Can car companies let known defects go without a recall?

A recall occurs when a manufacturing defect or quality issue becomes apparent in a product. To qualify as a recall, the flaw in the product has to be a safety issue for its users, and it can be caused by any part of the product, or by the way the product has been designed or put together. Children'stoysand contaminated食物are two commonly recalled categories. So, cars aren't the only products that get recalled, but the severity of a recall on a popular car model means that it'll probably be in the news a lot. Depending on how an auto manufacturer chooses to handle a recall situation, the company can come out looking like a hero, or a villain. In short, it's true that auto manufacturers can often ignore a known defect for a while. But that doesn't mean they'll get away with it forever. Let's explain.

A car manufacturer usually, but not always, becomes aware of a quality control problem fairly quickly. Generally, people come into the dealerships' service centers with similar mysterious symptoms. Once the data starts to pile up, the car company takes a look at the situation and tries to figure out what went wrong, and how to fix it. Then, they have two choices: they can issue a voluntary recall, alerting owners of the affected cars to go to their nearest dealership and have it fixed for free. Or, they can hope the problem just goes away.

这个问题从未真正消失。取而代之的是，政府介入。国家公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）是政府机构，一直关注汽车质量和安全问题。如果您拥有与安全相关的缺陷的汽车，并且您认为经销商服务中心的人们不认真对待它，下一步就是联系NHTSA。NHTSA着眼于他们收到的每一个投诉，但没有针对全面调查的固定标准。它是按照案例进行的。但是，NHTSA收到的有关特定问题的投诉越多，他们的调查可能性就越大。如果NHTSA发现该汽车不符合最低的联邦安全标准，或者与汽车制造业相关的安全缺陷，则政府可以迫使汽车公司召回。

So why would an auto manufacturer come forth and issue a voluntary recall if there was a chance they could get away with it? After all, automotive recalls are so common that most people don't dwell on them [source:Gorzelany]. It's because it's in the manufacturer's best interest to get defective cars off the road and fixed before they cause crashes, injuries or deaths. And if the government discovers that the manufacturer tried to hide the flaws or was otherwise dishonest about recall-worthy safety issues, the company can face criminal charges, hefty fines and tons of unflattering headlines.