GM recall: Is your car on the list?
Tuesday's GM recall is the auto company's second attempt to deal with a faulty heated windshield wiper system that can cause fires. The feature will be permanently disabled.
This file photo shows a 2004 Cadillac CTS. The GM recall includes the 2008 and 2009 model year Cadillac CTS, along with several other GM cars and trucks. The vehicles are equipped with faulty heated windshield wiper systems.
Photo courtesy of Weick
The GM recall announced Tuesday includes about 1.5 million pickup trucks, sports utility vehicles, and passenger cars equipped with heated windshield wiper systems. The systems can overheat and cause fires.
General Motors vehicles affected by the recall include:
- The 2006-09 Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, and Hummer H2
- The 2007-09 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, GMC Acadia, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL, and Saturn Outlook
- The 2008-09 model year Buick Enclave and Cadillac CTS
- The 2009 model year Chevrolet Traverse
If you own one of these vehicles and have heated windshield-wiper fluid, GM will be requesting that you to bring the vehicle to a dealer, who will disable and remove the system. Because it was an extra feature that's now being removed, GM will pay owners $100 as compensation.
This is the second time the Detroit automaker has addressed the windshield wiper problem. In 2008, some 858,000 vehicles with heated wiper systems were recalled because they were short-circuiting and catching fire.
Tuesday’s recall was prompted by new reports of overheating on the repaired systems, ranging from “minor distortion” to substantial melting of the plastic casing around the windshield wiper fluid chamber, according to a statement released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The car company is aware of five fires caused by the faulty systems, but no injuries have been reported, according to an Associated Press report.
The recall will take effect June 14 and GM will be sending out letters to alert owners. But if you have one of the affected vehicles you can contact your dealer to have the heated windshield wiper system removed immediately.
You can also contact Buick at 866-608-8080, Cadillac at 866-982-2339, Chevrolet at 800-630-2438, Saturn at 800-972-8876, GMC at 1-866-996-9463, and Hummer at 800-732-5493.
Find more information about the recall at GM's owner center or by visiting www.safercar.gov.