Last week, Ford Australia bit the bullet and recalled over 83,000 Ford Territory vehicles in the culmination of what was a fairly busy seven day period for motor vehicle recalls in Australia.
Alfa Romeo recalled 174 Brera, 159 and Spider automatics fitted with the 3.2 litre V6 engine because of “Insufficient braking ability on cold engine starts” on the 20th.
Maserati recalled 92 Quattroporte and Gran Turismo vehicles because “Vehicle occupants are not reminded of the seat belt function” – evidently a buzzer was failing to sound if the seat belt was not used. That recall notice was also issued on the 20th.
Fiat recalled 3 … yes a whole 3 … Fiat 500 vehicles due to locking rear drum brakes. A loose locating pin was the cause of this problem. The recall notice was issued on the 20th.
Mercedes Benz recalled 33 S Class (type 221) vehicles fitted with active Body Control suspension. Some “long term laboratory durability testing” revealed that the lower ball joint of the frunt struts could fracture when used on rough roads. The recall notice issued on the 23rd noted that “normal steering of the vehicle will be impaired.”
Mitsubishi issued a major recall notice on the 25th. They’re looking for 20,989 Lancer and Outlander vehicles that have a braking problem. It seems that on these vehicles “After starting, if the vehicle is only driven at low speed with minimal or no throttle opening, an increased brake pedal effort may be required on the first braking application because of the possibility of the brake booster check valve sticking.”
So last week it was quite a week for motor vehicle recalls in Australia … sticking brakes, hardly any brakes, no steering and a buzzer that doesn’t warn you that you’ve forgotten to put your seat belt on … it was all happening last week.