Our eyebrows were raised this past week when we got a letter from Volvo with the subject “Important Recall Notice”.  Megan has a 2008 V70 which allows us the roominess of a minivan without the stigma of actually driving one.  As most of you know my utter dislike of minivans, it should come as no surprise that we opted for a station wagon instead.  It’s black and since Megan drives it I have dubbed it The BatMombile.

I’ve included some text from the letter they sent us.

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

The reason for this campaign:

Volvo…has decided that certain Model Year 2008 XC70 and V70 vehicles equipped with rear Integrated Booster Seats fail to conform to the labeling requirements within Federal Motor Safety Standard No. 213…  Labels on the affected vehicles is missing warning information indicating that “Death or Serious Injury can occur” if manufacturer’s instructions are not followed when using child restraint systems.

This recall pertains only to the warning label secured to the Integrated Booster Seat and does not affect the integrity of the seat itself.

The corrective action will be to install a new label with the correct warning information.

What you need to do:

Please call your authorized Volvo retailer as soon as possible.  This procedure will be completed at no cost and will take approximately 20 minutes.  Due to service scheduling, your Volvo retailer may require your vehicle for a longer period of time.

In other words, in our litigious society, even though our child seat passes all national safety inspections, the fact that we forgot to slap a label warning you of Potential/Impending Death.  This somehow absolves them of legal ramifications if it turns out to be defective at a later date?  So you want us to take the time for you to slap on a big gaudy sticker on the seat basically saying “Hey, you might die.  We’re not saying you WILL die, but you MIGHT. Maybe. Or Maybe Not.”  How about we stop by the dealership and instead of each of us taking each other’s valuable time, you give me the stickers, I sign something saying I got it, and I toss the stickers in the trash when I get home? 

Big picture – this is rather tame when it comes to recalls.  I understand why they HAVE to do this but it doesn’t mitigate the fact this truly is an unnecessary expense taken on by Volvo, mandated either by the government or their own CYA law department.  It’s not as though the car seats are lined with asbestos or that it leeches radon.  If it’s stickers you want slapped on the car, don’t fret.  Our 4 ½ year old daughter has tons of Dora and Hello Kitty and Disney Princess ones she would be more than willing to cover the car seats with.