General Motors will recall 303,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans from six model years amid a broadening internal and external evaluation of the company's handling of vehicle safety.
by Staff
March 17, 2014
Photo of 2014 Chevrolet Express courtesy of General Motors.
3 min to read
Photo of 2014 Chevrolet Express courtesy of General Motors.
General Motors will recall 303,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans from six model years amid a broadening internal and external evaluation of the company's handling of vehicle safety.
Because the full-size vans don't comply with a head-impact requirement for passengers not wearing seat belts, the vehicles need reworking of the passenger instrument panel material. The recalled vans come from the 2009 to 2014 model years and have a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less.
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Unsold vehicles have been placed on a stop-delivery until a remedy is developed and parts are available, GM announced March 17.
The company decided to launch these new recalls after conducting an internal safety review. Questions arising from the ignition safety switch recall prompted the safety review.
"I asked our team to redouble our efforts on our pending product reviews, bring them forward and resolve them quickly," said Mary Barra, GM's CEO. "That is what today's GM is all about."
Fleet buyers of the Chevrolet Express full-size van will be most impacted by the recall. In calendar-year 2012, fleets registered 52,515 Express vans, including 26,072 commercial and 19,896 government vehicles. Fleets registered 12,825 GMC Savana vans, including 3,823 in commercial fleets and 8,498 in rental fleets.
In a separate action, the automaker is recalling 1.18 million 2008- to 2013-MY Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia vehicles, 2009- to 2013-MY Chevrolet Traverse vehicles and 2008- to 2010-MY Saturn Outlook vehicles.
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Mostly rental fleets registered the recalled mid-size SUVs, including the Chevrolet Traverse (15,211), Buick Enclave (5,734), GMC Arcadia (10,513). Commercial fleets added 2,340 Traverse SUVs in 2012, according to the Automotive Fleet 2013 Fact Book.
GM's CEO Mary Barra gives a update on the recalls and federal probe.
A third recall involves 63,900 2013- to 2014-MY Cadillac XTS full-size sedans. Fleets registered 855 XTS vehicles in 2012.
In the XTS, a brake booster pump can create positive pressure within the wiring harness attached to the pump relay. This pressure can lead to the dislodging of a plug in the brake booster pump relay, allowing corrosive elements to enter the connector and form a low-resistance short. This short could lead to overheating, melting of plastic components and a possible engine compartment fire.
GM said it is aware of two engine compartment fires in unsold vehicles at dealerships and two cases of melted components.
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The Enclave, Traverse, Acadia and Outlook vehicles are equipped with a service air bag warning light in the driver information center. Ignoring the service air bag warning light will eventually result in the non-deployment of the side impact restraints, which include driver and passenger seat-mounted side air bags, a front center air bag (if equipped), and the seat belt pretensioners.
To repair the condition, dealers will remove the driver and passenger side air bag wiring harness connectors and splice and solder the wires together.
"Today's announcement underscores the focus we're putting on the safety and peace of mind of our customers," Barra said. "We are conducting an intense review of our internal processes and will have more developments to announce as we move forward."
GM expects to take a charge of approximately $300 million in the first quarter primarily for the cost of the repairs for the three safety actions and the previously announced ignition switch recall.
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