I think it's more a byproduct of poor human perception of "large" numbers. "Toyota recalls 120,000 vehicles for minor problem XYZ!" zomg, 120k, that's a huge

I think it's more a byproduct of poor human perception of "large" numbers. "Toyota recalls 120,000 vehicles for minor problem XYZ!" zomg, 120k, that's a huge number, what a HORRIBLE thing. Boy they really screwed something up! Never mind the fact that this may span a production run of 4.7 Million vehicles over 8 years. This is less then 3% of customers affected because they all happened to use the same generic part for common function (e.g. a simple brake fluid reservoir cap). This sort of thinking has caused the word "recall" to get a bad reputation. Worse so when it's a "safety recall" which generally is the same thing, but actually tied to a part like a seatbelt, airbag, etc. Combine the negative connotations with the word safety and it just amplifies the unwarranted panic level.