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NHTSA may greatly expand GM airbag recall

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is pondering whether to dramatically upscale a pair of airbag recalls on General Motors vehicles. The two existing campaigns, one launched in the fall of 2012 and the other in January of this year covered just 6,845 vehicles, but the government agency is considering whether to boost the recall to around 400,000 units.
The existing recalls involve the the closely related 2012 Buick Verano (shown) and Chevrolet Cruze sedans, along with Sonic and Camaro models. The root of the problem is a shorting bar in the inflator module of the steering-wheel-mounted airbag that may contact the primary state airbag terminal, a condition that could prevent deployment in an accident. Dealer technicians have been replacing the steering wheel airbag coils to fix the issue.
According to a post on NHTSA's website, the root cause, said to be a production issue, may not have been completely isolated - particularly for the second recall, which was for the Camaro. According to Automotive News, GM says it is cooperating with the government investigation, but won't say whether or not it knows the true origin of the problem.

Ford, Toyota clean up in Best Car For The Money Awards

The U.S. News Best Cars for the Money Awards picks winners by looking at the average transaction price, five-year total cost of ownership, the regard a car has from the automotive press, reliability figures from J.D. Power and Associates and safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The result, according to the magazine, is "the best combination of critical acclaim and long-term value."
Ford nabbed six of the 21 categories that received awards this year, the Focus, Fusion, Fusion Hybrid, Taurus, Escape and Edge getting trophies. Toyota and its Lexus and Scion sub-brands took another five, the Tacoma and Tundra owning the two categories given to pickup trucks. The other ten awards were split between Honda with three, Buick with two, and one each for Subaru, BMW, Hyundai, Chevrolet and Mazda.
Follow the link to see all the winners and read about why they were chosen.

Porsche and Buick earn top honors in J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index Study

Customer satisfaction with car buying has been at a low point over the past few years, as price increases, inventory shortages, and COVID restrictions have complicated every part of the process. There are signs of improvement, however, as J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study showed that customer satisfaction has improved slightly from a year ago. J.D. Power rates satisfaction on a 1,000-point scale, finding that it improved seven points to 793 from last year. Improving inventory levels and a slow leveling off of prices have contributed to that improvement, and fewer people are paying above MSRP for new cars. Some auto brands performed better than others with sales satisfaction. Porsche ranked highest among premium brands, followed by Alfa Romeo. Buick took the top spot among mass-market brands, with GMC, Chevrolet, and Mitsubishi behind. J.D. Power also handed out segment-level awards: Premium Cars: Porsche Premium SUV: Porsche Mass-Market Car: Chevrolet Mass-Market SUV/Minivan: GMC Mass-Market Truck: GMC Despite the increase in sales satisfaction, thereÂ’s still room for improvement to reach pre-pandemic levels. J.D. Power noted gaps in salesperson knowledge as an area of improvement. Buyers rated salespeople much better during a gas vehicle purchase than with EVs, citing their expertise as a challenge. Pricing remains a challenge despite an improvement since 2022, and satisfaction is still below pre-pandemic levels. Mass-market buyers reported a slight bump in satisfaction, while premium buyers felt that pricing was less fair than a year before. ItÂ’s an interesting contrast, showing that dealer pricing tactics can significantly impact satisfaction with the sales process. Fewer people may be paying more than MSRP, but several premium models still list with significant markups. Even more interesting is PorscheÂ’s top spot on the satisfaction list, as its cars often sell with huge upcharges, and itÂ’s exceedingly tricky even to get a build allocation for some models. Buick Chevrolet GMC Porsche Car Buying Ownership