Five-hundred pickup trucks and SUVs are being recalled to fix a potential problem with an airbag sensor.
The problem: According to Automotive News, 2014 and 2015 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, Chevy Suburban and Tahoe, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL models may have “a potentially faulty supplier part in the sensing and diagnostic module that controls the vehicle air bags.”
Number of vehicles affected: 500, but it is not known how many vehicles are in customers’ hands or dealers’ lots. Already General Motors has halted the shipment of 3,500 vehicles to dealers while it investigates.
The fix: Unknown, but vehicles in dealer inventory will be repaired before they are delivered to customers.
The problem, Part II:Â General Motors sent a bulletin to Cadillac dealers yesterday indicating that parts recently sent to fix an airbag defect for 2015 Escalades may have been defective themselves.
Number of vehicles affected: The improper fix was the result of last week’s recall of 1,402 Escalades due to a problem where the passenger airbag may not deploy completely in an accident. GM also has warned customers to not let anyone ride in the passenger seat before the vehicle has been serviced.
The fix: General Motors has instructed dealers to cross-check serial numbers on parts they have already received against a list of “suspect” numbers. Part of the instrument panel must be removed to check the part’s serial number to determine if it is the suspect item.
Contacts:Â Owners may contact one of the following numbers for more information:
Chevrolet: 1-800-222-1020
Cadillac: 1-800-458-8006
GMC: 1-800-462-8782
Comments
You are probably better off if the airbags do not go off. A friend runs a body shop and always says they feel like you got hit by the worlds strongest man in the face. And that you are better off with a good seatbelt system.
Time to go back to something more simple, but wait the government will not allow that. You cannot even have a merry go round on a play field anymore.
Id rather get hit in the face by an airbag than get my face demolished by the steering wheel and neck destroyed by the extreme forces of a crash…
Just sayin’
“A friend runs a body shop and always says they feel like you got hit by the worlds strongest man in the face. And that you are better off with a good seatbelt system.”
That should tell you enough right there. A body shop tech IS NOT the same as an automotive safety engineer, nor should you confuse the two.
Even casually looking at a seat belt can tell you what part of the body it’s designed to hold in place; the hip and upper torso. The head, given as much movement as it has being at the top of the spine, needs to have it’s range of movement in a crash accounted for. That’s where the air bag comes in.
“Time to go back to something more simple, but wait the government will not allow that.”
Simple and less safe. It’s not the US government’s fault, it’s what minimum safety standards consumers demand in a car nowadays. Try selling a new car in 2014 without airbags. Even if the US regulations stopped it’s sales, global automotive regulations would stop it dead. Bad press would bury it deep, and consumers would steer clear of the car.
There are handful of used cars without airbags, but nobody is buying those old thing with the sole intent of circumventing the mandated use of an airbag.
Tell your body shop friend to stop huffing paints.
Every week millions more are recalled. Garbage Motors at work. Even our loyal GMA fanboys are getting quiet in the face of the sheer magnitude of the brand new high priced trash that has to go back to the shop.
This isn’t a company run a car guys or craftsmen. It’s a company run by suits trying to make money.
So, this was just a bad batch of parts from a parts supplier? GM is doing their job here, I don’t know if GM spotted it, or if the supplier did. The important thing is, it was noticed and GM is recalling vehicles to replace the faulty sensors.
Dan A was a self confessed NOT a car guy and all of these models would have been developed under his control of GM. He was a bean counter like most executives. The only person high up in GM’s hierarchy that is a car person and not currently working in design or engineering would have to be Mark Ruess. Maybe Marry got the job over Mark so she could take the hit and Mark could turn things around after she is forced out, i don’t know but GM needs to get their act together asap. Look at the Holden and Opel camps and the quality of cars they produce and have been producing. GM is trying to make the 4 North American brands into true global competitors and are forcing their subsidiaries into corners when really they should be utilising their global portfolio more and importing more. If everyone on here wants to tell Holden fans that it doesn’t matter where Holdens are manufactured than surely it’s the same for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac in North America. Pontiac could have survived if HSV’s and OPC’s were imported and sold as Pontiacs alongside the Camaro ZL1 (as a Pontiac). The Holden Commodore, Caprice and Ute should have been imported long before Monaro was. Scrap Impala. Opel and Buick should be the same brand but with each working on certain vehicles. So maybe Buick could have taken care of SUV’s and Opel focused on small to medium cars. Commodore’s Calais trim and the Caprice could have been the large car kings in Buick and Opel’s line-up. Globally, Chevrolet, Opel and Cadillac would be GM’s brands. With select markets having differences. China seems to like the Buick brand instead of Opel. Australasia and countries that favour sporty brands would have Holden instead of Opel. Australiasia would be Holden (Chevy, Opel and own cars in one brand) and Cadillac. WE ALL HATE BADGE ENGINEERING BUT IT WOULD HAVE PUT GM ABOVE AND BEYOND. What would have been radical but in the long run would have worked, would be to make GM the brand – Chevrolet, Opel, Holden etc. as the product range/series’ – Commodore, Camaro etc. as models in the range – LT, LTZ, SS, Calais as variants of the models in the range from GM. Eg. Introducing GM’s latest product range, Holden. The Holden range includes the sporty family car, Commodore. Available in sedan and wagon and with a variety of specifications to choose from including the uber luxurious Calais-V. Every car would have a grill for the range and the trunk badge could be the GM logo. Just a thought.
Now –
We are losing Holden,
Chevrolet and Opel cannibalised each other in Europe,
Buick cannibalises Opel in China,
Holden cannibalised Opel in Australia,
Pontiac is dead and
GM North America is coming out with more lemons.
At least Opel products find themselves as Buicks in some way. Surely Opel fans hate missing out on the Buick luxury. I’m sure Buick consumers (are there any fans?) must get some what annoyed that they can’t get the Opel styling or cheaper price.
Everything in your plan is dismissible because you think Pontiac is relevant in 2014.
Pontiac was dead decades ago because the cost of making high-performing cars affordable was an unworkable plan that couldn’t scale up with the rising cost of gas and the demand of engineering quality. Besides, above average performance is a criteria that rates low on new car buyers list of requirements; beneath things like reliability, fuel efficiency, low running costs, safety, lower insurance brackets, utility, ease of use, build quality, and good old practicality. A 380hp Firebird who’s main selling point is that 380hp will have very limited appeal, and even less when it sells for $35K+.
No amount of eulogizing will magically make all of GM’s trouble go away. Besides, with the G8 gone, we have the far better SS to take up the slack. That, and whatever nonsense you meant by “Scrap Impala”, the 3 highest ranked car on CR’s website, can be also be dismissed.
V8 and RWD cars from Holden and rebadged as Pontiacs would not have changed anything, and they certainly wouldn’t have been affordable.
Graw you are corrects.
Too many people look at this from a product and emotional side with absolutely no idea of the cost and volumes needed to be relevant I todays market.
Like stated Pontiac as it’s own entity died a long time ago. It mostly became a marketing and styling exercise in the later years with only a few exceptions that got through.
Also too many think that you can still build performance models with RWD and V8 engines and still sell them for $28,000 and still have a car that will be a the top of the market.
The truth is GM had too many models but they really had too many divisions. Why do all the work and risk of spending money over that many divisions and models when you can make more profit at less risk with fewer divisions?
The fact is development cost take more money today than ever. Also the marketing cost are off the charts today. So why build 5 slightly similar models when 1-3 distinctly different versions of the models will do.
The fact is GM is far from done and not fully where they are going. They are making the right moves to remain viable and competitive into the future.
I am the biggest fan of Pontiac as you can find but I even understand the big picture and know that Pontiac left us years ago. I did not always feel that way but once I took in all the facts it was clear.
As for the recalls. All new vehicles have recalls at every brand but you do not always see them. Many Asian cars are not introduced but over seas where the markets are more loyal and forgiving if there are issues. Then we see them here 6 months to a year later.
Also GM has started to do this with their global cars where they are seen in China where if there is an issue often it is worked out before we get the same model here. This is why they see the Cruze there first and no there.
As for air bags. A car today will not sell unless it has the 5 star rating. The mass of the market are not car fans and they buy the vehicle just to get where they are going alive. Anything less than 5 stars is the kiss of death in the market. This is why they air bags in any open space they can put them.
I have lived through two crashes one with and one with out bags. To be honest the varying degrees and types of crashes can make a difference in how much protection an air bag can provide.
In my case the air bag did more damage than if I had not had one. I was burned black and blue and cut from the bag with only minor front bumper damage. But I know there are crashes where they help too but they are far from the perfect solution. I guess a necessary evil? the truth is there is no one perfect solution for every crash and every sized person that people will put up with. We are not going to be able to get people into 5 point harnesses with helmets and Hans units just to drive to the store. The 90% solution is the best we can get will something new comes along.
Oh and the expelled gas fumes are not good for you either but that is another story.