed because the FOB has to be reprogrammed after they replace the switch which is complete BS fort hem to charge that much to take a cheap key and slide it into a device for a few seconds to reprogram it.
And HOW MUCH did they fine Toyota for the totally fictitious “sudden acceleration” claims?
Including that moron who kept his foot on the gas while using his brakes (faking it) and got a cop car to help him slow down.
Toyota should have sued the pants off that guy
I marvel at my next door neighbor, 72 years old, driving his '56 Chevy almost every day (in good weather) that he bought when he got out of the Army in 1967 or 8
I think the problem can mostly be laid at the feet of poor engineering/design (initially), and GM’s penny-pinching ways when they were informed of the problem and a relatively cheap fix for it. Nothing like tarnishing the image of your company (assuming GM’s image can get any more tarnished) to save $.50 per unit (OK, maybe it was $.75 or $1)
I wonder why, if the engine stops while a car is going down the road, why the driver shouldn’t be able to handle that. Yes, steering and braking will take more force, but can’t a decent drive handle that?
What if the engine stops because of some other problem such as a fuel line becoming disconnected? Are manufactures liable for all things that make an engine stop?
Look how well the old cars in Cuba are holding up.
I haven’t had my switch replaced.
I have a quick release on my keychain to detach my key from the chain. This is the fix if you can’t find time to go get it fixed.
GM is alive, 124 drivers are dead.
You are so right. New cars are overloaded with “miracle” hi-tech that will fail whenever it seems like a good idea.
I have the same problem with the watches brought to me daily. A 2 year old hi-tech wonder is beyond salvage because of a lack of new circuits, while that OLD American pocketwatch
made in 1876 is running, when serviced, at the SAME accuracy it did when brand new. And I can STILL have, or can obtain, needed parts.
If Cuba ran the world’s biggest CLASSIC CAR SALE, they could balance their budget and have any debt paid.
It is the orientation of switch.
The cars are cutting off because the weight of a heavy chain (during a hard suspension dip or rebound) pulls the key down to the off position. This stops the engine, locks the steering wheel and kills the power brakes.
See post 14
lesson from the story:
don’t buy products from Government Motors.
All GM banned from my property for quite some time now.
> The cars are cutting off because the weight of a heavy chain (during a hard suspension dip or rebound) pulls the key down to the off position. This stops the engine, locks the steering wheel and kills the power brakes.
Oh I know this personally. My year is not on their covered recall list which pisses me off to no end.
They don't forget... they just keep trying to build them cheaper. Then you have the bean counters who might override an engineering specification, all to save a dollar or two per vehicle.
> How does an industry that has had an on/off switch for a hundred years, suddenly forget how to build an on/off switch ?
Just give me two wires and a nut cap....it would work better.
> I haven’t had my switch replaced.
I have a quick release on my keychain to detach my key from the chain. This is the fix if you can’t find time to go get it fixed.
Same boat. Exactly what I have done.
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