• 08
  • May
    2010

It is getting hard to look at any vehicle these days without seeing the potential for danger. The San Diego car accident involving a Lexus first blew the lid off of years of hidden problems in Toyota vehicles. Now, increased scrutiny of Toyota is bleeding over into other car lines, with General Motor's Hummer H3 model becoming the latest victim of recall.

While the problem was nowhere near as bad as those facing Toyota, GM still took a proactive stance on Wednesday, recalling more than 160,000 Hummer H3 models due to problems with the vehicles' hood louver (fake vent). Recently, complaints had come in regarding the piece's propensity to become detached during use on the road.

Not only dangerous for those driving Hummer H3s, the hood vents could also fly into other cars, causing drivers to swerve or break - potentially leading to a car accident. The recall applies to vehicles produced between 2006 and 2010.

Luckily for GM, and drivers, the fix seems to be a simple one. In short, dealers will use a special adhesive to reattach the decorative vents to the H3's hood. Dealers will be receiving information on the fix soon, and Hummer owners should be able to bring the vehicles in during the weeks following.

Repairs may not be so straightforward for Chrysler, who is facing heat from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over complaints of unintended acceleration in the 2007 Dodge Caliber model. This investigation is just starting and, so far, has not sparked any widespread call for action.

Still, it was a single accident that truly launched the recall of more than eight million Toyota vehicles. Plus, the gas pedals purported to be sticking in Dodge Caliber models were produced by the same company that built many of the pedals used in recalled Toyota vehicles.

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