2014 Buick Verano Recalled For Faulty Roof Rail Airbag Inflator
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GM has issued a safety recall for certain units of the 2014 Buick Verano which may have been produced with faulty left-side or right-side roof rail airbag inflators that may partially inflate and then rupture because of a weld joint failure.
The problem: when a collision triggers the roof rail air bag inflators on affected 2014 Buick Verano units, a defective weld joint may rupture, causing gas to escape from inside the air bag and inflator. Field reports possibly indicate the weld joints may fail even absent a collision, with the vehicle empty and not in use.
The hazards: when the defective weld joint bursts and releases gas from inside the roof rail air bag, the air bag will partially inflate while the inflator may shatter into sharp metal fragments blown into the vehicle interior by escaping gas. This shrapnel can potentially wound or kill people inside the vehicle or standing just outside it.
The fix: while GM is notifying dealers of the 2014 Buick Verano recall, a fix is not yet available for the defect. Once it becomes available, the remedy will consist of dealership service personnel replacing “suspect” roof rail air bag modules with new, correctly manufactured modules.
Dealers are further instructed to hold any 2014 Buick Verano units in their used inventory, and are prohibited from selling, demonstrating, or trading the sedans to other dealerships until inspection has been completed and the fix applied if necessary.
Affected components: Roof rail air bag inflator module.
Number of affected vehicles: GM says that a total of 1,114 Buick Verano units are affected by the recall, identified based on component tracing.
Owners should: GM will send out notification letters to owners of affected 2014 Buick Verano units starting on November 6th, 2023. The repair of affected Verano sedans will be carried out free of charge to the owner. Owners of these vehicles who have additional questions or want to voice their concerns can contact Buick customer service at the toll-free number below, providing the recall number as necessary:
Contacts:
- GM recall number: N232408490
- Buick customer service number: 1-800-521-7300
Note: the recall also applies to certain units of the 2014 Chevy Cruze. The recall is based on three Chevy Cruze units in Texas which suffered a catastrophic failure of the roof rail air bag inflator weld joints during spring and summer 2023. No injuries resulted because all three vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the incidents.
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Time to end the tragic air bag experiment.
Not just Veranos, but millions of vehicles have been identified as having potentially defective airbag inflators that can turn a fender bender into a fatality with what amounts to a close-range shotgun blast.
And even if the system works as intended, minor collisions can still result in serious injuries if you are holding, say, a soda can or are not seated in just the “right” position. And don’t forget to flip down your sun visor and learn that “Children Can Be Killed by the Air Bag.”
Air bags were originally promoted as “passive” restraints, to protect those who are too stubborn to buckle a seat belt (sometimes we should just let Mr. Darwin do his job). Then one day they became “supplemental” restraints, meaning that you still needed your seatbelt to be protected. But if you already are wearing your seatbelt/shoulder harness, the air bag isn’t doing much for you, and I think the dangers outweigh the benefits.