Insights

The DrivePulse Blog

Research, data, and perspective on automotive safety and early defect detection.

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The Weekly Pulse — August 10, 2026

This week's Pulse tracks three active early complaint signals: a newly emerging Toyota RAV4 Prime instrument-cluster fault that blanks the driver's speed and warning displays, a Honda Accord head-gasket pattern that keeps escalating (459 complaints, now tied to active class-action litigation), and a Chevrolet Blazer steering-assist warning cluster linked to a reported injury crash. Full breakdown and charts inside.

DrivePulse
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August 10, 2026

The Weekly Pulse — August 2, 2026

Four active signals worth a look — a Honda Prologue EV showing phantom automatic braking alongside CV-joint wear, a long-tail GM 2.4L Equinox oil-consumption pattern with no warning light before power loss, GM's CT5 door-handle failures affecting emergency egress, and a structural weld/adhesive cluster on Keystone travel trailers.

DrivePulse
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August 3, 2026

The Weekly Pulse — July 27, 2026

This week's Weekly Pulse: four early complaint signals worth watching — a fast-accumulating engine failure pattern on the 2024 Chevy Trax, continued downshift complaints on 2013 F-150s tied to an open NHTSA investigation, a two-track defect cluster on the 2016 Ford Fusion, and a design change on the 2026 Model Y removing a manual frunk-release backup. None of these are recalls yet.

DrivePulse
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July 27, 2026

The Weekly Pulse — July 20, 2026

Eight active signals this week, including a persistent ICCU failure pattern recurring across both Hyundai and Kia after their respective recalls, a high-volume Honda Accord head-gasket cluster (441 complaints in five months), and a distinct Toyota Camry UA80 transmission signature. Plus: a well-documented Prius V brake-actuator defect still generating complaints more than a decade after the affected model year.

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July 20, 2026

The Weekly Pulse — July 13, 2026

This week's signals: coolant loss on the GMC Canyon tied to an open NHTSA investigation, a door-handle failure trapping Toyota Tacoma occupants inside the cabin, unannounced loss of all-wheel-drive on the Acura MDX, uncommanded braking on the Honda CR-V, and a shared-component pattern linking propulsion loss on the Chevrolet Volt and battery drain on the Chevrolet Trailblazer.

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July 13, 2026

The Weekly Pulse — July 5, 2026

This week's signals: a battery-draining "Shift to Park" fault on the Chevrolet Trailblazer, persistent sunroof and mirror issues on the Honda CR-V, piston-ring failures on the Honda Pilot resolved only by warranty extension, electrical faults on the Volvo EX90 distinct from its existing recalls, an EyeSight driver-assist pattern on the Subaru Ascent tied to an active lawsuit, and braking irregularities on the Dodge Charger Daytona EV.

DrivePulse
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July 6, 2026
Industry

The Weekly Pulse — June 28, 2026

This week’s signals: OEM tire failures on the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe, a persistent lane assist fault on the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan, sudden brake loss on the Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, spontaneous rear windshield shattering on the 2024 Nissan Kicks, compound ADAS and brake failures on the Mitsubishi Outlander, and the highest-complaint-volume event in this edition — unintended acceleration on the 2025 Honda CR-V.

DrivePulse
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June 28, 2026
Product

Revisiting the GM Ignition Switch: An Updated Analysis

DrivePulse re-ran its detection algorithm across all 26 platforms covered by the GM ignition switch recall campaigns. Across 22 platforms with ignition-related signal, the system identified 44 events — 80 percent of which predated the first recall announcement by a median of six and a half years. The median detection date among pre-recall events was 2,370 days — roughly six and a half years — before February 2014. The earliest detection occurred in January 2001, more than thirteen years before the recall.

Tommy Jones
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July 1, 2026
Industry

The Weekly Pulse — June 21, 2026

This week's signals: fresh Nu engine complaints on the 2013 Hyundai Elantra, residual battery complaints on the Mercedes-Benz EQB after three recalls, compound EV powertrain failures on the BMW i4, wiring harness fire risk on the 2014–2018 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, a persistent coolant leak on the Toyota Prius, and phantom braking on the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander.

DrivePulse
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June 20, 2026
Product

Updates to DrivePulse's Algorithms

Since submitting our ESV conference paper, we've made three improvements to DrivePulse's core detection algorithms: less aggressive event merging, generation-aware vehicle model names, and a new hockey-stick detector that catches rapidly emerging defects up to 171 days earlier. The result: our detected event database has grown from ~15,000 to over 32,000 events.

Tommy Jones
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June 15, 2026
Industry

The Weekly Pulse — June 15, 2026

This week's signals: phantom braking on the 2025 Honda CR-V across two distinct complaint clusters, EyeSight failures spanning six Subaru Ascent model years, brake anomalies on the Dodge Charger Daytona EV, a multi-system electrical cluster on the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, and a sustained ADAS complaint pattern on Waymo's 5th generation autonomous system now under NHTSA investigation.

DrivePulse
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June 14, 2026
Research

Introducing DrivePulse: A Check Engine Light for the Auto Industry

Recalls are announced years — sometimes decades — after the first warning signs appeared. DrivePulse is building the missing signal: a continuous monitoring system that detects emerging vehicle defects before they reach the scale that triggers a formal investigation.

Tommy Jones
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June 4, 2026