GM is a bit slow on the uptake, don't ya think?

I am glad to drive a 13-year-old Ford Ranger. In its history in my family, it has never once caught fire and the windshield wiper fluid almost always does the job.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a potential problem for 1.5 million cars, trucks and SUVs made my General Motors. The company recently announced its second recall of its vehicles made between 2006 and 2009. Turns out the heated windshield wiper fluid could cause your car to set fire. Awesome.

The company attempted to fix the problem during a 2008 recall but have since determined the “fix” didn’t take. The new plan is to deactivate the feature and buy the owners off with $100.

A company that is willing to publicly admit they screwed up and recall their product is always good in my book. It takes a lot to confess to a mistake and suffer any loss that comes with that mistake. GM is showing it cares about its customers’ safety...but wait, this problem started with the 2006 models? You mean the ones produced in 2005? Five years ago?

Let me see if I understand this correctly. You made the 2006 models with a defective heated windshield wiper fluid. It took you until 2008 – two years later – to decide they were unsafe enough for a recall. You then recalled the vehicles and “fixed” them, only to decide in another two years to completely eliminate the thing?

And you’re paying your customers $100 for the inconvenience?

It appears company officials were negligent to get this problem solved earlier and to stop making faulty, fire-happy vehicles the moment they were determined hazardous. Honestly though, how does it take you four to five years of continuing to manufacture unsafe vehicles to accept the problem? Clearly, safety is not GM’s primary concern here. This recall is merely to save face and give the illusion the company is looking out for its customers.

It’s better late than never, but man up a bit sooner next time, General Motors, and we might be more willing to trust you in the future.