Hyundai has recently recalled 13,500 Veloster hatchbacks after customers complained earlier this year about shattering sunroofs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) then launched an investigation and found that there was a manufacturing defect. This falling glass could cause injuries so Hyundai worked with the NHTSA to recall cars from the 2012 model. As of yet, no one has been involved in a crash because of the issue but there are some people that have gotten cuts.
Auto insurance and recall explained - The latest Hyundai recall is a mere example
Hyundai will begin notifying owners in January and will replace the glass following an inspection. Thankfully, Hyundai was able to catch this recall before something serious happened to one its owners but what about those people who had their car recalled. Do they now have to go out and get a brand new car? It’s unlikely that this will happen but let’s take a look at the recall process a little bit more in depth to find out how they are handled.
What Happens When A Car or Its Part Gets Recalled?
Just because a car is recalled doesn’t mean it’s unsafe to drive and should be avoided at all costs. Often, it’s not even spread out across the entirety of a model. Most of the time, it can be chalked up to an engineering error that happened on a unit of cars being produced in particular section of a plant. So in all actuality, the chances of driving a car with a recall are pretty slim. This should give you peace of mind but you should always be aware of abnormal behavior in your car. For example, having your sunroof glass shatter for no good reason might be something that could set off some alarms. But at the same time, with a material as sensitive as glass, you may not always be able to pinpoint the culprit so if you aren’t quite sure why and think it might be a defect, report it to the
NHTSA.
If they begin to notice that a high volume of complaints are coming in about a particular aspect of a vehicle, it can raise a flag for them that there might be something worth investigating here. Once the NHTSA determines what the cause of the problem is, they publicly acknowledge what they’ve found with or without the manufacturer’s cooperation. Then, if the manufacturer does not issue a recall, the NHTSA will. Overall, it is in a manufacturer’s best interest to work with the NHTSA because it can help them pinpoint he issue on their side and work to fix it so that newer models aren’t subject to the same recall.
What Causes a Car to be Recalled?
There are certain set of standards called the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards which determine minimum performance requirements for different parts of a vehicle that determine how safely it operates. These different parts include the brakes, tires, and lighting and other things such as air bags, safety belts, and child restraints. When a car or one its parts does not comply with the FMVS Standard, or there is a safety related defect, the car or its part can be recalled. You can see where this is especially true of the Hyundai Veloster’s sunroof.
How do I Know if My Car’s Been Recalled?
If your car’s hood continuously flies in your face while driving down the road, there may be a safety defect on your car but you probably shouldn’t wait to hear from anybody about it. If you suspect there is something wrong that could affect your or any passenger’s safety, get it checked out immediately and worry about whose fault it is later. But many times, there can be a recall issue noticed and you may as well have been none the wiser because your car has been operating just fine. Many times, your dealer will alert you through mail or electronically with instructions on how to best handle the defect.
The problem with this kind of notification system is that many times, people are driving cars that weren’t bought directly from a dealer. So, when notifications are sent out, that original car may be long gone. This is where pays to be an informed consumer and if you are driving a used car, check recalls every once in a while. Not all recalls will receive as much publicity as Toyota’s failed brakes did so don’t count on the media as your number one news source. Sometimes you have to seek out the pertinent information.
Taking Your Recalled Car In : How Your Insurance is Affected
Most recalls ask for people to bring their cars in to the dealers to be fixed. In most cases, these repairs will be done free of charge but there are some other issues you need to think about in case you are driving a car that has recalls on it. You need to make sure that you are always adequately insured. If you were in an accident right before a recall was issued but you never filed a complaint, you will likely not get any kind of compensation from the manufacturer.
Your comprehensive or collision coverage will have to carry the burden of the accident. And some manufacturers will provide a rental car for the repair period if you get your car in a shop to fix the recall but others will not. You have to be able to come up with a way to get around while your car is being repaired. Ask your insurance agent about rental car insurance. It will only add a couple of dollars to your policy but can save you lots of money if you ever actually need to use it.
Consumer Intelligence
The best thing you can do is make sure your vehicle is properly maintained and that you are aware of any kind of recalls being issued. If this happens to you, there are processes in place to make
sure that you are not taken advantage of.
