Category Archives: quality

Latest Ford Recalls – Bronco SUVs and F-150 Pickups

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is recalling 2022-2023 model year Bronco SUVs, 2023 F-150 Lightning pickups and 2025 F-150 pickups for The 360-degree view camera; the high-voltage battery pack; and the air bag warning label, respectively. All told ~129,000 Ford products are affected – a relatively small number for the automaker.

“Missing or loose retention nuts on the high voltage battery junction box bus bars in the high voltage battery pack may result in electrical arcing, which can increase the risk of fire. In addition, a ‘Stop Safely Now’ message may occur in the instrument cluster followed by loss of motive power, which can increase the risk of a crash.” Ford said in the mandatory safety defect recall filing mad public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this morning about what appears to be the most serious recall.
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GM Recalls 1.14 Million V8 Engines for Failures and Fires

General Motors is recalling more than a million V8 engines used in 2021 – 2024 model year Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, and Tahoe, and GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with the 6.2L V8 gas engine (RPO L87). The connecting rod and/or crankshaft engine components in these vehicles may have manufacturing defects that can lead to engine damage and engine failure. This safety defect recall follows years of GM investigating the problem and concluding that no problem existed. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) continued its investigation based on persistent complaints from users, NHTSA had an active engineering analysis open when GM made the recall decision.

In the required safety defect recall filing – only some of it was made public by NHTSA, GM said “Engine teardown analysis identified two primary root causes, both of which are attributable to supplier manufacturing and quality issues: (1) rod-bearing damage from sediment on connecting rods and crankshaft-oil galleries; and (2) out of specification crankshaft dimensions and surface finish.” The supplier will remain publicly unknown until all the documents are made public, which is likely next Monday in AutoInformed’s experience. Continue reading

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Seat Belt and Electrical Recalls from Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling a previous recall for fuse boxes, electronic stability control programming and driver’s side seat belt covers, according to documents made public this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. First, an incorrect fuse box that was not designed for the vehicle may have been installed. Second, the vehicle’s electronic stability program (ESP) may display an incorrect warning light during an ESP system failure. Third, the driver-side seat belt cover may not be properly installed on the seat belt tensioner, which can cause the seat belt anchor to come loose.

All told ~6700 vehicles are affected. NHTSA recall campaigns are 25V255 or 25V-255, 25V254 or 25V-254, 25V253 or 25V-253. Planned owner notification dates are not until June 2025. Continue reading

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Tesla Tanking as Musk Leaves DOGE

Tesla said late yesterday that 2025 profits during Q1 plunged from $1.39 billion to $409 million. This was a drastic drop from analyst guess-timates as the Elon Musk’s DOGE chainsaw kicked back on the company and slashed revenue from $21.3 billion to $19.3 billion. Amidst the carnage of lower customer deliveries, lower margins and lower profits, Elon Musk also claimed that he was leaving DOGE behind as his major work there was finished.

“So at Tesla, we’ve gone through many, many of crisis over the years and actually been through many near death experiences. Like, we probably were on the ragged edge of death at least on maybe a dozen times,” Musk claimed. “This is not one of those times.” Continue reading

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Audi Airbag Recall – RS E-TRON GT and E-TRON GT

Audi, part of Volkswagen Group of America, is recalling ~4000 2022-2023 model year RS E-TRON GT and E-TRON GT vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may experience a fault in the wiring and deactivate the front passenger air bag when the seat is occupied.

“A manufacturing error may cause the passenger occupant detection system(PODS) to detect a malfunction and switch off the passenger airbag even though the seat may be occupied. As designed, a warning light in the instrument panel comes on together with an acoustic warning sound and an error message is displayed in the instrument cluster. The airbag indicator light shows Passenger Airbag OFF,” Audi said in the mandatory safety recall filing made public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Continue reading

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Ford Recalls Expedition and Navigator SUVs for Bad Brakes

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is recalling ~124,000 model year 2017-2018 F-150, Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. The brake master cylinder may allow brake fluid to leak from the front wheel circuit into the brake booster. Customer complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration prompted this latest expansion of a previous safety defect recall.

“In some of the affected vehicles, a seal in the rear of the brake master cylinder may become compromised, allowing brake fluid to leak into the brake booster. If the brake fluid reservoir is depleted below a predetermined level, the driver will be alerted that brake system service is required by a combination of  an audible chime, a full screen message center alert, and illumination of the red brake warning indicator,” Ford said in the mandatory safety defect recall notification made public this morning by NHTSA. Continue reading

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Porsche Taycan Hybrid Airbag Recall

Porsche Cars North America is recalling ~10,000 2022-2023 model year Taycan hybrid EVs. An occupant classification system error may deactivate the front-passenger air bag.

“The occupant classification system for automatic airbag activation/deactivation in the front passenger seat can trigger a fail-safe mode due to a manufacturing error, which deactivates the airbag in the front passenger seat,” Porsche said in the mandatory recall filing made public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this morning. Continue reading

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Blank Screen – Audi Instrument Panel Software Recalls

Audi (Volkswagen Group of America) is recalling more than 44,000 model year 2021 SQ8, A6 SEDAN, A7, A8, Q7, Q8, RS6 Avant, RS7, RSQ8, S6 SEDAN, S7, S8, A6 Allroad, and SQ7 vehicles. Because of a software error, the instrument panel display may fail.

“A vehicle’s virtual cockpit instrument cluster may shut down because of detection of an internal fault. When this occurs the engine speed (RPM), vehicle speed and gear/mode indicators will not be displayed. In addition to this, other information, such as time, date and mileage are also not displayed,” Audi said in the mandatory filing made public this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Continue reading

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BMW North America Recalls 2025 xDrive Models

BMW of North America is recalling more than 4000 model year 2025 330i, 330i xDrive, 530i, 530i xDrive, 4 Series Coupe (430i, 430i xDrive), 4 Series Convertible (430i, 430i xDrive), 4 Series Gran Coupe (430i, 430i xDrive) and X3 30 xDrive vehicles. The electrical connection between the Chinese-made starter-generator and battery may come loose. The supplier is Shanghai Valeo Auto-Elec System Company.

“This safety recall involves the power connector component of the starter- generator which may not have been produced by the supplier according to specifications. During the supplier production process, a gap could form at the connector location. If a gap exists, this could cause a loose connection between the connector and the positive battery cable (or wiring harness). As a result, resistive heating could start to occur,” BMW said in the required safety defect recall filing made public this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Continue reading

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More Ford Motor Recalls – Fires, Power Loss, Seat Belts

Numerous Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) recalls covering a wide variety of serious Ford and Lincoln brand safety defects were publicly released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this morning. Continue reading

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Annals of Marketing – Rolls-Royce Phantom Cherry Blossom

Cherry blossoms are celebrated in the centuries-old Japanese tradition of “Hanami” or ‘”flower viewing.” During Hanami, families and friends gather beneath the delicate pink blooms of cherry trees for picnics and celebrations, enjoying the transient beauty of the season, Rolls Royce noted today. A client in Japan wished to capture their cherished Hanami memories, spanning childhood and parenthood. Thus is the backstory of the latest custom or bespoke Phantom Cherry Blossom. This is a one-of-one Phantom commission said to be inspired by the fleeting beauty of the Sakura blooms and a Japanese client’s formative memories of this natural spectacle. Continue reading

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Tesla Airbag recalls on Model S and X Vehicles

Tesla is recalling a small number of 2021-2024 model-year S and 2021-2025 X vehicles. An air bag with the incorrect horn pad from TRW Steering Wheel Systems de Chihuahua, Mexico may have been installed, preventing the horn from sounding.

“On affected vehicles, a service operator may have installed an airbag with a non-mechanical horn pad in a mechanical steering wheel or an airbag with a mechanical horn pad in a non-mechanical steering wheel, resulting in a loss of horn functionality. Airbag functionality is unaffected,” Tesla said in the mandatory safety defect filing made public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this morning. Continue reading

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Nissan and Infiniti Brake Caliper Failure Recalls

Nissan North America is recalling 1430 model year 2025 Murano, Pathfinder, and Infiniti QX60 vehicles. One or both front brake-caliper assemblies from Hitachi Astemo Mexico may have reduced strength and could break. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 135, “Light Vehicle Brake Systems.” Continue reading

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Ford Recalls Improperly Fixed Explorer Recalls

Explorer vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under NHTSA recall numbers 23V-199 or 22V-255. The rear axle horizontal mounting bolt may fracture and cause the driveshaft to disconnect. This is another Ford Motor recall caused by software errors and its inability to ascertain if the prior recall was implemented correctly. Continue reading

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Ford Recalls Previous Bronco and Escape Fire Recalls

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: Ford) is recalling ~34,000 model-year 2020-2022 Escape and 2021-2023 Bronco Sport vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under NHTSA recall numbers 22V-859 or 24V-187. A fuel injector may crack and leak fuel inside the engine compartment risking a fire. It’s the latest in a growing series of Ford recalls that were not properly repaired the first time because of software programming errors, requiring a recall of the recall, so to speak. Continue reading

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