Different treatment for a different Japanese car company or has NHTSA made its point?
Mazda is recalling 215,000 2007-2009 Mazda3 and Mazda5 vehicles made from 2 April 2007 through 30 November 2008. These vehicles may have a safety defect where a sudden loss of power steering assist could occur while driving.
If power steering is lost without warning, the driver’s ability to maneuver is restricted, increasing the risk of an accident.
The recall on the Japanese-made vehicles raises questions about the policies of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which fined Toyota a record $16.4 million for its failure to tell safety regulators about a safety defect in a timely matter.
In the Mazda case, the defect goes back to March of 2008 with a customer complaint in the Japanese market, which prompted a Mazda investigation in July of 2008. By the summer of 2009, Mazda concluded that rust was forming on the inside of a high-pressure power steering line, and it issued a technical service bulletin to dealers – but only in Japan.
In June of 2010, NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation (PE) of the steering defect, which apparently has now prompted Mazda to finally recall the vehicles.
Mazda claims there is no “unreasonable safety risk,” but is proceeding with a recall.
Mazda dealers will be notified of the recall next week. However, due to short supply of parts, the first phase of mailing of owner notification letters will begin on or before 15 September 2010 and the recall notifications are not expected to be completed until February 2011.
How this differs from Toyota’s conduct is debatable. NHTSA, of course, will not comment on the politics or thinking behind the recall. The agency generally preferred negotiated recalls – in fact, it never forced a maker to recall a vehicle – until alleged Toyota sudden acceleration injuries and deaths came to the attention of the U.S. Congress.
Critics contend that previously the U.S. safety agency was a “lapdog” for the auto industry, an assertion that appears to have less validity post-Toyota.
Owners may contact the Mazda Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-222-5500. Owners may also contact The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov. NHTSA campaign ID number: 10V374000. NHTSA Action Number: PE10021.