After discovering that a supplier in China had used counterfeit material, Aston Martin said it would re-do a 5,000-vehicle recall issued because the accelerator pedal assembly could break. The automaker informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the do-over in a report posted on the agency’s website.
The models covered by the recall are the 2008-14 DB9 and V8 Vantage, the 2009-12 DBS, the 2010-12 Rapide, the 2014 Rapide S, the 2011-12 V12 Vantage, the 2011-14 V8 Vantage S and the 2012 Virage.
In May, Aston Martin said it would recall about 689 vehicles because the throttle pedal arm might break, returning the engine to idle. But last fall the automaker said it had underestimated the number of vehicles affected by the problem and increased that number to about 5,000.
Then, the company said, a dealer found that the replacement part broke when it was being installed.
“Initial tests on the failed pedal arm have shown that the Tier Three Supplier used counterfeit material,” the report said.
Aston Martin said it was not able to duplicate the failure on any other pedals made of the same material, nor was it aware of any other failures. Nevertheless the automaker says it plans start recall from scratch. That means almost 1,100 vehicles that were already fixed will get a new assembly, as well as about 3,800 that have yet to be repaired.
Article by: The New York Times