GM recalls 3.2 million cars involved in ignition problems

ATLANTA — General Motors announced it will recall millions more vehicles that could have faulty ignition switches.

The new recall involves 3.2 million vehicles. The company is under fire for its delayed response to the issue and has agreed to pay $35 million to federal regulators.

A local car dealer says he has more than 1,000 vehicles waiting for repairs.

The massive old General Motors plant in Doraville covers 167 acres, but consumer investigator Jim Strickland learned there will soon be no room for hundreds of cars stored there.

Local Chevy dealer Jim Ellis has been storing new car inventory for years. He also has cars awaiting the ignition recall, but the impending sale of the Doraville plant means everything must go.

“The old General Motors Doraville plant is where we’re storing old ignition recall vehicles to people who opted to get loaners,” said Vice President of Operations Mark Frost.

There are about 200 ignition recall cars at the Doravillle plant and another 800 new cars in inventory awaiting sale. But General Motors plans to close on the deal with developers by early August.

“By the end of July, we have to vacate the premises, so we have to move all these cars somewhere else,” said Frost.

Ellis and other dealers are facing a separate deadline – General Motors' target date – to complete the ignition recall repairs.

“The plan is to have this all done by October. I think we can hit that target,” Frost said.

Limited parts availability hampered the first days of repairs in April. Now, that’s eased.

“We’re getting a lot of parts in; they’re coming 20, 30, 40 at a time,” said shop foreman Robbie Moreland.

More parts means more service days.

“We’re going to go ahead and have our team of technicians come in on a Sunday and we’re going to knock these out for our clients,” said Chevy’s service director Rich Pisanti.

The owners of the recalled cars are now driving loaners. The dealership is telling late-comers to the recall party, just signing up, that they can have a loaner vehicle, too.

But they’re asking them to store their recalled car home because there’s no place to keep them.

WSBTV