and they said they would be willing to buy one. the justice department is investigating how general motors handled a deadly defect in some of its compact cars, specifically is the company criminally liable for failing to properly disclose the problem and issue a recall? abc's rebecca jarvis has more. >> reporter: it is a potentially fatal flaw linked to 13 deaths and 31 crashes. among them, this crash in wisconsin that killed two girls in 2005. this one in maryland that killed 16-year-old amber marie rose that same year. >> this was our girl, you know, and we've got to get the word out. >> reporter: gm already recalled 1.6 million cars from model years 2003 to 2007 including the chevy cobalt, saturn ion, chevrolet hhr, pontiac solstice and saturn sky. in those recalls the problem was with the ignition which could turn off unexpectedly, shutting down both the car and its safety