Driving Memories: Famous, Funny, and Downright Scary Car Reviews

Building a car is hard. There are many parts that need to fit together in the right order and function perfectly for this to work. It's tough, but when automakers get it right, these cars tend to be praised by their owners as great and reliable. When manufacturers get it wrong, at best the car becomes the butt of a good joke, and at worst the vehicle can be seriously dangerous.

When something goes wrong, manufacturers will issue a recall to fix the problem. Here are the memories from the pages of history, humorous, well-known and simply terribly unacceptable.

Do you remember what was wrong with the seat belts in the Toyota RAV4 that needed to be fixed?

Mazda 6 - Spiders

Sharing your car is usually fine. Sharing a car with spiders that can cause a fire is not allowed. Mazda announced in 2014 that it was recalling 42,000 of its Mazda 6 sedans due to gasoline-crazed spiders.

Apparently, yellow sac spiders are attracted to the hydrocarbons in gasoline and can get inside Mazda's fuel tank vent lines and spin webs. These webs can block lines that pressurize the fuel tank, causing cracks. Cracks in the fuel tank are definitely undesirable. Gasoline is much more useful in the tank and engine than dripping on the ground and setting your car on fire.

Mercedes-Benz - Fire

Unrelated to nesting gasoline-drinking spiders, Mercedes-Benz has been forced to recall more than 1 million cars and SUVs due to fire risk. According to Mercedes-Benz, the cause was a faulty fuse that burned 51 cars to the ground.

In situations where the vehicle does not start on the first try, a defective fuse can cause the starter wiring to overheat, melt the insulation, and ignite nearby components. Sitting next to a fire is supposed to be relaxing and luxurious, but sitting next to your luxury car while it's on fire isn't.

This random act caused Subaru great pain.

Subaru vehicles - random engine start

This is a review straight from the Twilight Zone. Imagine looking down your driveway and seeing your beautiful new Subaru parked there. The keys are in another room, in a plate, waiting for you to take them and go. And while you're looking at your pride and joy as you think about this trip... the engine starts on its own, and there's no one in, on, or around the car.

Subaru has recalled 47,419 vehicles due to key fob issues. If you dropped it and they landed just right, it could cause a malfunction where the motor would start, shut down, and repeat at random times. Strange.

Ford Pinto - Fire

The Ford Pinto became the model for disastrous automotive recalls. It epitomizes everything that is wrong with the automotive industry and represents the truly terrible era of Detroit cars. Problems, reviews, lawsuits, conspiracy theories, and the hype around the Pinto are legendary, but in a nutshell, the fuel tank was positioned in such a way that in the event of a rear impact, the Pinto could break. spill fuel and set the vehicle on fire.

In total, Ford has recalled 1.5 million Pintos and 117 lawsuits have been filed against Ford. It remains one of the most famous testimonials in history.

Toyota Camry, Venza and Avalon - more spiders

What to do about spiders in cars? Is this an attempt to take over the world with car sabotage or do they just love a good car? In any case, Toyota recalled 2013 Camrys, Venzas and Avalons in 870,000 as spiders infested them again.

Spiders have been found inside air conditioning units where their webs blocked the drain tubes, causing condensation to drip onto the airbag control module. Water and electronics are incompatible, and water entering the air conditioning system caused a short circuit in the module, which could cause the airbags to deploy while driving! It's either bad design or some very clever spiders.

Toyota RAV4 - cut seat belts

Being in a car accident is scary, being in a car accident and suddenly realizing that your seat belt is not holding you is even scarier. So it was with 3+ million Toyota Rav4s.

In 2016, Toyota discovered that rear seat belts are cut in car crashes, causing passengers to not buckle up at all during the crash. The problem was not with the seatbelt, but with the metal frame of the rear seats. In the event of an accident, the frame can cut the belt, making it completely useless. Toyota released a solution to the problem, a simple resin coating to keep the metal frame from touching the belt.

Bad look at Honda just ahead!

Honda Odyssey - badges backwards

The average car consists of approximately 30,000 parts. Assembling all these parts in the correct order and place is a difficult task. Major car makers don't appear to be immune to problems with proper assembly, as Honda found out in 2013.

One of the finishing touches to the car's build is the installation of badges, and on the 2013 Odyssey minivan, Honda managed to put them on the wrong side, which was the reason for the recall. Serious? No. Ashamed? Aha! Honda has advised owners that a badge on the wrong side of the tailgate can impact resale value, as the car may appear to have been in an accident and not properly repaired. bummer.

Volkswagen and Audi: diesel emissions disaster

Diesel gate. You knew we'd get to this! By now everyone should be familiar with the massive scandal, cover-up and remember surrounding Volkswagen and their diesel engines. But in case you missed it, here's a very brief summary.

Volkswagen and the Audi subsidiary have been touting the efficiency of their diesel engines for years. Great fuel consumption, low emissions, great power. It seemed too good to be true, and it was. Volkswagen applied a "cheat code" in the engine software to activate emissions controls during testing that were not active during normal driving. As a result, 4.5 million vehicles were recalled and executives and engineers were recalled for billions of dollars in fines and jail time.

Koenigsegg Agera - tire pressure monitoring

When you spend $2.1 million on a hypercar with over 900 horsepower and a top speed of over 250 mph, you expect it to be absolutely perfect. Every bolt is polished, every mechanical system is fine-tuned, and all electronics work flawlessly. You were right to expect this, but this is not the case for American Koenigsegg Ageras.

The tire pressure monitoring system had erroneous programming that prevented accurate tire pressure display. Something very important for a car capable of going from 3 to 0 mph in less than 60 seconds. Fortunately, the recall affected only one car. Yes, that's right, one car, the only Agera sold in the US

Toyota - unintentional acceleration

Oh my god, that was bad… Back in 2009, it was reported that various Toyota vehicles and SUVs could experience unintended acceleration. That is, the car would begin to accelerate without driver control.

Toyota has responded to the growing number of reports of the problem by asking customers to remove the floor mats or have their dealers fix the floor mats in place. This did not solve the problem, and after a series of tragic accidents, Toyota was forced to recall about 9 million cars, trucks and SUVs to replace stuck gas pedals. It turned out that Toyota knew about the problem and could have prevented the loss of customers, but covered up the problem until it was investigated.

Our next review is one of the worst reviews of the 70s!

Ford Granada - Wrong color of turn signals

The cars of the Age of Sickness (1972-1983) are generally terrible. A bunch of gaudy, bloated, blah blah, beige land barges that did nothing exceptional and proved that mediocrity can be a design language AND an engineering principle.

One of the most painful cars of the time was the Ford Granada, a boxy car styled using only a ruler. The Granada had buyback options, you could have a choice of two V8 engines, 302 or 351 cubic inches. A simple car with simple intentions, but Ford made a mistake, they installed the wrong color turn signal lenses and had to recall them to be replaced with true amber lenses to comply with federal regulations.

Ford - cruise control defects

Making auto parts and components that can be used on a wide variety of vehicles can save a manufacturer a lot of money. For example, if all the cars Ford makes had the same rear-view mirrors, it would save a lot of money, but if a common part fails catastrophically, it can cost a lot of money.

This was the case with a Ford with a cruise control switch that could overheat and set the car on fire. The part was used in 16 million vehicles over ten years, caused 500 fires and 1,500 complaints. Ford has recalled more than 14 million vehicles in hopes of fixing the problem.

Chevrolet Sonic - without brake pads

In January 2012, Chevrolet had to issue a shameful recall and announce that 4,296 Sonics subcompacts were assembled, shipped, and handed over to customers with missing brake pads. Yes, you read that right, cars were sold to people without brake pads installed.

It's pretty bad, and in an understatement of the year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the problem could lead to "decreased braking performance, increasing the chance of an accident." Luckily, no one was hurt or involved in an accident related to the brake pad problem.

General Motors - Airbag Sensor Module

When you buy a modern car or truck, you usually pay attention to how safe the car will be in the event of an accident. How many airbags the car has, how the crash structures are designed, how many additional safety features it has, all of these must be taken into account, as well as how the car behaves during crash tests.

Imagine the shock GM owners felt when they were contacted and informed that the Airbag Detection and Diagnosis Module (SDM) had a “software glitch” that was preventing the front airbags AND seatbelt pretensioners from deploying. In total, GM has recalled 3.6 million cars, trucks and SUVs.

Peugeot, Citroen, Renault — Defect pedals harass

In a case in which the truth is stranger than fiction, Peugeot, Citroen and Renault had to be recalled in 2011 because a person in the front passenger seat could accidentally activate the brakes.

The problem has occurred in vehicles that have been converted to right hand drive for the UK market. In the conversion, the French automakers added a crossbar between the brake master cylinder on the left and the brake pedal, which was now on the right. The cross beam was poorly protected, allowing the passenger to virtually bring the cars to a complete stop by applying the brakes!

11 car companies - seat belt malfunction

In 1995, 11 car companies agreed to recall and repair 7.9 million cars because the Sun exists. This sounds completely crazy, but stay with me for a minute while I try to explain it. Takata, yes, the manufacturer of airbags (we'll get to them in a few slides) made seat belts that were installed in 9 million cars by 11 car companies between 1985 and 1991.

These seat belts had a problem: over time, the plastic release buttons became brittle and eventually prevented the belt from fully locking, which unfortunately resulted in 47 injuries when the belts loosened. Culprit? The sun's ultraviolet light destroyed the plastic, causing it to break. Usually plastics manufacturers use chemical additives to prevent this.

Chrysler Voyager – Speaker Fire

A killer stereo system in your car is a "must have" for many owners. When the stereo is actually trying to kill you, it's likely to be significantly less desirable.

This is exactly what happened with the 238,000 Chrysler Voyager minivans produced in 2002. A defect in the design of the air conditioning ducts caused condensation to accumulate and drip onto the stereo. The location of the drops would cause the power supply of the rear speakers to be short-circuited, causing the speakers to catch fire! Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "cool down before a hot track."

Toyota - window switches

In 2015, Toyota recalled 6.5 million vehicles worldwide, 2 million of which were produced in the US. This time, the problem was faulty power window switches, specifically the main power window switch on the driver's side. Toyota stated that the switches were manufactured without sufficient lubrication. Doing so may cause the switch to overheat and catch fire.

This is pretty bad and definitely worrisome, but even more frustrating when you consider that Toyota recalled 7.5 million vehicles 3 years earlier due to the same issue! I'm not an automotive engineer, but maybe it's time to ditch the switch.

Takata - defective airbags

So, it's time to talk about the biggest car recall in history, the Takata airbag scandal. Moisture and humidity were likely causes of airbag failure as they destabilized the fuel in the airbag blower. Takata admitted to improper handling of explosives and improper storage of chemicals.

The tragic mishandling of life-saving components cost 16 lives and led to multiple criminal charges, billions of dollars in fines, and the eventual bankruptcy of Takata Corporation. This is an inexcusable recall that has affected over 45 million vehicles as the recall continues to this day.

Volkswagen Jetta - heated seats

If you live in a part of the country that gets cold winters, you'll realize that heated seats aren't just a luxury, they're life. A feature that stands head and shoulders above all others in an attempt to make harsh, snowy winter mornings more bearable.

Volkswagen had a problem with heated seats, prompting a recall of the vehicles for replacement and changes to the way they were installed. It turns out that seat heaters can short out, ignite the seat fabric and burn the driver while driving!