GM Recall : The Switch From Hell - the fifth estate 

My grandma had a cobalt back in 2006 the car would always stall on her on the highway and when she took it to the Chevy dealership they would Always say the same thing “We can not duplicate your problem” after that my grandma got a corolla and then 8 years later she gets a letter in the mail saying their was a recall and if she bought another Chevy she would get her money back and she always told me “Why would I buy a Chevy after I was almost killed in one.” It was ridiculous GM didn’t care about this problem.

All because GM management ignored the lower level Engineers screaming about the issue for over a decade.

why are the senior executives not in jail

It's not just a problem in Canada and it's not just the Cobalt. This is so sad that anyone should lose a life because of a defective car.

I remember reading about this back in '06, '07 or so here in the States. Initially, people were told to remove heavy stuff from their key-rings, or just keep the key separate from all other keys. When they finally fixed the problem, they were going to add a -1 (or something like that) to the new part number. They didn't. The part number remained the same. This compounded the problem immensely-- after the recall, dealers had no way to know if they were changing a defective switch with a new one... or if that switch had already been changed. Chaos. The decision to keep the part number the same clearly came from upper level management-- to keep the whole thing quiet. Result? Numerous cars had new switches installed multiple times, and many cars never got the new switch. Absolutely no way to tell one from the other. Ridiculous and irresponsible. Criminal, even. I'm sorry, Canada, that your Transport Canada department is so spineless, and that they are a "hand-me-down" organization only following what US NTSB decides. That, too, is criminal.

people actually need to go to jail for this, if no one does then it will continue since the cost benefit analysis will always show the cost of people dieing is low enough to justify it

I've been an avid GM enthusiast for over 45 years . It's video evidence like this that prove how stupidly naive I have been and I am ashamed of the level of deceit the upper management has positioned themselves in and I am both humbled and appreciative to the fifth estate for their every effort taken in exposing these not so slick white collar criminals for who they really are .

All car manufactures do this, they silently update parts and never notify the consumer unless they're forced to.

I was an independent shop owner during the time that GM was hiding the facts regarding that "detent pawl" issue . I had begun advising customers to never place more than 2 keys on the same ring as the ignition switch key due to the fact that the switch was so easily turned to the accessory position as early as 2004, due to 2 other GM compact models that exhibited the same type of defect. Hiding problems and lying about problems to preserve profits is the hallmark of American corporations. Killing people to preserve profits should be a criminal offense, with those guilty parties prosecuted.

Why did the government bail them out again?

No accountability, leads to a sense of false entitlement. Many modern corporation believe their is no cost to great in the name of profit. We are to told to be proud of this, when in fact we should be ashamed.

I'm on a fifth estate binge

I remember back when that recall happened. My mom had one of the affected vehicles we got second hand, so we just took the switch out entirely and just touched the wires together to start, and pull a fuse to turn it off. I think we ended up selling it for its weight in scrap because there were simply so many parts going bad at once that it was cheaper to get the scrap money and buy another car with fewer problems.

The Fifth Estate , Great Canadian Program !!!!

It wasn't until after watching this program that I realized how fortunate that I am. The Chevy that I drove did the same thing and the key could be pulled out with the ignition in the "on" position. I didn't think much of it except that it was odd. Now I know just how dangerous that was. Thanks for sharing.

My wife got messed up by a bad airbag sensor in her gm Saturn. We weren’t informed of the recall until after the wreck!

This decision by GM is no different than any other publicly traded company. The motto is, "If the stockholders are happy, everyone should be happy". I've owned mostly GM vehicles over the past 44 years. I still have 7 in my 'collection' and daily drive an '89 Buick. That being said, when the 'bailouts' were occurring I said back then "LET THEM FAIL". Even though I like GM vehicles AND worked for a supplier for GM, incompetence in running a business, whether a car company or a banking firm should NOT be an excuse to ask for a bailed out. Pain is a lasting lesson , be it physical, emotional, or FINANCIAL. Had the car companies AND banks NOT been bailed out PERHAPS a lesson would have been learned and history would NOT repeat itself.

This is scary. These bastards know no limits.

Laws should be passed to hold GM execs criminally responsible for such actions. Transport Canada, the same goes for them. Fire the whole lot and rebuild the program. As for the politicians, they too should be held to the same standards and go to jail when found to be lying like she did. Where are our so called Canadian ethics? I feel for all the people that have been affected by the greed of all the above horrible people. Thanks to institutions like The Fifth Estate. Regards.

the ignition switch issues are still happening even now in 2015 and GM still hasn't fixed it

Pretty obvious if you ride in any GM product made in the last 20 years that it is a collection of cut corners.

no wonder they went bankrupt

GM must be the most irresponsible company in the world.

I've turned off my ignition while driving to test a problem I was and having and all it does is gradually bring you to a stop. Steering is a little stiffer and brakes require more effort. but no loss of control. There is way more to these accidents that we are not being told

This fiasco and all the innocent lives lost hurts my heart.. I've never been a fan of GM products and will never EVER purchase a GM product.

those cars are garbage, plain and simple.

Friday 11/21/2014 my 2007 Chevy cobalt lost steering and braking i slammed into a guard rail at 65 mph my airbags failed to deploy luckily i only sustained minor injuries. On sat 11/22/2014 I received the recall letter in my mail. And to add insult to injury I received a ticket for failing to control the vehicle which I intend to fight

AUDI did the same, the cars just stopped, I found myself at night on 3000 meters altitude with two crying toddlers, in freezing temperatures. No one around. Fortunately I had a fully charged cellphone. In Europe there's no punitive damages in court. They just paid the expenses to come and get me, and to fix the car. And they knew the A6 had the defect. Never again an Audi!

....but screaming, when VW had non critical issues with there Diesel

I will never purchase a GM product!

This wasn't or isn't just limited to the cobalt, alot of cars got those crap ignitions, I got a notice for my grand prix.

I remember watching this video for the first one back in early 2016, I had just purchased a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt LT, it had the recall preformed on it for the switch but the little nervousness of my car unable to shake. Eventually around the 95k mile mark it blew a head gasket a no longer ran correctly. That was last American vehicle we will own in our home. Was so disappointed in myself for my poor research of this car and to this day have convinced several of my friends & coworkers to NEVER buy a GM product!

Drive an import, the life you save could very well be your own

Moral of the story: We need to make sure that lawsuits are always more expensive than not solving a technical issue.

This is why all companies need to be heavily regulated. For profit companies will not voluntarily disclose their errors that leave them liable.

You know why that Chevy ad is saying forever young? It's because the drivers are Chevy will never grow old, cause they'll be dead

*WHAT CRAZY FUCK WOULD BUY A GM*

I'm American, this Canadian show is very nice to see, so I appreciate the segments that've been published, even though the video is now very old. However, it is exactly the GM Delta platform (which was the Saturn Ion, Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G4/Pursuit) that will keep me from even considering a GM product from the 2002 to 2022 model years. Not just the ignition switch, but general reliability. That's not to say that Ford hasn't made mistakes, but GM's sure seem to be the worst in that they do like to hide things. Ford's transmission woes and even body component defects on its mid-size and full-size SUVs (the Ford Explorer from 2001 and onward, specifically, from experience, for the body issue, and about half of their model lineups featuring JUST the Automatic transmissions from about 1992 to about 2007) make it bad enough, but at least we are aware of and are able to plan for such terminal issues, they aren't necessarily life threatening. Mostly expensive or an inconvenience from the perspective of preserving the appearance of the vehicle. Not to mention, the feel of GM vehicles have been something I disliked. I've driven a 2000 Chevy Blazer; didn't care for the soft front suspension feel, having been used to the firm and planted Explorer from 1999 and then 2001 and 2002. I drove a 2009 Impala for a day and returned it to the rental agency because I hated the feeling of the car. And Just 5 seconds seated in the HHR was enough for me to refuse to even put the key in the ignition. The one and only GM vehicle I liked was a 50th Anniversary 2003 Chevrolet Corvette that I drove for 2 miles in a very gentle and careful fashion, just because I was offered the chance to drive such a performance vehicle. I don't care what you own or drive, a real car person respects the Corvette, even if you dislike it. Call it bias, but the feel of Ford has long been my preference. Not just for driver comfort, but for the way they feel connected to the road. Ranger, Taurus, Explorer, F-Series. They all shared a comfortable ride, comfortable seating and a firm, sure-footed connection to the pavement with perfectly responsive steering. My biggest complaint IS the Transmission but only if it has an automatic. The manual transmission is something you cannot and should not mess with. Our 1967 Ford Ranger has never once had the transmission opened, and has only been disconnected from its engine twice in 51 years, both times for a rebuild of the engine and the engine alone. But that's what we've considered a very special truck, in that most of them don't survive quite as heartily as that truck has, even to this day.

The way Bob McKeown speaks makes me feel like I'm losing my mind.

GM should have been forced to offer to buy the cars back I think

GM's history of ignoring lethal safety defects and wiggling out of liability with the help of the US government is why I will never buy a GM product again. It's not just the callous indifference to its customers' safety, but that even if they did it again it's likely they'll get out of responsibility for it because GM is just that powerful in my country. At least foreign car companies are held liable for their failures.

This isnt just cobalt , its also in 2003 cheve monte carlos. I know I got one. The recall they did was on the key, not the switch. The switch is still in the car. This is the last G.M car I will ever purchase.

Is this Canada’s first time dealing with this??? Car manufacturers do this so often that I thought it was common knowledge. It’s so common that the 1984 movie Top Secret showed a Ford Pinto being lightly tapped on the bumper, causing the car to explode due to a well-known manufacturing flaw that had killed many people in real life. Ford felt that it would cost less money to pay the lawsuits than to retool their factories and correct the problem, so they did nothing other than discontinuing the Pinto. I think the Corvair had a similar problem caused by side impacts...whoa, while typing this they actually talked about the Corvair in the video. Long story short, it’s important to do research before buying a vehicle. I recommend never buying a car that’s new to the market, but to stick to a line of vehicles that has been around for a while and has had the kinks worked out (loving my 2014 Mustang). And always check the national recall database whether you buy new or used.

That’s quite scary. I had a Chevy Cobalt for four years. I got lucky, that’s for sure.

GM should have been put out of business for this

"Been drinking heavily with friends" 25:47. That means Dany was just as a potential murderer as the faulty ignition switch, endangering other innocent road users. I have sympathy with his parents but I have no respect or sympathy for drunk drivers, sorry Dany.

Thank you very much for this post!

Starting to have flashbacks regarding the Ford Pinto and its infamous exploding gas tank. I’m still floored by that business case. Ford actually had a group of people do an analysis that would compare the cost of the recall, including the cost of material (about $2 each), the labor to make the part switch (I don’t have this figure), and perhaps some incidental costs (not sure if rental cars were part of recalls back then), vs what the total cost would be for legal, including litigation, attorney fees and settlement costs. The analytics team deemed the cost of all legal would be less than the cost of an entire recall. Here’s the thing...somebody, or somebodies, forgot to factor in punitive damages. As bad as deeming that incurring legal fees would be less costly in the end, the fact that they just simply ignored the value of human lives is simply incomprehensible.

I own a GMC sierra 2014 single cab and my dad ownes a 2011 GMC sierra SLT double cab and my mom drives a 2008 GMC ACADIA + A tahoe 2009 Z71 in standby. I have to say that am so disappointed. shame on you GM. shame on you >_>

This corporate greed culture is tolerated if not encouraged by governments .... everywhere. If you sue they never suffer, top lawyers and bully tactics. GM, , EXXON VALDEZ, BP. We can't fight corporate fraud without government help. They are complicit. Always.

Mr. McKeown is a fantastic interviewer/reporter.

Knowingly aware of the GM's Cobalt's fatal faulty ignition switch back in 2001, THEY still decided to mass produce it!! In their cost effective analyses, the GM corporation, willfully decided that IT WAS CHEAPER to pay for each and any legal claims against them instead of paying$.57 to correct along with labor costs in a nationwide manufacturer's recall!! All in the name of saving and making more money on the backs of their customers safety!! Then, in 2008, during the financial U.S. depression, THEY CAME to Capitol Hill, in their PRIVATE CORPORATE JETS, to ask for bailout money. AND CONGRESS KNOWINGLY AWARE OF THEIR MANUFACTURING FAILURE, Instead of forcing them to correct it, fine, and deny their request for the bailout??!!! It just goes to show, the les of corruption within the government, Congress, and big corporations that conscientiously CHOOSE TO PUT GAINS AND PROFITS AHEAD OF PEOPLE'S SAFETY!! BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THE LAWS IN THE BOOKS ARE AND CAN BE CIRCUMCISED/CIRCUMVENTED WITH BIG FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEY POLITICIANS!!! When are we going to stand up, say ENOUGH!, and hold them accountable?!! These matters include and involve EVERYONE across America!! Our daughters, sons, wives, sisters, brothers,etc. ARE INVOLVED!! IF we continue to ignore these BLATANT illegal, corrupt and selfish big corporations decisions, only shows how indifferent and uncaring we have become about how much we ACTUALLY "CARE" WHEN IT COMES TO THE SAFETY OF THOSE WHOM WE CLAIM AND PROFESS LOVE FOR, All on the name of the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!!

GM is crap. Their once good reputation went downhill since the arrival of the Vega over 40 years ago.

Good grief!!! How the hell do these people live with themselves, when they've consciously made a decision to put a $ amount on someone's life vs. a product recall? I realise GM isn't alone in committing these heinous crimes, but it boggles my mind that ANYONE would EVER conceive of such a deliberate plan of 'inaction', almost literally playing Russian roulette with their customer's lives. I recognise I'm most probably hopelessly naïve, but apart from a small percentage of people in the population who are diagnosable as psychopaths or sociopaths, I honestly expected better from the majority of the human race. I mean, we're not talking about just a couple of people in a company trying to cover up a mistake - there had to be all sorts of engineers, lawyers, management (etc) involved. Yet they ALL kept quiet??!!! If it's seemingly so easy for a sizeable group of people to brazenly do something that's patently, terribly wrong, it kinda makes me give up on the human race as a whole. DAMN!!!

I wonder if starting the key in a vertical position and turning to acc and on in a clockwise rotation would have left the key in a horizontal position or more degrees past horizontal making it more difficult to turn backwards.

What i fail to understand having a good amount of automotive experience myself is even if your ignition moves to the accessory position your steering wheel doesn't lock and your brakes work the same if your car isn't running yes you will loose power steering so unless they were in a turn when the car shut off I find it unbelievable they could not maintain control...however the airbags not deploying If the ignition is in accessory position is a engineering blooper

I cant even watch this one bc GM still is in business and it just reminds me how we as humans need to stand up for ourselves against these companies and we aren't

I know lots 2 people in my family who have GM vehicles. My Aunt Jo has a 2012 Chevy Cruze, and my Uncle Brian has a 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray. When I'm in a Buick, a Pontiac, and a Chevy I ask the person who's driving it if they got that recall. I better own a vehicle by Ford Motor Company, Not GM Motors. Shame on GM Motors.

So many times we’ve heard about fatal accidents caused by known defects. When will there be criminal charges against the CEO’s for holding profit over someone’s life.

I live about 100 miles from marigold,ms awesome yall came down to my neck of the woods

One also needs to look at the switch positioning (ACC is the the key being positioned perfectly vertical) along with the fact that other keys and a key ring will most likely be hanging from that ignition key. Could going over a bump with a heavy key ring hanging move the key from ON to ACC ???

GM must be one of the least Trustworthy companies in the world !

It started around 47,000 unit recalls and escalated to 27.5 million+ as it spanned multiple gm brands and models, however the cobalt was the worst struck. Only the tecada airbag recall is larger thus far; also side note. at one point I saw a cobalt almost once every other day on the road, now there extremely rare! Hmm I wonder why?

what this article did not mention is that when ignition key goes accidentally to accessory position the steering wheel will lock up and you can not steer.

I have a Cobalt that I got in 2008 and it's been the best car I've veer had. 85,000 miles and not one problem. I got a letter about the ignition switch and was told to bring it into the dealership to be fixed immediately. I did that and they replaced it. I feel terrible for the victims but I love my car. I will have had it for 12 years in January.

I love how the GM headquarters building is shaped like the people who make those decisions.

Breathtaking documentary

My son died in a Cobalt and the GM attorneys found a way around the lawsuit! I couldn't get them found legally responsible! He was 21 years old!

Look up "Ford cruise control switch fires" while you are here! I've seen some of those in person doing salvage.

Problems with 2004 cars reported online by owners ignition and jump time early ...as early as 70k miles and gm won't do a thing...my cad 04 jumped time at 104k and I contacted gm corporate...they returned my call in a week .. They said they could not aid in the repair of my car but would offer me 2000.00 cash mailed to me to buy a new cadillac????

Bought a cobalt in 2008, traded it in for a Toyota after this ignition failed on me twice on low city speeds. My Corolla has no issues at 280K km.

I still have my 2006 Cobalt, which has been fixed since the recall. it was my first car, driving it faithfully and quite often from the time I turned 16 (2008) until my husband and I bought a new car in 2016, the Cobalt becoming his work car. And I used to have a lanyard dangling from my keys before it became a work car. I think I once pulled on the lanyard accidentally while I was in park when I was 18, turning the ignition to accessory. But at the time, I just thought all vehicles did that, as that lanyard was pulled hard when it got caught. But then to hear all the reports after the recall was announced, I couldn't believe that I shrugged off that moment. It was my first car and since no other vehicle I had driven in did not have a lanyard, I just thought it was a lanyard problem, not a severe ignition problem! I have a safe driving record as of the date of this comment (never been in an accident, never got a ticket), but a safe record can't protect you from a tug on those keys when driving 110 km on the highway. I'm just thankful I stayed safe when driving that car until it got fixed. I don't drive with a lanyard anymore either, haven't since getting the new car. I do like Chevy, but GM needed and still needs to get their act together.

A value on human life.... this is what happens when we allow the version of capitalism we embrace to include (nay, necessitate) a heartlessness on the part of those involved. So long as the structure of the corporation is designed to put maximizing profit above life, we will inevitably find that said corporations MUST try to calculate the value of the incalculable (ie - the value of a human life). And for the sake of that almighty dollar they MUST come to a digit which represents human life value. If I'm reading this right, then a human life is worth $200, 000. This is our fault. Either by our action, or more often our INaction, we have allowed this system to be built around us. One which tries to calculate the value of human life, and MUST come to an answer on this, regardless of whether they're making a car, a blender, or a "medicine". Profit first. Welcome to the Curse of the 20th century. We've got just under 100 years to make certain it is not the legacy of the 21st as well.

I've never heard anything good about Transport Canada either. alot of these cars look like distracted driving and or speeding deaths to cause that damage. But nope it''s GM's fault....So for all you know GM probably did make note to Transport Canada, but TC probably just brushed it off like they do for School Buses and their seat belts. Funny how that one drunk kid died from drinking and riving but yet it's still GM's fault lol WOW...

Unbelievably sad. 150 deaths so far

I have a 2008 Impala. They did a recall a year or two ago on it. And what they did was mind boggling. The ignition key had a slot to put it on the keyring with, and what they did was to install a filler block on the slot with a round hole in the middle of it. Supposedly it was to "prevent" the key from being pulled on its side(and therefore turning it) Looks like they still haven't fixed the problem at the source. A proper recall would have been to replace the ignition switch with one that was more robust. But no, that would cost them a couple of bucks/per car.

Never going to buy a GM car ever. GG

well after watching this im going out 2 gms in my driveway with keys and inspecting them both for this defect since the years of them are close to the colbalts in this

The 2018 Freightliner tractor does the same thing, bump it with your knee and the engine turns off, but accessory is 2 clicks from run. From the off position, right is run and to the left is accessory.

I thought that Canada would have the same or better protection laws than the U.S. I never heard of the Pontiac Pursuit until after watching this report. Good investigative reporting.

General mistake!

I felt really bad people were killed in the fatalities accidents due faulty ignition switches. However i'm sticking my own Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Acura, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Kia, Nissan, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Scion, Volvo, Lexus, Audi, Mini Cooper, Hyundai, Suzaki, Land Rover, Infiniti, Jaguar, Tesla and Aston Martin.

The same thing happened to me in 1995 but in a different car Thumbs up thanks for sharing Peace

“Please define issue”...well that was golden.

Ya, that's why I laugh when someone says GM is the best! Shame on your GM!!

You take the total number of cars in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, and multiply by the result of the average out-of-court settlement, C.... A x B x C equals X... if X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

Was there any chance to restart from accessories position in drive with a automatic transmission? I don't have automatic transmission so just throwing that out there for a panic situation

Just a friendly reminder: GM Products still, from the factory, are coming with safety recalls and defects. 2018+ Silverado's, Tahoe's, and Suburbans (and the same platform through other brands) have a seat belt failure where the insert may come loose from the seat at any moment without warning. Said vehicles are also seeing gasket failures at or under 5k miles.

GM should not exist after this wtf.

What do they do to try an fix this giant problem? Maybe give car owners a new ignition assembly which requires more torque to turn it? Of course not! They just give you a key housing with a hole instead of a slot to avoid it swinging as much... Thats a GM recall for ya...

I had an 05 cobalt SS Supercharged. When i got it i was like wo the ignition switch is really light. I took off all my keychains. It turned off two times in the 5 years i owned the car. Once while in a parking lot, and once on a freeway going 60+. The recall came out and said to remove keychains from your keys. I also had the power steering failures in this car. That failed so many times. Ill never by a GM car again, ticking time bomb

Every now and then I get a recall notice for this potential problem on my 04 Cadillac Deville. The fix used is not a new switch but an insert in the key that changes the slot to a hole centered in the key so there was no leverage on it from the ton of crap that some folks have hanging from their keys.

How greedy can you get over .57 fuckn cents.

Ugh! I HATE this reporter's roller-coaster voice!

0:24 Lance Cooper's eye has a crazy pupil. Variety is the spice of life!

I am going to tell you people right now, GM is not the only company that will do this type of thing. I worked at a motorcycle dealership. I've seen this type of thing from all Japanese brand motorcycles we sold. there are a lot of bikes out on the road that have defects like this that only get issued a service bulletin. my 2003 yamaha R6 was one of them. it would randomly shut off while riding. as for the keyed ignitions, the problem mainly comes from people putting too many keys on their keyring. gm isn't the only company that has had "too easy to turn" ignitions. Volkswagon was one that would do it too. you can't install 10 keys and a bunch of tags on a set of keys and not expect it to put pressure on the ignition and damage it over time. thankfully now we can move on from keyed ignitions to push button and remotes. and keep in mind a lot of these components are not made by the manufacture of the cars. almost no manufacture makes all of it's own parts. only the major parts of the vehicle. I would even bet my house that the only thing most of them do is make their own body and the rest is made by contracted companies. so if this plunger was changed it's very likely GM didn't actually know about it.

Thank god I nearly bought one these car.

Everyone is criticizing GM for the switch and I can’t blame them. But I will have to say that today their quality has gone up. I still think that GM from 1987-2013 absolutely sucked. They made unreliable shitboxes that were very unsafe and unreliable. Now I think GM is finally doing well again, not great, but better. Let’s also not forget the Toyota “sticky pedal” recall.

A female friend of mine died in an accident back in 2012 in Kansas driving a 2008 Chevy Cobalt. She lost control stopping at a stop light on a wet road. It was dismissed as a driver error, but I'm pretty sure it was due to this.

Wow I had a 2005 cobalt I never heard of this mine had the opposite problem sometimes the key didn’t want to turn.