Each year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalls millions of vehicles following safety evaluations that identify possibly defective products that do not comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards. Consumers will usually be provided with a notification of the safety defect, or car recalls and should take their vehicle to the manufacturer to have their defective product repaired to meet the current safety standards. Car recalls are very different from legal claims requiring the assistance of a lemon law attorney, but, should the safety issue not be immediately resolved, could require filing a lawsuit under the lemon law.
A variety of engineering and production errors could cause a vehicle defect, but car recalls usually occur because of mistakes made during a certain time period at one specific production plant. So, defective products associated with car recalls are usually concentrated on a specific group of vehicles and, for example, not all owners of the Chrysler Sebring would necessarily be affected by the car recalls. Most defective products can be fixed after taking the vehicle back to the manufacturer, but there are some instances where car recalls turn into legal claims requiring the aid of a lemon law attorney. While the portion of car recalls that eventually lead to a lemon law claim is limited, because millions of vehicles are identified as defective products each year, the potential for having to seek out a lemon law attorney undeniably exists. In 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled just shy of 18 million defective products and just released the top ten biggest car recalls of 2013.
10. Chrysler, 442,000 vehicles: 2011-13 Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger sedans, as well as 2011-13 Jeep Liberty and 2011-12 Dodge Nitro SUVs, due to a potential problem with the active head restraint function.
9. BMW, 500,545 vehicles: 2008-12 1 Series coupes and convertibles, 2007-11 3 Series sedans, coupes, convertibles and wagons, and 2009-11 Z4 roadsters due to a potential electrical system problem that could cause stalling.
8. Toyota, 510,000 vehicles: Toyota Corolla, Matrix, Sequoia, Tundra, and Lexus SC 430 models manufactured between 2001 and 2003 (model year not specified in the report) due to potentially faulty airbags.
7. Honda, 561,000 Honda vehicles: 2001-03 Civic sedans, 2002-03 CR-V compact crossovers, and 2002 Odyssey minivans, also due to potentially faulty airbags.
6. Kia, 623,658 vehicles: 2007-10 Rondo and Sportage, 2007-11 Sorento, 2007 Sedona, 2010-11 Soul, and 2011 Optima models due to malfunctioning brake lights.
5. Subaru, 633,842 vehicles: 2009-12 Forester, 2010-11 Legacy, 2010-11 Outback and 2006-12 Tribeca models to fix potential faulty lamp wiring that could cause a short circuit.
4. Honda, 748,000 vehicles: 2009-13 Pilot SUVs and 2011-13 Odyssey minivans due to a potential problem with the driver-side airbag that could cause improper deployment.
3. Toyota, 752,000 vehicles: 2003-04 versions of the Corolla sedan and Matrix hatchback due to a faulty airbag control module.
2. Hyundai, more than 1 million vehicles: 2007-09 Accent and Tucson, 2007-10 Elantra, 2007-11 Santa Fe, 2008-09 Veracruz, 2010-11 Genesis Coupe, and 2011 Sonata models as part of the same brake-light problem also affecting sister company Kia (No. 6).
1. Chrysler, 2.7 million vehicles: 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-07 Liberty models due to a potential fuel-system problem that could cause fires in a rear-end crash.
Should consumers find themselves in a situation where their defective product has not been fixed, and possibly requiring the assistance of a lemon law attorney, the consumer should not delay in taking action because of time constraints imposed under the lemon law. Speaking with an educated and experienced lemon law attorney could help the consumer get the relief they deserve under the law.
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