Concern over the safety of ignition switches is spreading beyond General Motors cars.
Federal
regulators disclosed on Wednesday that they were conducting a review of
all the major automakers for ignition-switch problems similar to the
safety defect that G.M. has linked to at least 13 deaths.
The
review, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has
turned up potential problems in at least one company so far. The agency
announced that it had opened investigations into about 1.2 million
Chrysler vehicles over concern that jostling the ignition key could
accidentally cut power in a moving car and disable the air bags — a flaw
strikingly similar to the one that has thrown G.M. into turmoil and
forced it to recall millions of small cars.
In
a statement, the safety agency said the Chrysler inquiries were part of
new “broader efforts” to evaluate problems with ignition systems and
failure of air bags to deploy in crashes. Toward that end, the agency
said it “examined all major manufacturers’ air bag deployment strategies
as they relate to switch position.”
A
spokeswoman did not immediately respond when asked whether the
industrywide review was finished, but the statement said the agency
“will continue to refine its knowledge of these systems.”
The
G.M. ignition-switch defect has brought scathing public criticism, a
half-dozen investigations and scores of lawsuits, in part because the
company acknowledges it waited more than a decade to recall the vehicles
even though the problem was known and studied internally for years.
As
the Chrysler ignition issues were being made public on Wednesday,
G.M.’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra, was testifying before a
congressional committee investigating the company’s handling of the
issue, her third appearance before lawmakers on the matter this spring.
Contacted
after N.H.T.S.A.’s announcement, Honda, Ford, Nissan and Toyota said
they continuously monitor consumer complaints and warranty issues, but
had not paid any special attention to ignition issues as a result of
G.M.’s problems. Hyundai and Volkswagen did not immediately respond to
messages.
A
review of complaints filed to the N.H.T.S.A. by drivers of cars made in
the last 10 years showed that reports of stalls of moving cars related
to ignition-switch problems were not limited to vehicles made by G.M.
and Chrysler; such complaints existed for a variety of vehicles.
One
filed in June 2005 about a 2004 Toyota Solara indicated that the car
repeatedly shut off “while driving 25 mph, 55 mph, 65 mph, and other
speeds.” The driver brought the car to several dealers near Deforest,
Wis., according to the complaint. None could duplicate or fix the
problem.
Another
driver of a 2004 Honda Accord wrote in July 2004, alarmed that the car
had shut off on an expressway in Yardley, Pa., while going 65 miles an
hour. After coasting to the side of the road, “I was able to start the
car up and then realized that the ignition key had slipped forward into
the off position while I was driving,” the driver wrote.
Alec
Gutierrez, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, the car valuation
firm, said taking a close look at ignition issues industrywide might be a
prudent move.
“I
think it’s something that might be worth looking at from our
perspective,” he said. In many thousands of test drives of brand-new
vehicles, Mr. Gutierrez said he had never experienced an ignition
cutting out. But he said it was worth investigating whether problems are
likely to develop in older cars and whether most companies use similar
switch designs.
The Chrysler investigations cover certain model years of Jeep Commanders and Grand Cherokees; Grand Caravan
and Town and Country minivans; and Journey sport-utility vehicles. In
2011, Chrysler recalled a small portion of those cars for ignition
stall-outs — 196,000 model year 2010 Grand Caravans, Journeys and Town
and Country minivans, as well as 12,700 Volkswagen Routans that were
built by Chrysler.
But
the safety agency said it was looking at whether to expand that recall.
Regulators said they had received 23 complaints about ignition-key
problems from owners of models that were not recalled, as well as a few
from people who said they had the recall repairs made, but the problem
occurred again.
N.H.T.S.A.
is also investigating whether Chrysler should be required to recall
about 525,000 Jeep Commanders from the 2006 and 2007 model years, and
Jeep Grand Cherokees from the 2005 and 2006 model years, according to a report published Wednesday on the agency’s website.
The
agency said it had received at least 32 complaints, stretching back six
years, from Jeep owners who say that the driver’s knee hit the
ignition-key chain.
At least one of those complaints goes back to 2008, but the agency did not open an investigation until Wednesday.
“This
causes the engine to shut off, affects power steering and brakes and
may potentially result in the vehicle’s air bags not deploying during a
frontal crash,” the report said. Regulators said there was one crash and
no injuries associated with the problem.
“This
has happened four times now,” wrote one owner in a complaint filed in
June 2008. “I was driving my 1-year-old son to the babysitter’s house.
My knee bumped the key as I was approaching a turn, shutting off the
vehicle/power steering.”
“Luckily I slammed the brakes and stopped just in time,” the owner said.
Chrysler
said it was cooperating with regulators. “Chrysler Group is awaiting
additional information from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration,” the company said in an email.
Some
drivers who wrote in to the safety agency’s website noted the placement
of the ignition. For example, the driver of a 2005 Saab in South
Euclid, Ohio, said that the ignition’s position, on the console between
the driver and passenger seat, left it vulnerable to being jostled. “At
over 60 mph,” the driver wrote, “the ignition has been accidentally
turned off. This causes an immediate loss of power steering and power
brakes, making the car very difficult to steer and stop.”
The
ignition key, the owner continued, “is not protected nor locked in any
way to safeguard bumping the key and turning off the ignition. My local
dealer has no parts or repair to correct the problem and Saab USA does
not acknowledge that a problem exists.”
Ignition
systems that use a key to turn the vehicle on are fairly simple,
well-understood systems, said Anna G. Stefanopoulou, a professor of
mechanical engineering and director of the Automotive Research Center at
the University of Michigan.
The
problem, she said, is that carmakers have added more features that need
electric power, like power assist on the steering and deploying air
bags.
But
these ignition systems have been so tried-and-true that automakers have
not developed backup systems to provide power should the engine be
accidentally turned off, she said in a telephone interview. Such
systems, she added, are very expensive and typically found only in the
aerospace industry.
“This
is a particularly unique situation because a lot of the electrical
systems are based on the assumption that you will have the electricity,”
she said.
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