GM hides behind bankruptcy again

3tomany, Apr 17, 5:24pm
tgray, Apr 17, 5:29pm
Are you drunk?
84 death claims (many of those would have nothing to do with GM) and millions of customers.
What's your beef?
3tomany, Apr 17, 5:40pm
I am shocked you think 84 dead people from not replacing a $2 part is acceptable behaviour. GM deliberately hid the problem until after bankruptcy hoping to avoid the cost.
3tomany, Apr 17, 5:50pm
also there is not 84 death claims but 84 confirmed killed by defective ignitions and 157 injuries confirmed.
hfc2, Apr 17, 6:00pm
unbelievable , shame you corporate a hole! ,
tgray, Apr 17, 6:47pm
There would be more deaths attributed to wearing red cardigans than this particular issue.
My point is, there is no way that the key ignition problem could be directly linked to these deaths.
If you have looked into this, it relates to an ignition fob key that is feasibly long enough to knock into the auxillary position with your knee whilst driving, that renders the steering control ineffective, thereby causing the airbags also to not deploy in an accident. You would literally have to be driving with your knees wrapped around the steering wheel for this to happen.
What is doesn't show is how many people were in an accident where they shunted forward and knocked the key into that position after they crashed.
When you have a pool of millions of customers, 84 suspected deaths is a very small starting point in considering the actual cause.
I wasn't trying to minimise their deaths by any means, but objectively trying to look at the overall picture and see through the litigation and emotively charged media surrounding the case.
ps/ I have driven the said cars in question and cannot for the life of me see how the key can be knocked off in the way the litigants describe.
3tomany, Apr 17, 7:00pm
well said tgray but you are wrong on the knocking of the key as I understand it the key was so bad as to only need braking or accelerating to cause a shut down. GM could be liable in court for billions but they have succeeded in proving to a judge that the problem was old GM and old GM is bankrupt so no money to pay. In my opinion new GM should stand up and let the courts decide culpability but that can now not happen.
tgray, Apr 17, 7:07pm
Braking or accelerating to cause a shutdown?
The driver would still need to knock the key into the auxillary/off position for it to do that.
I have had many GM cars (7 in fact affected by the key issue) and have 'tried' to see how that could happen and only imagined it could happen if you are less than 5 feet tall and have the front seat in the closest position to the steering wheel and then have some kind of 'medical situation' for this to happen. Think of a one in a million chance and then think of 84 million GM cars and there you have the 84 so called deaths.
Of course the stats presume that all 84 deaths would have been avoided if the airbags deployed. We all know that people still die whether airbags go off or not, so again, there is no way they know for sure the deaths would have been avoided, regardless of whether the key was off or not.
mrfxit, Apr 17, 7:10pm
Correct as far as I know.
it was a heavy 1 sided key weight & weak internal springs that allowed the key to turn when driving over bumps plus adding extra keys to the keyring (as you do) simply compounded the issue
tgray, Apr 17, 7:14pm
No, not when driving over bumps!
It had to be bumped physically by the driver to turn off.
3tomany, Apr 17, 7:24pm
The latest recall was for that but the older switches only needed added keys and a shift in momentum to switch off as I understand it. a message from GM

carignitiongmrecallThe automaker announced that the defective ignition switches have caused the engine to turn off and disable the airbags. The failure is believed to be caused when weight on the ignition key, road conditions or some event such as rough pavement causes the ignition switch to move out of the "run" position, turning off the engine and most of the car's electrical components mid-drive, with sometimes catastrophic results.

GM further said that even after the ignition switch is repaired, owners should not attach anything to their key rings other than the key and fob. A GM spokesman said there is no danger of the problem reoccurring after the repair but he also said that no ignition switch is safe from being moved from the "run" position if the key chains are too heavy or bulky. Owners of recalled vehicles in some cases will be offered offer loaner cars and a $500 cash allowance through April 30, to buy a 2013, 2014 or 2015 model-year vehicle. GM is not offering to buy back recalled vehicles. Beginning in April, dealers will install new ignition switches, beginning next month.
3tomany, Mar 10, 1:09am