1966 Pontiac Tempest Custom (muscle Car) on 2040-cars

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GM recalling another 1.3-million cars over power steering woes

When it rains, it pours. General Motors has announced yet another major recall, covering 1.3 million units in the American market over concerns that the power steering could suddenly fail. As reported by The Detroit News' David Shepardson, GM has now recalled nearly ten times as many cars as it did all of last year.
It's important to note that should this problem arise in these cars, the steering won't fail completely, however, power steering could suddenly stop functioning. Manual steering would still be possible, but as GM says, there's an increased risk of accidents, particularly at lower speeds.
Like the ignition switch recall, this latest problem covers a wide range of vehicles from Chevrolet, Saturn and Pontiac. Normally, we'd give you the full rundown in paragraph form, but the variety of models and model years means a list is just easier. So, have a look, directly from GM's press release:

Junkyard Gem: 2006 Pontiac Solstice

The debut of the Pontiac Solstice, back in 2005 for the 2006 model year, stirred up much excitement in the automotive world. Sales were brisk at first, and then they weren't so great… and then Pontiac itself went under The General's cost-cutting axe. One thing I have learned during my junkyard travels is that even sought-after sports cars eventually reach a point at which they start showing up in the big self-service junkyards. For example, the BMW Z3 began appearing in such yards about five years ago, along with the Audi TT. While the Honda S2000 still appears to be exempt from this process, today's Junkyard Gem shows that the time has now come for the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky. The first Z3s and TTs I saw in the U-Wrench-type yards were crash victims, not worth fixing, and that's the case with this Solstice. In a few more years, I'll start seeing the occasional Solstice/Sky discarded due to general worn-outness. Someone grabbed all the undented front body parts and the transmission (these items, presumably, being valuable), but no junkyard shoppers have felt like pulling the non-turbo 2.0-liter Ecotec. The interior seems dirty, probably from exposure to the elements while sitting outdoors in this Colorado Springs wrecking yard, but not in bad shape otherwise. Perhaps the car's owner celebrated a return from Iraq with the purchase of a sporty new Pontiac, 13 years ago. These cars have an enthusiastic following, so I wasn't expecting to see a junked one so soon after production ceased. I felt the same way about the Chrysler Crossfire, however, and I found two of those last year. What's next, a 2002-2005 Thunderbird? This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Such optimism!

GM doing fine at retaining Pontiac owners

This isn't the first time we've reported positive news about General Motors retaining former Pontiac owners. Get a few more stories like this latest report from Edmund's Auto Observer, and it will mark an ongoing positive trend for GM. Edmunds.com crunched the numbers to see how well the General is hanging on to customers after shutting out the lights at Pontiac, and it found that nearly 40 percent of Pontiac owners stayed with a vehicle from a General Motors brand.
The numbers are a little lower than an earlier R.L. Polk & Company study, but Edmunds says General Motors is keeping more former Pontiac buyers than it has since 2007. Most are turning to vehicles from Chevrolet, especially during January and February of 2011, when GM incentivized Pontiac owners to stay under the umbrella. Those moves seem to have worked, and 28.1 percent of Pontiac owners trading up made the jump into a Bowtie.
Buyers that have gone elsewhere have largely stayed loyal to Domestic automakers, with Ford picking up the most conquests from Pontiac, with 9.4 percent switching. Toyota and Honda picked up 7.4 percent of the pool of former Pontiac drivers. The numbers are defying any predictions that Pontiac buyers would completely exit the General Motors fold, and have climbed up closer to parity with the retention figures of other GM brands from a 2009 low of only 16 percent retention.