What does it take to get a recall?

There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason. I've seen recalls for things that seem like maintenance or wear and tear issues on old cars well out of warranty. I've seen recalls on cars that worked as designed, but had trouble with user error (though the design was questionable.) I've seen fights to get recalls for what were obvious safety related engineering or manufacturing errors, often without result.

I got a recall letter for my wife's 2014 Sienna. It seems that if you try to open one of the power sliding doors while the van is wedged against an object (a tree, or another car in the parking lot perhaps) the door motor could overheat and blow the fuse. Then when you drive away (hopefully leaving a note on the car you sideswiped), you need to manually close and latch the door, so your unbelted passengers don't go flying out. Apparently this happens often enough to warrant a recall. Perhaps they should recall the driver's licenses of the people who lodged these complaints instead?

There is no "fix" yet, so the letter instructs you to turn off the power door switch and pull the bypass levers until further notice. Or maybe just don't wedge your van against objects, or at least make sure you close your door after you break it.

Manufacturers don't like that word. I've known brands that offer a "free upgrade service" instead. Recall usually involves the Feds saying so, underwriters laboratories saying so, or a class action lawsuit saying so.

Please stop saving the idiotic from themselves.

Thank you, The Rest of The Planet.

But if the doors are closed manually, isn't their greater risk to passenger extremities like fingers and hands? I suggest another recall...

Calling Apexcarver.

you have the description a bit wrong there Boost_crazy, the description of the recall is this

SAFERCAR.GOV said: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2011-2016 Toyota Sienna minivans manufactured January 4, 2010, to August 12, 2016. If the power sliding door is unable to be opened when commanded, such as if the door is frozen shut, the door may subsequently open unexpectedly, possibly while the vehicle is moving.

I would say a rear door on a minivan opening itself while you are driving down the road is a pretty bad thing. Especially being that rear passengers in Minivans are usually children.

There are manufacturer influenced recalls and there are government influenced recalls. (interesting point, your recall is Manufacturer Influenced, there was no NHTSA investigation on it, look on https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2014/TOYOTA/SIENNA/VAN/FWD#recalls) Manufacturers are required to recall if they find a problem with safety related consequences through their warranty data, customer complaints, etc. While NHTSA acts on complaints they receive as well as additional information from manufacturers (such as what they have been sued for). The burdens are all spelled out in the Code of Federal Regulations I believe.

Manufacturers SELF CERTIFY their vehicles and are the primary responsible party for them. The government is a safety net or failsafe, not the primary actor, though they do push the manufacturers to stay on top of defects and do define what they need to certify that their vehicles meet.

look at www.safercar.gov which links to https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls#vehicle where you can find all kinds of information about recalls on anything you might want to look at.

wheelsmithy wrote:

????

In reply to gearheadmb:

There's a scene in fight club where the protagonist (Jack) explains how the company he works for determines whether or not to perform a recall.

Not the actual scene but the quote is correct:

And then add in the fines, the Ignition Switch thing GM had resulted in $900,000,000 in fines. Or Toyota Unintended Acceleration, which resulted in $1,200,000,000 in fines for delaying the recall... Between NHTSA and the Department of Justice, its really bad to try to not do a recall. They might roll the dice hoping the issue isnt caught, but thats what government safety regulators are for (NHTSA).

That was on top of the recall expense, which they were legally required to do. Then add in lost sales due to bad press.

Beware over-simplification, it can lead to bad conclusions. Fun for the movies, but bad for real life conclusions.

In reply to

you have the description a bit wrong there Boost_crazy, the description of the recall is this SAFERCAR.GOV said: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain model year 2011-2016 Toyota Sienna minivans manufactured January 4, 2010, to August 12, 2016. If the power sliding door is unable to be opened when commanded, such as if the door is frozen shut, the door may subsequently open unexpectedly, possibly while the vehicle is moving.

I got the description from the letter sent to me from Toyota, which was completely different from what you referenced. It stated outside obstructions that prevented opening, no mention of freezing. That's a good point though, I hadn't thought of that. Doesn't come up often where I live. Maybe I got a different notice based on where I live? Like rust belt recalls that don't apply here?

In reply to Apexcarver:

I get what you are saying, but it's a real stretch to compare steering locking or throttles not responding to a sliding door that just might come open if A,B,C, and D situations align just right. And then another real stretch to connect that to the chance of injury. I'm sure it has happened, since this is an issue at all. But really, this would have to be the sequence of events...

1) Operator tries to open power door that is obstructed or frozen, blows fuse.

2) The door worked enough to unlatch, but not open.

3) Rather than try the door manually, the passenger entered through the other door.

4) Nobody checks the door that is unmatched, possibly ajar, and no warning light is lit or noticed on the dashboard, no chime present or is ignored.

5) The door opens while the vehicle is in motion. I would expect that to take a good deal of acceleration, as a power door without power is not easy to move. Hence Toyota's bypass mechanism instructions. I might have to try it out :)

6) An unbelted passenger is thrown from or leaps from the vehicle before the driver has the opportunity to stop.

I realize that an open or unlatched door changes things in an accident scenario. However, that was not mentioned on my notice. I'm sure people at Toyota are paid to make such stretches. But it still surprises me. You could conceivabley connect any failed or damaged component to a safety hazard if you tried hard enough, down to the cup holders.

7) Tigers leap into the vehicle and devour the occupants who are helplessly belted in
8) Wolves!

Well, for a manufacturer influenced recall, thats on them and how diligent they want to be if they connect something to cup holders.

I am pretty sure that the government side is biased towards pursuing things that have higher risk of injury with their limited resources.