Where Was All The Outrage At Chevy?

I own a Chevy HHR. It is a 2006. In 2008 I got a safety recall notice from the company telling me how I needed to bring in my immediately to have it fitted with new piece of header trim designed to make the car compliant with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. I took the car in.

The dealer told me they would place an order for the part and that it would be in shortly and that I would receive a call when it arrived. A month later and no call I returned to the dealer. They told me the part had not arrived yet despite the seeming urgency of a recall and a car that did not meet “Federal Standards.” Please note that this post is not meant to endorse the existing of extra-constitutional power grabs by the federal government where they do things that they are not supposed to be doing such as setting standards for how automobile makers construct their vehicles. It is just meant to prove a point which will be fully flushed out by the end of my comments.

Ok, so the dealer tells me they will call me when the piece arrives and I return home. A month later after no call I go back to the dealer and still no part from GM. I return home in my car that the federal government has deemed unsafe and in need of repair.

A month later once again I head back to the dealer and still no part. This goes on for months.

Finally the part arrives and it is installed making my car compliant with federal vehicle standards for safety.

I do not recall there being hearings and members of Congress all in a huff over Chevy’s slow response to this safety issue and allowing me to drive around in a car the bureaucrats have decided is not properly built. But a fraction of a percent of a fraction of a percent of Toyota’s have a problem with gas pedals and acceleration and look what we have; we have hearings and the crucifiction of the company after a recall to address the problem.  I am not saying that Toyota should not work to fix the problem, just doing a comparison.

Now I am not one that is big on conspiracy theories but Chevy/GM is an American based company with lots of power in Congress wielded by their labor union. And Toyota while it employs many Americans is a foreign company that has for years done things far better than Chevy/GM to the point where they climbed to the #1 spot in the car market. Far be it from me to suggest that our government which has for years burned at the stake those who it does not like while propping up those that it does with billions of taxpayer dollars is engaging in some sort of back handed deal here.

I am just saying where was the outrage when I was driving around in my unsafe, American car that GM was not apparently all that interested in fixing quickly?