Lemon Law for California

Build Dates : May 01, 2005 - April 30,2006 
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 06V289000 
Date Owner’s Notified: 20060831  Date Received by ODI: 20060803  Date Added to Databse: 20060803 
Manufacturer’s Involved: GENERAL MOTORS CORP. 
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: GENERAL MOTORS CORP. 
Manufacturer Campaign Number: 06080 
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 38439
 
Summary:
On certain trucks equipped with an 8.1L v8 (pro l8-vin G) engine have a condition in which the engine fuel rail pulse damper retainer clip may fracture resulting in inadequate retention of the damper.
     
Consequence:
If the damper comes loose, a fuel leak may result. Fuel leakge, in the presence of an ignition source, could result in a fire.
     
Remedy:
Dealers will replace the engine fuel rail pulse damper retainer clip free of charge. The recall began on August 31,2006. Owners may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438,and GMC at trucks at 1-800-630-2438.

Most parents know they should keep young children out of the front seats of cars because of the dangers of too-large seatbelts and airbags. But in some vehicles, the back seats aren’t safe in an accident either, due to a phenomenon known as seatback failure. In an accident, most often a rear-end accident, the mechanism holding up the back of a bucket seat can break, causing the seat to collapse and the occupant to fall backwards violently. Accident records show that this can happen even in minor collisions, at speeds as low as 25 miles per hour, if the seatback is defectively flimsy.

At high speeds, these defective seat backs pose a threat to the occupant of the defective seat, who are thrown away from the safety of seatbelts and airbags and may suffer serious head, neck and spine injuries. But even at low speeds, a defective seatback is extremely dangerous for children who may be safely strapped in behind the failed bucket seat. Hit with great force by a flying seat or their own parent’s body, children placed in backseats by safety-conscious parents can be killed or suffer permanently disabling brain injuries, internal injuries or amputations.

Nearly every major auto manufacturer in the United States has been accused in a court of law of manufacturing unsafe, flimsy seat backs that are prone to fail in a rear-end accident. Many manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Hyundai and others, have known for decades that their bucket seats could not withstand the amount of force generated by a typical rear-end accident. Despite this, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bowing to industry pressure, has not updated regulations on how strong a seat back in a brand-new vehicle must be since 1967  an oversight that even the agency acknowledges is inadequate.

If a defective seatback has brought death or serious injury into your life and the lives of your loved ones, you have the right to hold the manufacturer legally liable. An experienced seat back failure attorney can help you recover compensation for injuries including wrongful death, brain and spine trauma, medical bills, lost wages, disability, scarring, and pain and suffering.

A door latch may seem like a small detail among your car’s arsenal of equipment, but the safety implications of a defective latch are huge. When a door flies open unexpectedly, especially during an accident, terrified passengers can be thrown from the vehicle and killed or seriously injured.

Over the past decades, multiple major auto manufacturers have recalled cars due to defective door latches. Several of these recalls have taken place only after a series of lawsuits brought the public’s and the government’s  attention to the problem. Most recently, a series of lawsuits against the Ford Motor Company alleged that the company included defective latches on several models sold between 1997 and 2002, including the Focus, F-150, F-250 and Expedition. Worse, some of these lawsuits allege that Ford knew about the problem beforehand, and even canceled its order for more of the latches, but halted the recall process when the company realized that it was more expensive than simply settling the inevitable wrongful death litigation. Instead, the plaintiffs alleged, they found a less stringent standard that their door latches could meet, then insisted the vehicles were safe.

Car accidents can destroy a life in an instant, turning families upside down and radically changing a victim’s future. If you have been in an accident due to a defective door latch or other defective automotive product, you have the right to hold the manufacturer liable in a court of law for your injuries, disability, disfigurement, financial losses or loss of a loved one. But time is important; the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit can be short.