10 biggest recalls of the century

Even a small safety recall can be trouble, but automakers dread the big ones, which show up on the nightly news, cause widespread disruption and taint their brands. These are the 10 largest automaker-led recall campaigns since 2000, when Congress passed a law imposing new rules on the disclosure of recalls.

Note: NHTSA's recall records tally the "potential number of units affected," whether they are vehicles or tires, putting Ford's Firestone tire recall at the top of the list. Still, some of the biggest safety problems of the past decade do not appear or appear lower than they otherwise would because they were broken into several campaigns rather than being announced all at once.

1. Ford (2001): 13 million tires

A year after a recall of 6.5 million tires, Ford went back for more, calling back millions of pickups and SUVs with Firestone tires that disintegrated at high speeds. The recall covered several models, including the Explorer, from the 1991-2002 model years.

2. Ford (2005): 4.5 million vehicles

Ford called back pickups, SUVs and vans from as far back as 1994 when it found that a leak in a Texas Instruments cruise control switch could cause a fire.

3. Ford (2009): 4.5 million vehicles

The same faulty TI cruise control switch prompted seven more recalls through this 2009 action, in which Ford called back all remaining models with that switch. All told, the campaigns covered 16 million vehicles.

4. Toyota (2009): 4.4 million vehicles

This was the largest of Toyota's unintended-acceleration recalls, involving cars in which the gas pedal could get stuck beneath the floor mat. The recall covered 10 models from 2004 to 2010, including the Toyota Camry, Prius and Tacoma.

5. GM (2004): 3.7 million vehicles

Chevrolet Silverado and Avalanche and GMC Sierra pickups from the early 2000s were called back because their tailgates broke when people sat or stood on them.

6. Ford (2007): 3.6 million vehicles

This action, another caused by the defective cruise control switch, followed reports of fires in the Ford Crown Victoria, then in wide use as a taxi and police cruiser.

7. Toyota (2012): 2.5 million vehicles

More than 10 2007-09 Toyota nameplates -- including the Camry and Corolla -- were recalled last year because the window switch assembly could melt and catch fire.

8. Chrysler (2004): 2.3 million vehicles

Badge engineering in the 1990s caused problems later for Chrysler, which recalled Chrysler, Dodge, Eagle and Plymouth sedans from the LH and JA platforms for an interlock problem that let cars shift out of park without a key in the ignition.

9. Toyota (2010): 2.2 million vehicles

This was Toyota's second-largest recall in the unintended-acceleration crisis, covering cars that had pedals that could get stuck.

10. GM (2003): 1.8 million vehicles

On GM minivans, pickups and SUVs from the mid-1990s, the windshield wiper motor could fail because of a bad circuit board, rendering the wipers inoperable.