All of the involved vehicles are covered under the new vehicle warranty, although replacing a steering column is a major repair that could leave marks behind.
GM is recalling certain 55,000 2013 SUVs for rollaways since the vehicle can shift out of “Park” by itself because of a defective steering column. Affected are 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT; Chevrolet Avalanche, Express, Silverado HD, Silverado LD, Suburban, and Tahoe; and GMC Savana, Sierra HD, Sierra LD, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles, manufactured last November and December. The GM crossovers and SUVs may have been built with a fractured park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator-gear in the lock module from Nexteer Automotive in Saginaw Michigan.
As a result, the vehicle may shift from Park with the ignition key removed or the ignition key in the Off position. The vehicle may also shift out of Park without application of the brake pedal while the key is off. Either of these events may cause the vehicle roll aways after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible vehicle crash and/or injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the affected vehicles and replace the steering column as necessary, free of charge as is required by U.S. safety regulations. The recall is expected to begin on 17 January 2013. Chevrolet owners may call 1-800-630-2438. Cadillac owners may call 1-866-982-2339. GMC owners may call 1-866-996-9463. The General Motors’ recall is number 12331. Customers may contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to www.safercar.gov.
