Product recalls.(List)

Products ranging from child-safety seats to chain saws are recalled when there are safety defects. Various federal agencies, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), monitor and investigate consumer complaints and injuries and, when there's a problem, may issue a recall.

But the odds of hearing about an unsafe product are slim. Manufacturers are sometimes reluctant to issue a recall because it can be costly. And getting the word out to consumers can be haphazard. If you return the product registration card that sometimes comes with a product, you're more likely to receive notification if it is recalled.

A selection of the most far-reaching recalls appears monthly in CONSUMER REPORTS. Below is a listing of products recalled from December 2006 through November 2007, as reported in issues of CONSUMER REPORTS. For details on these products and hundreds more, go to our Web site, www.ConsumerReports.org, for access to our free, comprehensive list of product recalls.

For safety alerts and to report a dangerous product to any of the six federal agencies that oversee consumer safety, go to www.recalls.gov. You can also report dangers by phone. For vehicles, call 888327-4236; for household products, call 800-638-2772, then press 1, then 3. We want to hear your concerns, too. Go to www.ConsumerReports.org and click on "Report a product-safety problem" under the Consumer Interest area.

VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT

'05-06 Ford Five Hundred and Freestyle, and Mercury Montego

'05-06 Chevrolet Cobalt