This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Spare tire is retained by a cable. Cable end failed. Tire came loose and rolled into busy traffic, sending vehicles swerving to avoid it. Very nearly caused a serious accident. Had this been at night, or on a busy freeway, there could be serious consequences to having 50 lbs of wheel and tire let loose on the freeway. From internet newsgroups, this appears to be a frequent problem and a design flaw. Cable is about 1/4 inch thick, and once it fails there is nothing (no retaining bar or other safety feature) to prevent the spare wheel from dropping into following traffic. I am so thankful no one was hurt this time, but want to make sure ntsa is aware of the problem. Thanks.
The inserts, which hold the roof rack to the roof, came loose while driving on the highway with luggage on the roof. Had I not further tied the luggage to the front bumper, I believe that the roof rack could have come loose from the roof, with potentially severe consequences to other vehicles. I did talk to the dealer when I returned from the trip, but the vehicle was out of warranty by that time, and they said that they did not know how to repair the problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Irvine, CA, USA