Auto Trends

We all feel as if we have purchased a lemon at one time or another. In fact most of us will own at least one car in our lifetime that will seem to give us trouble to no end. There have been many bad eggs over the many years that motor vehicles have been in our lives, but here are a few of the worst recalls ever documented:

1. The Ford Pinto

Around 1.5 million were recalled in 1978, for a little problem Ford was having with the car “exploding” in rear end collisions. It would seem that their bumperless design made them an easy target for gas tank eruption. To add salt to injury, while the vehicle was on fire, many of these Fords had a problem with the doors jamming, leaving the passengers in a virtual death trap with no way out of the vehicle. The saddest part is that Ford was actual aware of these problems, but pushed the car through to production so that they could get in on the Japanese small car market. Today, these cars make great conversation pieces and even collectors pieces, but you certainly wouldn’t want one as your daily driver. A total of 27 deaths by fire were reported before the Ford Pinto recall went into effect.

2. 1973-1987 GM Pickups with side saddle gas tank-

The chance of someone actually owning one of these is rather high in comparison to the Ford Pinto. These trucks have been responsible for close to 400 deaths according to The Center for Auto Safety . The problem with these side saddle models is the fuel tank is located on the outside of the frame, so in the unfortunate occurrence of a sideways collision, this GM pickup had a good chance of either exploding or bursting into flames. If you happen to own one of these, I wouldn’t think twice about bringing it down to your local GM dealer to see what they can do for you.

3. 1984 GM models: Regal, Century; El Camino, Caballero, Monte Carlo, Malibu, Cutlass, Le Mans, and Grand Prix-

I hate to pick on GM again, but in 1984, they ran into a problem with a series of their vehicles manufactured in their Buffalo plant. It seems that the axle assemblies they were using had a “slight” defect. I say slight, as in comparison to a vehicle exploding as the ladder two examples, the wheels merely falling off would seem rather tame in comparison. But add in the dangerous high speeds of highway driving and you indeed had a very dangerous situation on your hands.

4. 1995 Honda/Acura models: Civics, Accords, Preludes, Legends, Integras and NSX-

It is not only the domestics who have problems. The imports have had their fair share of dangerous issues, such as the 1995 Honda/Acura line. The seat belt mechanism was reported to crack and fail. To be specific, the “Push Here” button would crack and either fail to hold the passenger in securely, or lock up and trap the passenger in their seat. A total of 3.7 million vehicles were recalled and thankfully no further problems have been documented since.