Four-wheeled flubs: the eight fattest automotive scandals of all time
Caught up in the midst of it all, Volkswagen’s latest diesel emissions scandal seems historically bad. The company has apologized, and is carrying on business as usual, but this kind of widespread, systemic disregard for the law is bad news for the world’s fresh largest automaker.
But despite the oncoming fines, sanctions, and legal act, this is hardly the very first or the most deadly automotive scandal. In fact, there are several more (some in latest memory) that challenge “dieselgate” for scope and organizational incompetence.
If you’re looking for a thorough takedown of “Government Motors” or any of the post-recession bailouts, look elsewhere. Join us as we take a look back at eight of the largest mechanical scandals the automotive world has ever seen.
Unsafe at Any Speed: The demise of the Chevrolet Corvair
Almost no one remembers the Corvair as a quirky, bow-tied sports sedan, because in one thousand nine hundred sixty five it was embroiled in a safety scandal.
Amidst the outrage from the Corvair scandal, Ralph Nader dubbed it “the leading candidate for the un-safest-car title.”
The subsequent public outrage from the Corvair scandal prompted the signing of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966.
Chevrolet’s infamous Corvair was an automotive anomaly at the time. With a rear-mounted flat-6-cylinder engine, it was essentially an American Porsche. But almost no one remembers the Corvair as a quirky, bow-tied sports sedan, because in 1965, consumer protection activist Ralph Nader released his book Unsafe at Any Speed, a thorough takedown of the safety-related shortcomings of the American auto industry, and the Corvair was at the crux of his campaign.
Due to an inherently unstable sway axle suspension design, a tire-pressure differential system designed to induce understeer and combat oversteer, and the removal of a front anti-sway bar by Chevrolet engineering management, Nader dubbed the Corvair “the leading candidate for the un-safest-car title.” Sales instantly dropped from almost 220,000 in one thousand nine hundred sixty five to less than 15,000 in 1968, and the subsequent public outrage prompted the signing of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966.
‘The barbecue that seats four’: the Ford Pinto fuel tank debacle
In the 1970s and 80s, there was one rule of the road that everyone seemed to go after: steer clear if you see a Pinto.
If you recall driving in the 1970s and 80s, there was one rule of the road that everyone seemed to go after: steer clear if you see a Pinto. Ford’s wildly-popular economy car sold enormously well after the fuel crisis of the early 70s, thanks to its space-efficient design, above-average gas mileage, and low purchase price. But Ford was hiding a deadly secret – one that makes emissions test cheating seem like an fair mistake.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigated the Pinto from one thousand nine hundred seventy four onward, taking act in one thousand nine hundred seventy seven after finding that the Pinto’s fuel tank could rupture in a crash, resulting in deadly fires from spilled fuel. The tank sat inbetween the rear axle and the rear bumper, and the fuel filler neck could break in a rear end collision. The NHTSA also found that not only did Ford know about this problem, but they deliberately neglected to engineer a redesign after conducting a cost-benefit analysis that determined that it was cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits than to pay for a fix for the problem. If that’s not worse than cheating on emissions tests, we don’t know what is.
Four rings floored:60 Minutes and Audi’s ‘unintended acceleration’ problem
During the period of one thousand nine hundred eighty two to 1987, Audi issued recalls for a series of five thousand models with reported incidents of unintended acceleration that would occur all of a sudden.
Audi almost didn’t make it into the 21st century in America thanks to one poorly-reported special on sixty Minutes. During the period of one thousand nine hundred eighty two to 1987, Audi issued recalls for a series of five thousand models with reported incidents of unintended acceleration that would occur abruptly. The incidents were reportedly linked to six deaths and almost seven hundred accidents. The NHTSA was also investigating another fifty models from twenty different manufacturers for the same problem, but the folks at sixty Minutes didn’t bother or care to check that out.
In a special called “Out of Control” that aired in 1986, sixty Minutes interviewed six people that had sued Audi for the unintended acceleration. They even went so far as to create a dramatic reenactment of the incident, but failed to disclose that they had engineered the car to replicate the behavior for the special. Audi eventually issued a recall to spread the pedals further apart, even however “user error” was determined to be the cause of the incidents. Audi is fortunate that they recovered from the “scandal,” but have now become one of the strongest and most popular German brands.
Separation anxiety: Firestone Tires and the Ford Explorer
A Ford Explorer sits outside a Firestone tire store August 25, two thousand in West Roxbury, MA. Firestone went through a massive tire recall that year, mainly those used on sport utility vehicles.
Ford and Firestone had a close relationship almost from their respective founding. As the largest American automaker and the largest tire company, they had a lucrative relationship for the majority of the 20th century, even being linked in marriage by William Clay Ford Sr. and Martha Parke Firestone in 1947. But in May of 2000, everything switched.
Firestone already had a tarnished reputation from a 1970s scandal that involved their five hundred radial tires and a tendency for tread separation, so when the NHTSA contacted both Ford and Firestone about a high rate of tire failure on Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer and Mazda Navajo models, the future seemed very bleak. Ford investigated the problem, and found that 15-inch tires had very high tread separation rates, especially those made in Decatur, IL. The tires could rupture at speed, causing an estimated two hundred fifty deaths and thousands of injuries. Ford was able to place most of the blame on Firestone, but the Explorer was especially prone to rollover accidents thanks to its top-heavy design. The pair of companies faced many lawsuits, and Firestone recalled Two.8 million tires. Nowadays, Ford fucking partners with Bridgestone for most of their fresh tires.
Braking news: Toyota and Lexus’s runaway car problem
Used Toyota Prius’ are seen on the Al Henrickson Toyota Dealer sales lot on February 9, two thousand ten in Coconut Creek, Florida. The dealership was ready to help buyers of the Prius after Toyota announced that it is recalling the two thousand ten Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems.
It commenced off puny for Japan’s largest automaker, but what seemed like a minor issue quickly ballooned into a massive recall. From two thousand two to 2009, many defect petitions were made to the NHTSA regarding Toyota and Lexus models’ tendency to unintentionally accelerate, but most were determined to be the cause of user error. Toyota issued a minor fix by bringing in all of the affected cars and asking owners to switch out all-weather mats to keep the pedals clear.
Then, in August of 2009, California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor was traveling with his family in San Diego in a loaner Lexus ES350 when the car lost all brake function and accelerated out of control as Saylor was passing a truck on the highway. Everyone in the vehicle was killed, and the crash gained national coverage. From that point onwards, Toyota issued seven separate recalls that totaled almost ten million vehicles, for which they switched out floor mats and carpet covers that caused “pedal entrapment.”
But the problem was far from immobilized, and in 2013, a former Toyota employee released a private statement that accused Toyota of covering up facts and tricking government officials. The Justice Department investigated the issue from two thousand ten onwards, and transferred Toyota a $1.Two billion penalty for issuing misleading statements to the NHTSA. Toyota also had to pay another $1.Two billion dollars in a class act lawsuit to Toyota drivers that claimed their vehicles lost value from the scandal. Talk about a goopy situation!
Ignition condition: GM’s ignition switch fiasco
WASHINGTON, DC: General Motors CEO Mary Barra (L), and Anton Valukas, head of GM’s internal recall investigation, listen to questions while testifying during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June Legal, two thousand fourteen in Washington, DC.
If you’ve followed automotive news at all over the last year and a half, chances are you’re very familiar with this particular scandal already. In February of 2014, General Motors recalled about 800,000 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models for a problem with the ignition switch that could cause the engine to shut off while driving, thereby preventing airbags from inflating and all power-assisted systems from functioning.
The problem ballooned to congressional activity, and resulted in the recall of almost thirty million vehicles worldwide. GM CEO Mary Barra was coerced into the firestorm, which has resulted in up to one hundred sixty nine deaths. GM was aware of the problem at least a decade before the recall, but Barra and company were largely able to deflect the blame on the ways of “old GM” before the government bailout. Despite a $900 million fine and an extra $575 million in civil lawsuit compensation, GM’s sales and product lineup are stronger than ever. It seems the American car buying public has a very limited brief term memory.
Airbag blowout: Honda and Takata’s record-setting recall
This picture taken on November 23, two thousand fourteen shows Japanese auto parts maker Takata’s logo being displayed at an event in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo.
The Takata airbag recall has been the largest in history, with close to thirty four million vehicles recalled worldwide that use the defective airbags. In the center of this scandal, however, is Honda, who possessed a controlling stake in Takata until recently, and took much of the brunt of the media’s coverage of the scandal.
According to Takata, the faulty airbags are related to more than one hundred injuries and eight deaths among Hondas alone, and uncountable more among other automakers including BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, General Motors, and Toyota. If it weren’t for the other automakers affected, Honda may have had it much worse in the public eye, but this scandal (coupled with falling profits) recently cost the job of their CEO.
V-Trouble-U: the ongoing Volkswagen diesel scandal
Several Volkswagen TDI model diesel engine vehicles were using software to circumvent emissions standards during testing inbetween two thousand nine and 2015.
As details come flooding out of what’s being called one of the largest automotive scandals ever, things are getting worse and worse for Volkswagen. As I type this, CEO Martin Winterkorn has resigned from his post, but VW’s troubles are far from over. According to a report, the “defeat device” that was programmed into the diesel cars’ ECU to detect when emissions tests were being performed and to adjust emission levels accordingly has been known about for over a year.
We’ve learned a lot about the “how” and the general scope of the deception, but the big question on everyone’s mind is plain: why? I suppose we’ll find out in time.
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