Vehicle Recall
In most cases, we limit our recall coverage to car seats. But we’re making an exception today because this particular recall impacts car seats. It’s such an exception that we don’t really have a template to cover this many vehicle types, let alone interesting or relevant images so please bear with us!
The Issue
On September 26, 2018, General Motors announced a recall for rear retractor sensor covers installed in certain seating positions in a very small set of vehicles that were manufactured between June and September of 2018.
The recalled vehicles have with rear retractor sensor covers that are primarily used in the third row center seating position. These sensor covers were manufactured by the supplier in May 2018. This defect may prevent the vehicle seat belt from automatically locking in place while a car seat is installed with the vehicle seat belt
The History
(This text comes directly from the recall)
Chronology :
On July 13, 2018, a vehicle inspection at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant identified a rear-center seat
ALR that failed to lock the seatbelt in a 2018 model year Cadillac CT6 vehicle. On July 15, 2018, a plant quality
manager reported the issue through GM’s Speak Up For Safety program. On July 19, 2018, ZF informed GM that
it identified a specific mold cavity in its tier two supplier’s manufacturing process that may have been
producing retractor-sensor covers with incorrect dimensions that could interfere with the ALR.
GM opened a formal product investigation on July 23, 2018. GM inspected approximately 633 rear-seatbelt
retractors in GM dealer-service part inventory, GM employee vehicles, and vehicles on yard-hold at GM’s
Detroit-Hamtramck and Arlington assembly plants. These retractors were built from December 2013 through
July 2018. GM’s inspections identified 93 retractors with nonfunctional ALRs built with a sensor cover
manufactured in May 2018; and 91 contained a sensor cover that was molded by the supplier’s suspect mold
cavity.
Based on this data, on September 21, 2018, GM’s Safety Field Action Decision Authority (SFADA) decided to
conduct a noncompliance recall on vehicles that were built with a retractor manufactured in May 2018.
Affected Vehicles
This recall affects certain seating positions of the following vehicles that were manufactured in 2018.
- Some 2018 and 2019 Cadillac CT6 sedans manufactured between June 8, 2018 and Sept. 20, 2018: rear vehicle seat, center seating position
- Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids manufactured between June 7, 2018 and Sept. 20, 2018: rear vehicle seat, outboard seating positions
- Chevrolet Suburbans manufactured between June 1, 2018 and Sept. 5, 2018: third vehicle row, center seating position
- GMC Yukon XLs manufactured between June 1, 2018 and Aug. 29, 2018: third vehicle row, center seating position
- Cadillac Escalade ESVs manufactured between June 1, 2018 and Sept. 20, 2018: third vehicle row, center seating position
The Solution
Make an appointment with your local dealer to have your retractors inspected. The dealer will replace the retractor if necessary. Pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 573.13(d) (1), all covered vehicles are under warranty so reimbursement is not offered.
What This Means for You
If you own one of these vehicles and have a car seat installed with a vehicle seat belt in the center position of the third row, you have a few options.
- Move that car seat to a different seating position — only the one seating position is part of this recall.
- If lower anchors are available in that seating position and the combined weight of the car seat plus the child is less than 65 pounds, install that car seat with lower anchors instead.
- Our old friend, the locking clip, would also be a valid option to lock the vehicle seat belt when installing a car seat.
Read the full text of the recall. Please note that this link is a PDF file.
