February Newsletter

February, 2010

This month I wanted to discuss Factory recalls.

Those of you who have newer cars, or are still subject to factory recalls, need to be aware of information that your dealership may not want you to know.

All of us are aware of the massive recall that Toyota is in the middle of because of the horrific accident that killed 4 people due to a sticking gas pedal. Toyota may or may not have been aware of this problem before this terrible accident. But did you know that all recalls are not announced to the car owner? Most problems never get to the recall stage; that doesn’t mean they’re not problems. It just means that the manufacture has managed to wiggle out of conducting a full recall. In this case Toyota had no wiggle room.

My Own Vehicle

I’ll use my own vehicles as an example. I have a 2006 Ford Fusion that had a ticking noise in the engine. After researching the problem I found a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) on that exact problem. I took the vehicle into Ford, with TSB in hand and they fixed the problem under warranty. Because it was not a safety issue they never sent out an official recall. I also have a 2001 Ford F-250 truck that I did receive a recall notice in the mail. They recommended that I have an electrical component replaced due to the fact that it has a tendency to short out and catch on fire. Obviously a vehicle burning to the ground, especially if you keep it in your garage, is much more severe than a ticking engine. If Ford is aware of both problems, you should be advised of both problems, but you’re not.

This is where Bender’s Automotive comes in. When you bring your vehicle in for service or repairs we can check all TSB’s to see if there are any issues with your vehicle. The Dealers are not obligated to do so and actually don’t like doing warranty work, or recalls, because they get paid considerable less by the manufacturer. There have been several times we found problems with vehicles that have been related to TSB’s and referred the customer to the dealer where they were able to get the repair covered under a “secret” recall.

The next time you bring your vehicle in ask myself, Mike or Denise and we will be happy to check for TSB’s on your vehicle.

[schema type=”person” name=”Tom Bender” orgname=”Bender’s Automotive” jobtitle=”Owner” url=”www.bendersauto.com” description=”Tom Bender is the owner of Bender’s Automotive, a Top AAA Approved Auto Repair Shop in Covina CA. He also teaches automotive service at Citrus College” street=”747 E. San Bernardino Road” city=”Covina” state=”CA” postalcode=”91723″ country=”US” email=”bendersauto@aol.com” phone=”(626) 332-3022″ ]