General Motors has issued a recall on roughly six million pickup trucks and SUVs in the United States to replace Takata airbag inflators.
The problem: affected vehicles may be equipped with Takata airbag inflators that use a phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. This propellant may degrade after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures and temperature cycling. If this happens, the propellant may become more reactive, which can cause the airbag inflator to explode and send sharp metal fragments in the direction of vehicle occupants.
The hazards: the metal fragments from the airbag explosion may strike the driver or cabin occupants, resulting in either serious injury or death. Tens of millions of vehicles from various manufacturers have been subject to recall due to these faulty airbag inflators. Globally, at least 26 people have died and several hundred have been injured as a result of the faulty Takata inflators.
The fix: GM will notify owners of affected vehicles and dealers will replace the front passenger airbag inflator with an alternate one. These repairs will be performed at no cost to the vehicle owner.
Affected vehicles: a wide variety of large GM trucks and SUVs are involved in this recall campaign, which range from the 2007 to the 2014 model year. They include the following makes and models:
- Chevy Silverado
- Chevy Silverado HD
- Chevy Avalanche
- Chevy Tahoe
- Chevy Suburban
- GMC Sierra
- GMC Sierra HD
- GMC Yukon
- GMC Yukon XL
- Cadillac Escalade
- Cadillac Escalade ESV
- Cadillac Escalade EXT
Number of affected vehicles: 5,953,594 vehicles are affected by this round of Takata-related recalls.
Affected components: airbag inflator(s).
Next steps: GM will notify owners of affected vehicles and instruct them to make an appointment with their dealer. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk posed by this problem are expected to be mailed beginning March 1st, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once repair parts are available. GM vehicle owners can also visit my.gm.com/
Contacts:
- NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 21V050000, 21V051000, 21V052000, 21V053000, 21V054000
- GM recall numbers: N212328760, N212328770, N212328780, N212328790, N212328800
- Chevrolet Customer Service: 1-800-222-1020
- GMC Customer Service: 1-800-462-8782
- Cadillac Customer Service: 1-877-248-2080
- NHTSA Toll Free: 1-888-327-4236
- NHTSA (TTY): 1-800-424-9153
This recall comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered GM to issue a recall on certain vehicles it had produced with the Takata airbag inflators. The automaker argued the recall was “not warranted based on the factual and scientific record,” it had established and said it disagreed with NHTSA’s position on the matter.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM recall news, Chevrolet news, GMC news, Cadillac news and around-the-clock General Motors news coverage.
Comments
Imagining all those cracked dashes they are going to have to deal with while replacing those airbags.
I took my 2012 Silverado in for this recall, was informed that the dash would crack and it would not be repaired! The service writer informed me that I would have to sign a “declined repair “ to not have the recall performed.
Yeh, But GM has already issued a bulletin to dealers NOT to fix dashes. GM WILL NOT cover the cost!!!!! Too bad, our 2012 Tahoe has cracks in seberal places. Just cheap plastic is the reason. Maybe some one will start a class action this too.
You do realize that NO GM vehicles have experienced any failures of their version of the Takata airbag inflators? None, zero, nada, zilch. Only other Takata versions in other manufacturers vehicles have failed.
Yeh, We know. BUT!!!!!! All it will take, is one Southwestern US based GM too blow up. And then, someone gets killed. How will you feel then. The cheap Japan made inflators, are JUNK. This is the realization of the new GLOBAL ECONOMY. Don’t you just Love what’s happened to the good old USA? Very sad indeed.
Had my recall replaced last week. Didn’t have any cracks in my 2013 Avalanche dash. I do now, thanks to this recall fix.☹️
Hope my 09 Silverado gets a recall. Dash has large hole, 4” piece fell off. Don’t see how they can not replace the dash. Also truck is not running, 2nd Chevy, both very not dependable, own 2 other vehicles that are very dependable. Never again will I own a Chevy. BTW, the other manufacturer replaced the dash as a recall!!!!
After all the years of faulty airbags, and all the deaths, I am disgusted. Years ago, I was told by GM that “no, your truck is not subject to recall because YOUR Takata airbags are just fine!”
Now I find out that a fender-bender may kill my passenger and/or myself, but that replacement parts aren’t available. Great! So I now decide whether to drive to work with a bomb in the cab that may kill me, or not drive at all.
Why wasn’t this fault discovered YEARS ago, when all the other Takata airbags were found to be deadly?
your blog claims there are 7 comments, yet only 5 appear. 2 censored comments?
Hadn’t considered the dash cracking. I will take photos as I drop my truck off for service because it’s in perfect shape right now. If they damage the dash, they need to replace it. Seems to make sense.
The fact is that none of these airbags have exploded on any GM vehicle. “NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as other recalled Takata inflators,” the regulatory agency said in a statement to C/D. “Such explosions have caused injuries and deaths.” Yeah 26 people have died and hundreds have been injured worldwide from faulty Takata airbags in other makes of vehicles, but not in any GM vehicle.
GMC Yukon XL dash cracks.
GM sadly is stalling and will fight any action with their lawyers. My 2013 Avalanche is in the recall and the dealer has said GM wont give them any details on when the replacements will be sent. I agree that it will take a class action suit to get them moving. They purchased the cheapest air bag components and need to pay the price. There are components made in the US
from Goodyear and others but may cost $.50 cents more so GM avoids them.
Of all the millions of vehicles worldwide equipped with Takata airbag inflators, not one has failed in a GM vehicle. Yes, there have been 30 something fatalities and hundreds of injuries caused by failure of similar Takata airbag inflators in other vehicles produced by other manufacturers, but not in any General Motors vehicles.