General Motors continues recall of heavy duty pickups with faulty seat belts

General Motors continues recall of heavy duty pickups with faulty seat belts

January 5, 2021 Rebecca Rand ,

Warren, MI – January 5, 2021 – General Motors (NYSE:GM) is continuing  a recall of 38,048 heavy-duty trucks that were built with the driver- and front passenger-side seat belt parts meant for other cars. The recall includes the following pickup trucks:

  • 2017-2018 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500
  • 2017-2018 GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500

The name of the affected component is Retractor ASM-F/Seat Belt with part numbers 84253641, 84253686, 84234013 and 84234008.

Recall summary  

The recall concerns the seat belt torsion bars, which help the seat belt hold a passenger during a crash and protect him or her from an upper body injury. The bars a supplier of General Motors (GM) installed in these vehicle models in the seat belt retractors were the wrong size and had not gone through crash testing.  These bars are typically used in “other full-size trucks,” according to GM.

Continuation of the 2017 recall

This is a continuation of a recall that was originally announced in September 2017. A month after starting the original recall GM petitioned the auto industry regulator – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – to be released from going through with the recall, based on the belief that the different seat belt part would be “inconsequential” to safety. 

The regulator disagreed and denied GM’s petition in November 2020. Between fall of 2017 and spring of 2019, the automaker recalled and fixed over 10,000 cars.

Other Chevy Silverado recalls

A different model year of Chevy Silverado 2500 is subject to a recent recall launched on the back of faulty airbag end caps that may fly off and injure or distract the car occupants. 2020-2021 Silverado 2500 and 3500, as well as GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 trucks, are involved in another seat belt recall, also as reported. The seat belts on these cars may similarly fail to protect the driver and passengers due to being loose.

Risks

A seat belt meant for another car may not work as expected. This can lead to an injury or death for the car’s  driver and passengers.

Read more about seat belt safety in this Chrysler seat belt recall article.

The repair

GM will replace the seat belt retractor with one with the correct size torsion bar, free of charge. GM began notifying owners on December 28, but the repair will not be available until after March 17. 

Is your vehicle part of this recall?

Over 38,000 vehicles are part of this GM recall. To see if your car is one of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

Rebecca RandGeneral Motors continues recall of heavy duty pickups with faulty seat belts
Volkswagen 2018 Tiguans recalled for potential seat belt tear

Volkswagen 2018 Tiguans recalled for potential seat belt tear

December 9, 2020 Ken Boyd

Auburn Hills, MI – December 9, 2020 – Volkswagen Group (NASDAQ:VWAGY) has recalled 10,835 vehicles, due to an issue with the front seat belts. If a crash occurs, a seat belt’s webbing may tear, and the belt will not properly restrain the occupant.This Volkswagen (VW) recall includes certain 2018 Tiguan LWB SUVs.

Recall summary  

A seat belt tear (referred to by Volkswagen as a rupture) was initially noted during tests performed by the NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) in December 2017. 

  • During each test, the vehicle was driven at 35 mph into a full frontal impact, and the front driver side seat belt ruptured. 
  • The seat belt webbing separated completely in the area of the seat belt latch.

In 2020, Volkswagen ran a series of tests but could not determine the root cause of the seat belt issue uncovered by NHTSA. Despite that, VW recalled the vehicles “out of abundance of caution.” Vehicles that are being recalled may have received seat belts from the same production lot used in the NHTSA test.

Risks 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “[m]otor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among those aged 1-54 in the U.S.” More than half of the fatalities in people aged 13-44 years occurred when they were not buckled into a seat belt. 

If a seat belt malfunctions and does not restrain the occupant, the individual may be injured inside of the car or thrown from the vehicle.

The repair

To fix this potential 2018 Tiguan problem, dealers will replace front seat belts with seat belts from a different production lot. The repair is free of charge. Volkswagen expects the recall to begin on January 19, 2021. 

Is your vehicle part of this recall?

Over 10,800 vehicles are included in this Volkswagen recall. To see if your car is one of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

Ken BoydVolkswagen 2018 Tiguans recalled for potential seat belt tear
New BMWs May Have Seat Belt Issue

New BMWs May Have Seat Belt Issue

January 10, 2020 Sean Reyes

Laguna Hills, Calif. – January 9, 2019 – BMW of North America, LLC is recalling certain 2019 – 2020 330i and 330i xDrive vehicles. The outboard rear seat belt pre-tensioners may not lock as they are intended to in the event of a crash.

The estimated total of affected vehicles is 135.

The defect

Affected vehicles’ pre-tensioner inflator tubes may not have been crimped while in production. As a result, affected pre-tensioners have not been produced to meet BMW specifications.

The issue poses a potential risk because the seat belt pre-tensioners may fail to lock, causing the occupant to slide forward rapidly and increasing the risk of injury. The seat belt itself, however, will still lock during a crash.

BMW has not received any reports of accidents or injuries that were caused by this defect.

Timeline of events

On December 2, 2019, the retractor part supplier, Autolive ASP, Inc, a pre-tensioner that was out-of-specification was observed during supplier production. According to the supplier, the pre-tensioner lacked a crimp along the circumference of the tube.

Further review by Autolive ASP revealed that some defective parts had already shipped and been used in production by BMW.

BMW used vehicle assembly information and supplier production records to determine the production dates and vehicle numbers of vehicles that may have defective parts. Affected production dates were determined to be within a range from April, 2019 to December, 2019. 

On December 19, 2019, BMW decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall. Certified BMW dealers were notified the next day.  

The solution

Affected owners will receive a letter on February 10, 2020 by first class mail with information about the recall. Once the letter has been received, vehicles should be brought to a certified BMW Dealer.

In order for the process to run smoothly, and to ensure that BMW has all of their information updated, owners are encouraged to register their vehicles online.

To perform the recall, BMW dealers will replace the entire affected rear seat safety belt, free of charge. The process should take about one hour per vehicle.  

Owners can continue to drive their vehicles in the lead up to the recall. However, owners are encouraged to bring their vehicles to have the problem remedied as some as possible after receiving a notification.

Check your car’s recall status using MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

Sean ReyesNew BMWs May Have Seat Belt Issue
GM Recalls Vehicles with Faulty Seat Belts

GM Recalls Vehicles with Faulty Seat Belts

July 10, 2017 admin , , ,

Warren, Mich. – July 10, 2017 – General Motors has recalled more than 40,000 vehicles possibly equipped with dysfunctional software, according to documentation filed with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

The campaign affects over one dozen models across multiple brands, including:

  • 2014 – 2017 Buick Encore sport utility vehicles
  • 2014 – 2016 Buck Lacrosse sedans
  • 2015 – 2016 Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicles
  • 2015 – 2016 Cadillac Escalade ESV sport utility vehicles
  • 2014 – 2016 Chevrolet Caprice Police Pursuit sedans
  • 2014 – 2017 Chevrolet Corvette sports cars
  • 2014 – 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickups
  • 2015 – 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 pickups
  • 2015 – 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 pickups
  • 2014 – 2016 Chevrolet Spark compacts
  • 2014 – 2016 Chevrolet SS sports sedans
  • 2015 – 2016 Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle
  • 2015 – 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle
  • 2015 – 2016 Chevrolet Trax sport utility vehicle
  • 2014 – 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 pickups
  • 2015 – 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 pickups
  • 2015 – 2017 GMC Sierra 3500 pickups
  • 2015 – 2016 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport utility vehicles

GM suspects 75 percent of the vehicles named in the recall contain the outdated software.

The defect

Affected vehicles contain sensing and diagnostic module software that may not properly deploy front air bags and seat belt pre-tensioning features in the event of an accident.

This poses serious safety risks to drivers and passengers, as they may be left unprotected during collisions. However, the car company has not reports connecting the defective software to accidents or injuries as yet.

Timeline of events

In September of last year, GM recalled more than 3 million vehicles believed to contain problematic SDM software, according to the NHTSA. Approximately 100 percent of the cars involved in the campaign contained the defect.

GM ordered dealers to update the software in all recalled vehicles free of charge, a process that began that very month. Roughly 2.9 million were eventually serviced.

In April 2017, GM personnel conducted an internal audit, reviewing recall and repair records for recent campaigns.

Auditors discovered three instances in which dealers had failed to update the SDM software on vehicles involved in the September 2016 yet reported that the repairs had been successfully executed.

These findings prompted the auditors to evaluate additional repair records and OnStar diagnostic data for approximately 30,000 vehicles named in the aforementioned campaign.

This data indicated that many more models connected to the campaign, an estimated 41,000, might have never received the SDM software update. On May 18, the auditors filed an internal report via the GM Speak Up program.

The GM Safety Field Action Decision Authority chose to conduct an official safety recall June 30. Dealers received notification July 10.

The solution

GM has once again ordered dealers to update the SDM software in affected models. The automaker has pledged to reimburse owners for the repair, according to documents submitted to the NHTSA.

However, GM has not publicized an official notification date for owners.

Check your car’s recall status using MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

adminGM Recalls Vehicles with Faulty Seat Belts
New GM Recall Concerns Faulty Seatbelts

New GM Recall Concerns Faulty Seatbelts

May 22, 2015 admin , , , ,

Detroit, Michigan – May 12, 2015 – A condition that could lead to weak safety belts has General Motors recalling hundreds of thousands of Chevrolet Malibu cars, according to the Detroit News.

The source says one injury has so far been traced to the defect. It will recall more than 469,000 vehicles total from around the world, the majority of which will be in North America.

The defect

Vehicles that suffer this defect could see the metal cable connecting the seatbelt weaken and even separate completely over time.

The solution

To fix the problem, car dealers will be able to replace the lap pretensioner and outboard lap mounting bracket.

Check your car’s recall status using MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

adminNew GM Recall Concerns Faulty Seatbelts
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