GM, government actions questioned in car fire recalls

DETROIT (AP) — Shortly after Elizabeth Berry parked her bright yellow 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS on the street in front of her family's home in May 2014, flames engulfed the engine, destroying the car and scorching her mailbox.

Two weeks ago, Berry learned that she is one of 1,345 car owners in towns across the U.S. whose cars caught fire even after getting the repair called for in the recall.

After a series of mishandled recalls that involved deaths and injuries, criminal investigations, class-action lawsuits and costs running into the billions of dollars, the auto industry has improved its spotting and reporting of safety troubles.

[...] cases such as the GM fires, and the government's recent punishment of Fiat Chrysler for numerous delayed recalls show that an old culture of resistance and procrastination can still haunt the industry and car owners.

"Over 1,000 fires is a huge number that should have generated a safety recall by GM before now," says Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, a watchdog group.

[...] Jake Fisher, a former GM engineer who now is Consumer Reports' director of auto testing, says the recall should have addressed the oil leak on all the cars.

Erik Gordon, a lawyer and University of Michigan business professor, says the decision not to fix the leak shows that GM's culture was to find the cheapest, easiest repair.

A review by The Associated Press of NHTSA's complaint data on just one model, the 2001 Grand Prix, shows 466 complaints of engine fires, including 33 concerning fires after recall repairs were made.