We report on a lot of recalls, and most are seemingly innocuous defects that require the solar system to perfectly align before anything catastrophic could happen. Then there are recalls like this one for the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic that appear to be much more dangerous than they probably are.
It turns out that Chevrolet let a few Sonics built between June 2 and November 21 leave its factory in Orion Township, Michigan minus a brake pad. General Motors claims that of the 4,873 Sonics built during that time, some 20 to 30 may be missing either an inner or outer front brake pad. The company says 4,296 of the potentially shoe-less Sonics were sent to the U.S., while 577 migrated north to Canadian customers.
A car minus just one inner or outer brake pad doesn’t lose its ability to stop, but its braking performance will suffer and there is the possibility that other elements of the braking system, like the caliper or rotor, could be damaged as a result of their omission.
GM vows to notify all potentially affected Sonic owners and install any missing pads and, if necessary, replace any calipers or rotors free of charge.
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