I’ve only just seen this piece you penned (keyboarded?) some months ago now. It made me wonder whether I was in a timewarp. Land Rover still owned by BMW?

BMW sold to Ford some years ago. And Ford sold it to the Indian Tata group a year or so ago.

Robert

Vehicle recalls are commonplace because cars are mechanical and things can go wrong, no argument. The issue quite plainly is how the manufacturers handle their recalls and how they manage the press releases to explain why they are doing it. This is Toyota’s headache.

Some countries have governement-backed websites that allow you to check what cars have been recalled and for what reason.

The one in the USA is run by the aptly-named Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) and their website is http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/index.cfm

The UK equivalent is a page on the DirectGov website at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017820?cids=Google_PPC&cre=Motorists

I did a quick check on the Golf which is reputedly the most desirable car in its class (according to the latest VW TV ad campaign at least) and since 1992 there have been 23 recalls for the model. Some recall notes interestingly refer to faulty brake issues but my favourite was the note for the 2008 Golf/Jetta estate model which just states that ‘fire may occur’. That somehow sounds a lot more scary than ‘brakes may not work’.

How about the BMW 3-series (with appropriate fabled build quality) which was recalled in 1999 because of ‘possible unscheduled deployment of side airbags’? Crumbs!

Was this reported in the press? Well if it was it certainly didn’t make the front page like the Toyota recall. So, not only are our German cousins master engineers it seems they are wizards at generating good PR in spite of their own products failings.

You could spend an afternoon exploding myths about the reliability of certain car manufacturers but is anybody bothered to check the facts? It seems not.

Talking of German conterparts, remember the Zeppelin ? What a wonder at its launch & in its heyday. Nothing compared. Then the big bang !

The media have behaved like the reptiles that Dennis Thatcher & Private Eye alluded to. Hype up the hysteria on a demographic scale, without once dealing with the real issues. Toyotas are a sound product. There is nothing like the Prius on the market. No attributable accidents so far. Just wait for the ambulance chasers to get on the bandwagon !