Korean quality is not any better then the cars produced in US final assembly plants.
GM has today recalled almost three quarters of a million late-model vehicles for various safety defects.
If there is any good news in the latest GM Recalls for safety defects, it is they do not involve deadly ignition switches. Instead, seats, turn signals, and power steering, suspension failures leading to steering loss, and defective airbags are the latest safety problems.
“These recalls signify how we’ve enhanced our approach to safety,” claimed Jeff Boyer, vice president, Global Vehicle Safety. Another conclusion about GM recalls is of course possible: GM had an engineering and legal culture, endorsed and put in place by senior management that ignored, downplayed, and delayed acting on safety matters. People died as a result the lack of GM recalls.
The latest recalls include:
- 414,333 2011-2012 model year Chevrolet Camaro; 2010-2012 model year Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain; 2011-2012 Buick Regal and LaCrosse; and 2010-2012 Cadillac SRX models in the U.S. equipped with power height adjustable driver or front passenger seats. In these vehicles, the bolt that secures the height adjuster actuator may become loose or fall out. When the bolt falls out, the seat will move up and down freely at random because it is no longer attached at the height adjuster. GM claimed it is aware of one crash and three injuries but no fatalities related to this condition.
- 124,008 model year 2014 Chevrolet Caprice, 2014 Chevrolet SS, 2014-2015 Chevrolet Silverado LD and HD, 2013-2014 Cadillac ATS, 2014 Cadillac CTS, 2014 Cadillac ELR; 2013-2014 Buick Encore; and 2014-2015 GMC Sierra LD and HD vehicles because they have an incomplete weld on the seat hook bracket assembly. Dealers will inspect the weld. If it is sufficient, no further action is necessary. If it is insufficient, dealers will replace the lower seat track at no charge as required by US regulations. GM claimed it is unaware of any crashes or injuries because of this safety defect.
- 57,242 2014 Chevrolet Impalas equipped with belt-drive electric power steering. Customers may experience reduced or no power steering assist at start-up or while driving due to a poor electrical ground connection to the Power Steering Control Module. If power steering is lost, a warning message is displayed on the Driver Information Center and a chime sounds. Steering control can allegedly be maintained because the vehicle will revert to manual steering mode, but this requires much greater driver effort particularly at low vehicle speeds. GM said that paint might have seeped behind the nut on the power steering control-module ground stud. Dealers will inspect and clean paint from behind the groundnut, re-torque the nut and update the power steering control module software at no charge as is required by US regulations. GM claimed it is aware of one crash because of this safety defect.
- 1,919 2014-2015 Chevrolet Spark models imported from Korea assembled with a lower control arm bolt not fastened to specification. The safety defect could result in noise from the front suspension and separation of the lower control arm from the steering knuckle while driving, causing a loss of steering control. Dealers will inspect the left and right hand lower control arm attaching bolts to assure they are tightened to specification. GM claimed it knows of no crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this condition.
- 22 2015 model year Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban and GMC Yukon/Yukon Denali vehicles in the U.S. In these vehicles, the roof carriers may have been attached with the wrong retaining nuts, resulting in holes or tears in the roof rail air bags if they deploy. Eight of these vehicles are in dealer stock and will be repaired before being sold as is required by US safety regulations.
