GM Experiences First Glitch in Midsize Pickup Rollout
GM is stopping all shipments and deliveries of the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups due to a pending investigation about a faulty airbag sensor.
According to Automotive News, a note was sent to dealerships notifying them that an investigation with the National Highway Safety Administration has been opened regarding an airbag flaw that could cause problems with the normal deployment of the driver-side airbag. The fix is reported to be a simple software patch.
The new Colorados and Canyons went on sale just two weeks ago and fewer than 50 sales have been recorded. The stop-delivery announcement is the first glitch in the introduction of the newest members to the midsize pickup segment. GM CEO Mary Barra has stated that these types of small-volume safety recalls are likely to occur more often as GM's new recall and review policies catch issues like these earlier in the production process. So far this year GM has ordered 71 safety recalls affecting nearly 30 million vehicles.
GM has issued a statement, and it is as follows:
"General Motors has told dealers to halt deliveries of 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks. These vehicles contain driver airbag connections that were wired incorrectly during the manufacturing process. This condition affects the vehicles’ two-stage airbag system by reversing the deployment sequence and disrupting the deployment timing of the driver airbag stages. This condition will cause the driver airbags to not function as designed.
"The majority of affected vehicles are being held at the assembly plant or are in transit or unsold at dealerships. GM is working to validate the correction for the condition. Once that service procedure is released to dealers, customer deliveries can resume. A small number of vehicles have been sold.
"Customers are being sent a FedEx letter and being contacted by phone to bring their vehicles to dealers as soon as possible. The repair will be done at no change and free loaner vehicles will be available. A safety recall will be conducted but population and other details are not known at this time. GM is aware of no crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this condition."
Cars.com image by Evan Sears
Comments
Well.... that didn't take long ;)
Looks like some one put the blue wire in the connector where the yellow one was supposed to go..oppps. At least they caught it early.
Mark Williams report this as a simple software patch but GM states that the recall is for incorrect wiring during manufacturing? How can you fix an incorrect wiring with a software patch?
Yes, many times a software change can fix a hardware issue. However, it doesn't sound like a smart idea in this case. They'd have to update repair manuals, etc...
On sale for two weeks and only 50 trucks have been sold. I am not seeing this truck as a big seller.
Lets see at 25 trucks a week GM is on pace to sell 1,300 of these bad boys a year!!!!!!
I have yet to see a commercial from chevy,or gmc about the new midsize twins.For myself,other then taking one for a test drive in the near future,I'm waiting on the diesel next year.
GM is waiting for an adequate supply to dealers before starting their advertising complain, many dealers have not received any in stock yet.
Two weeks and this POS is already having issues?!?!? GM is the undeniable king of recalls and poorly built vehicles.
Kool aid for the masses. Giving Americans a way to spend their hard earned money
OH BOY!
:--(
Gosh Darn it!! not already.
I have grown tired of the inevitable "every manufacturer has recalls" argument. Yes that is a true statement, however, even the biggest GM fanboy has to admit that GM is garbage right now. Only on sale for 2 weeks and already a recall?
Yikes. At least they caught it early. So many recalls. I just started having problems with my air conditioner. Took it in today and the dealer tell me it was recalled long time ago. Sometimes I don't know if the quality of these newer vehicles is going up or going down. So many more and complex parts, there is bound to be more problems, especially once they rack up a lot of miles.
It's starting, again.
A software patch can be used in many instances to circumvent a hardware fault.
In aviation this occurs automatically. It's called redundancy.
Except in the automotive world you can pull over.
Still not good for GM with the release of a new vehicle.
Looks like the new versions are taking off where the old ones left off. I would never buy these things based on the reputations of the previous versions which was quite poor.
I wouldn't buy the first year of any new redesigned or new model. Ford will have their problems as well on the new F-150, its not like you can anticipate all the problems that can happen with a new model. I searched cars.com for inventory of the new Colorado and Canyon within 150 miles where I live in N KY (Cincinnati) and only came up with 5 Colorados and 2 Canyons which is not that much inventory. Little hard to judge the success of a new model when its just been released and there is not much inventory. Let's all remember how Mr. Ram Big Horn comes on this site every time there is a recall of a non Ram truck and the next time there is a recall article about a Ram then remind him of it. Mr Big Horn is a blowhard.
@Big Al--Agree this is not good for GM. GM needs to be more aggressive about quality. The Colorado/Canyon is a opportunity for GM to shine but only if they keep the defects down.
Airbags are for p****ies anyway.
I'd buy a truck without any of those if I could. I take my crashes like a man.
Recalls are a lose-lose situation. Recalls bad publicity any way you look at it.
When GM takes the stage and claims how they will aggressively tackle these issue, it makes me laugh, because in reality, these problems have to be caught before the truck even leaves the assembly line.
When a vehicle gets recalled, it makes the company look bad. When a know issue isn't recalled, the company looks even worse, so either way they lose.
surprise, surprise...NOT....hey Cheapest Heap Ever Visioned Yet, I really like that one and have never heard that before. But is very fitting, will have to remember that one for sure for future reference
One thing that appeals to me is GM vehicles are easy, simple and cheap to repair.
All auto mechanics love working on GM vehicles, they are designed to be quick and easy to repair.
Common replacement parts for GM vehicles are less expensive than other vehicles, such as brakes, belts, exhaust.
The brake calipers on GM vehicles are designed to be quickly disassembled so there's less labor charge.
Brake pads for a GM vehicle may cost $20 set but smaller pads for a Honda Civic may cost $120 as an example.
A BMW costs $700 for a service oil change and $3000 for a new cat back exhaust.
As for pickup trucks the Nissan and Toyota are much higher cost to service and maintain.
@HEMI MONSTER--Agree. GM is doing the right thing by this recall but these trucks should not have left the plant with known defects. It is better to recall than to hide defects as GM did with the ignition switches but GM's reputation is so tarnished that they cannot have any defects without it hurting them.
@Tom3--The parts are more reasonable on GM vehicles. My 99 S-10 is not too bad when it comes to cost and availability of parts. Ford Rangers are also very easy and reasonable when it comes to parts as well, that is why you see so many on the road. After having a Mitsubishi Mighty Max which was just the opposite I appreciate having a truck that is easier to find parts and less expensive to repair. The Max was a good truck but it was hard to get parts for and the cost of parts was higher than a Toyota or Honda.
The Colorado/Canyon should be good trucks once all the bugs are worked out.
Ford is looking to produce a small truck, rather than these mid sized. Interesting article and last comment about how GM is using the new mid sized truck to draw buyers but then steering them to buy the full sized trucks anyway. That coule explain the slow sales of the GM mids so far.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/02/ford-ranger-small-truck-mpg-inexpesnive/16606495/
@Ford850--Interesting link thanks. A small unibody compact truck at the right price might do well. The inventory on the new Colorado/Canyon is very low and consist mostly of the higher trim 4x4 crew cabs. Still too early to judge the success or failure of these trucks but an initial recall will hurt them at least in the short term. GM is going to have to take extra care with quality. I like both the Colorado/Canyon but I would be perfectly happy with a smaller unibody truck because I do not tow or haul heavy loads and prefer a smaller size. My 99 S-10 has been a perfect size but my 08 Isuzu I-370 crew cab is bigger than I really need although it is a very nice truck and I like the 4 wheel drive for Winter driving.
Been to the dealership every week for a month now..they keep saying it should be in next week..guess it going to be a bit longer..who needs an airbag..just dont have a wreck...
The comments to this entry are closed.