Transmissions on Ford vehicles between 1966 and 1980 could occasionally malfunction, resulting in sudden movement. Causing over 700 accidents and 23 deaths, it was revealed that Ford knew about the defect and chose not to fix it in the name of cost cutting. They also struck a deal with the government to avoid a 23 million vehicle recall.

In the mid 2010s, GM was forced to recall 2.6 million vehicles when it was revealed that a faulty ignition could cause vehicles to shut off while driving. That meant a locked steering wheel and no brakes. Over 300 people died, and many more were injured in small cars specifically.

Volkswagen was part of one of the biggest motoring scandals in history, when it was revealed that they were doctoring their fuel emission test numbers. They were forced to recall 11 million vehicles to disable “defeat devices.” The scandal cost VW a combined $40 billion.

The Ford Pinto had one of the most infamous defects in automotive history, as poor fuel tank design resulted in explosive fires after even minor rear-end collisions. But when it was leaked that Ford knew about the default, and explicitly calculated that lawsuit payouts would cost less than fixing the issue, public outcry forced a recall of 1.5 million vehicles. The fuel tanks killed over 100 people.

Toyota recalled almost 9 million cars when it was revealed that a sticky gas pedal could result in sudden unintended acceleration. Originally thought to be a bad floor mat design, an initial recall failed to address the issue. This default killed 16 people.

When Ford was designing the Bronco, it didn’t take them long to realize that a quick flick of the wheel would easily roll the car over. But instead of fixing the problem, they sold the car anyway, and almost 18,000 people wound up involved in rollover related crashes.

Window switches on late 2000s Toyotas had the tendency to spontaneously combust, leading to a 2.7 million vehicle recall.

Using old motor mounts in their designs, GM cars in the late ‘60s could experience a loss of control when motor mounts broke. GM recalled over 6.5 million cars, but came up with a cheap fix that didn’t directly address the problem.

Also in the late ‘60s, GM was forced to recall 4.9 million cars due to faulty carburetors. Not only could this lead to stuck throttles, but it could cause a carbon monoxide leak in the cabin, which poisoned four people on its own.

Perhaps the most dangerous recall of them all, this recall wasn’t the fault of any auto manufacturer, rather an airbag supplier. Takata airbags were recalled in the mid 2000s across tens of millions of vehicles from dozens of automakers, because excessive heat could cause them to explode, instead of deploying safely during accidents. This meant that instead of cushioning an impact, the airbags shot deadly shrapnel at their victims. At least 35 people have been killed by the airbags.