When the recall notice came in the mail, Michele Ashenden and her husband Vittorio Pulcini knew it was serious.
The words “Urgent Vehicle Recall” in red letters were sprawled at the top, along with a warning that a defective fuel pump on their truck could lead to sudden loss of power and a crash.
Ashenden and Pulcini didn’t want to drive their 2016 Ram 1500 SLT after getting the recall notice, but had no choice. They needed the vehicle for work.
It soon became obvious the truck was too dangerous to be on the road, Pulcini says.
“It would just randomly shut off while driving, like, 100 per cent completely black. No power, no electronics, no hazards. Nothing,” he said. “[I thought], ‘Oh my God, this is totally dangerous.'”…
George Iny, who heads the Automobile Protection Association (APA), tells Go Public delayed fixes are “a big problem” in Canada.
He says some companies will issue a safety recall as required by law then — as in this case — leave owners waiting far too long for the repair, because there are no mandated deadlines on how long they can take to fix the defect.
“They issue the notice arguing that that makes them compliant with the law, but then they haven’t put in the process for the repair yet. It’s really unacceptable,” he said.
It is estimated that as many as one in five vehicles in Canada has an unresolved safety recall, “endangering not only the occupants but also other road users,” according to a June 2023 report by Transport Canada.
There are no publicly available numbers that show how many of those are because automakers don’t have a fix.
…
There were a total of 794 vehicle safety recalls issued in 2021, affecting over four million vehicles and vehicle equipment, according to that Transport Canada report.
Adding to the problem is a hole in the rules that allows automakers to drag their heels on completing recalls, says Iny.
The Motor Vehicle Safety Act requires vehicle manufacturers to provide Transport Canada with quarterly recall updates for two years after the notice is issued, but doesn’t set a deadline on when all the fixes need to be completed.
“Transport Canada should be able to hold the manufacturer accountable. There should be consequences,” he said.
Even without mandated deadlines, Iny says automakers need to get recalls done in a reasonable amount of time or offer owners compensation while they wait.
“I think these would be good examples where those carmakers need to step it up. But the root of the problem here really goes to a recall which is, what is Transport Canada doing to ensure compliance?”
Transport Canada says each recall problem, and the timeline for its solution, are “unique” so manufacturers must “control the process to ensure vehicle safety.”