GM recall impacts ripple across High Desert

Another 7.6 million vehicles have been recalled by General Motors, putting the year’s total at 29 million defective vehicles.

An unintended key rotation is what’s sending half of the latest wave of cars back to the shop.

But if you’re on that list, you may have to wait a while.

Bend resident Shawn Kilmer had his 2011 Chevy HHR recalled in late March.

“I’m still waiting,” he said. “There are so many cars on the recall list — we’re scheduled out in a month.”

Ironically, Kilmer is a mechanic for Auto Kings on Third Street in Bend. But rather than work on the car and risk becoming liable for damage, he’s waiting for GM to fix his vehicle.

“While I’m not saying I can’t do it right, I want it fixed right, and I want the coverage that Chevrolet comes with,” he said. “That’s why I bought the Chevy in 2011.”

Central Oregon used car dealerships are also dealing with the recall woes. Hertz Car Sales of Bend hasn’t counted up the GM vehicles to be recalled on their lot, but Fleet Manager Les Jones is reminded of the Toyota recalls from five years ago.

“We pulled the cars out of the rental fleets that were affected,” Jones said. “They were put onto what we’d call a ‘sold’ ramp and the keys were put in a safe.”

Jones believes that short-term sales will be affected, but much like Toyota, General Motors will rebound.

“We all got through that fine,” he said. “Hopefully they’re going to do the right thing for everybody involved.”