CARY, N.C. -

There’s no denying that vehicle recalls can be headaches for all parties involved — the manufacturers, dealers, prospective shoppers and drivers of the affected cars. And media coverage tends to convey as much.

But the proactive step, itself, of making a recall is actually positive and can promote vehicle safety in a time where that topic is a sensitive one, says Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.

On Wednesday morning, after it was revealed that Toyota was recalling more than 6 million cars across the globe, Edmunds provided some insight from Caldwell on why taking these actions perhaps should be viewed with a different lens.

“The media tends to shine car recalls in a negative light, but this is really the behavior we want manufacturers to exhibit. It shows that they recognize a product flaw and that they want to correct it to protect the safety of current and future owners,” she said.

“Recalls do not make life easier for dealers who need to implement the fixes, nor do they make it easier for car shoppers who need to weigh one more consideration when they buy,” Caldwell added.

“But it’s always better to err on the side of caution, and given the sensitivity around auto safety in the last five years, it should be no surprise that we see as many recalls as we do today. This sort of openness ultimately helps to foster trust between manufacturers, dealers and shoppers,” she continued.

Likewise, ALG president Larry Dominique had a similar reaction as he shared his thoughts Wednesday about how the OEM quickly reacted.

“Given the high-visibility of news around vehicle recalls, Toyota’s proactive approach with this recall makes sense,” he said. “The way automakers handle recalls is critical to brand perception.”

Recall News Continues to Pour In

There’s little doubt the sensitivity around auto safety to which Caldwell refers has amped up a bit in recent weeks, given the well-documented and highly publicized issues involving General Motors.

Among the latest developments on that front was numerous news reports indicating that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fined GM $28,000 this week for not completly responding to all of its 107 questions by the Special Order deadline of April 3. And that tally climbs by $7,000 each day.

In a statement responding to this fine, GM said: “General Motors has worked tirelessly from the start to be responsive to NHTSA’s special order and has fully cooperated with the agency to help it have a full understanding of the facts. 

 “GM has produced nearly 21,000 documents totaling over 271,000 pages through a production process that spans a decade and over 5 million documents from 75 individual custodians and additional sources,” the automaker added. “Even NHTSA recognizes the breadth of its inquiry and has agreed, in several instances with GM, to a rolling production schedule of documents past the April 3 deadline.  

 “We believe that NHTSA shares our desire to provide accurate and substantive responses.  We will continue to provide responses and facts as soon as they become available and hope to go about this in a constructive manner.  We will do so with a goal of being accurate as well as timely.”

In other recall news, it was also revealed this week that Volkswagen had issued a stop-sale of about 25,000 cars from the 2014 model year, according to news first reported by Automotive News and later published by the Associated Press.

A Volkswagen of American spokesperson provided Auto Remarketing with the following statement:  “VW is stopping the sale of approximately 25,000 2014 model year Jetta, Beetle, Beetle Convertible and Passat vehicles equipped with a 1.8-liter engine and automatic transmission for an automatic transmission oil leak. In these vehicles produced after February 1, 2014, we have found an O-ring that connects to the automatic transmission cooler is defective. 

“To fix the issue, VW will replace the faulty O-ring with a new one, free of charge.  No fires, accidents or injuries reported.  We have asked our dealers to immediately stop the sale of any affected vehicles.  We will officially notify NHTSA as soon as possible and will be in contact with customers impacted by this issue,” the statement continued.

On the dealer side, the National Automobile Dealers Association had this to share as a general statement on recalls, amid the news that has dominated headlines.

“To improve vehicle safety, NADA urges vehicle owners to have recalled vehicles fixed as soon as possible after receiving notice of a recall from the manufacturer,” NADA said in a statement.

“On average only 65-70 percent of vehicle owners have their recalled vehicles fixed, and our goal is to have 100 percent of recalled vehicles fixed. NADA urges every car owner who receives a recall notice to visit their local dealer and have the recalled vehicle inspected and fixed at no charge,” it continued. “Owners of pre-owned vehicles can contact their nearest authorized dealer who, using the VIN, can check the manufacturer’s database to determine if a recall has been issued and whether the repairs have been carried out.”