Safety & Recalls
Each entry examines a real industry development from the indicated week through independent newsroom verification. These dates describe the historical timeline—not when Auto Glass Shop News originally published the article.
With NHTSA's Ford Explorer windshield A-pillar investigation remaining open at year-end 2023 and a recall widely anticipated for early 2024, glass shops with Explorer-heavy workflows were advised to audit installation procedures and clip inventory before the formal recall campaign landed.
NHTSA filed recall 23V-838 in December 2023, covering more than two million Tesla vehicles — effectively every Tesla on U.S. roads — for Autopilot software controls deemed insufficient to prevent driver misuse, marking the largest recall in Tesla's history and the most significant ADAS action of the year.
In October 2023, NHTSA opened an investigation into Cruise autonomous vehicle safety following incidents that included a pedestrian struck and dragged — and firefighters breaking a Cruise taxi window in a separate emergency — raising new questions about AV safety protocol and glass access.
Ford Motor Company appeared in glass-related news multiple times in 2023 — with the F-150 wiper arm recall, the Explorer A-pillar probe, and an NHTSA notification letter about calibration letter practices — making the brand a useful case study in how shops can prepare for multi-front recall involvement.
Following the initial February 2023 software-update campaign, Kia and Hyundai broadened their anti-theft service effort in April 2023, adding window security stickers and dealer-installed anti-theft kits for vehicles that could not receive the software update due to incompatible hardware.
As of fall 2023, NHTSA's preliminary evaluation into 1.86 million Ford Explorers for windshield A-pillar trim detachment remained open, with industry watchers anticipating an escalation to recall — a development that would eventually arrive as recall 24V-031 in January 2024.
The U.S. Department of Transportation granted Nissan North America's petition in late 2023, finding that certain replacement windshield glass that fell short of FMVSS 205 glazing requirements presented no meaningful safety consequence — a decision that illuminates how glazing standards are enforced in the replacement market.
Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp agreed on May 18, 2023, to a $200 million settlement with U.S. owners whose vehicles were stolen or damaged using the social-media theft technique — providing up to $145 million for direct owner losses.
NHTSA recall 23V-163, submitted by Ford Motor Company in March 2023, addressed wiper arms on certain 2020–2021 F-150 pickups with under-spec spline teeth that could fail and leave drivers without windshield wipers in rain.
NHTSA and the Korean automakers jointly announced a free service campaign on February 14, 2023, offering anti-theft software upgrades to approximately 8.3 million vehicles lacking engine immobilizers — vehicles that had become targets of a nationwide social-media-driven theft wave.
Federal safety regulators launched a preliminary evaluation in late January 2023 after receiving 164 owner complaints alleging that windshield A-pillar trim panels were detaching at highway speed on model-year 2011–2019 Ford Explorers.
NHTSA formally opened recall 22V-954 in January 2023, covering vintage Mercedes-Benz models built between 2001 and 2011 whose sliding sunroof panels could detach at speed.
%20--%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e.cls-0%20{fill:%2304233E;}%20.cls-1%20{fill:%23FD5000;}%3c/style%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m19.7%208.9h111.9v9.3c2.5-0.3%205.1-0.7%208.1-0.8v-17.4h-127.8v22.6h-11.9v98.4c0%204.8%203.9%209.6%209.4%209.6h16.8c0.2-3%200.5-6.6%201.3-9.6h-7.8v-112.1zm-7.8%20112.1c0%201.1-0.9%202.1-2.2%202-1%200-2.3-0.8-2.3-2.3v-90.9h4.6v91.2h-0.1z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m131.4%2089.6v15.1h-30.3c-10.2%200-23.8%202-38.1%208.8l-3.4%201.7c0.8-3.2%201.8-6.4%203.1-10.5h-10.1c-2.3%207.2-4.7%2016.3-5.8%2025.9h94v-41h-9.4zm-61.6%2031.4c5.5-2.4%2015.7-6.8%2032.1-6.8h29.6v6.8h-61.7z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m94.7%2014.3v13.3h3.1c7.6-3.3%2015.7-6.2%2027.9-8.4v-4.9h-31z'/%3e%3cpolygon%20class='cls-0'%20points='25.3%2014.3%2025.3%2027.7%2053.1%2027.7%2053.1%2014.3'/%3e%3cpolygon%20class='cls-0'%20points='58.5%2014.3%2058.5%2027.7%2089.2%2027.7%2089.2%2014.3'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m25.3%2032.7v7.7h27.7v-7.7h-27.7z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m58.5%2032.7v7.7h17.3c3.4-2.3%207.2-4.8%2011.7-7.7h-29z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m25.3%2046.1v33.6h16.9c2.9-5.2%206.7-10.6%2010.8-15.8v-17.8h-27.7z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m58.5%2046.1v11c2.8-3.1%206.4-6.6%2010.7-10.9l-10.7-0.1z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m25.3%2084.5v31h3.3c2.3-10.5%205.9-20.1%2010.7-31h-14z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-0'%20d='m145.3%2022.1c-31%200-57.3%2013.9-74.9%2030.9-17.1%2016.7-28.8%2037.1-35.4%2059.3-1.7%206.1-2.8%2012.1-3.6%2018.3h9.7c1.3-15.1%207.3-41.3%2028-64.7%2020.4-23.1%2048-34.7%2076.2-34.7l4.7%200.1v-9.2h-4.7z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-1'%20d='m99.7%2048.5-5.5%202.9c2.4%203.5%204%208.1%204%2013.3%200%2013.8-10.9%2024.9-25%2025.2v7.3c16.7%200.2%2031.5-13.2%2031.5-32.2%200-6-1.8-12-4.8-16.8l-0.2%200.3z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-1'%20d='m89%2054.6-5.6%203.9c1.1%201.9%201.8%204.1%201.8%206.5%200%206.5-5.5%2012.2-12.1%2012.3v6.4c10.3%200.1%2018.9-8.1%2018.9-18.7%200-3.7-1-7.2-3-10.4z'/%3e%3cpath%20class='cls-1'%20d='m79.3%2062c-3%202.8-5.9%205.7-9.1%209.8%204.7%202.2%209.2-0.8%209.9-5.4%200.2-1.6-0.1-3.1-0.8-4.4z'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)