Is Your GM Vehicle Under Investigation For Possible Airbag Failur

Today's cars, trucks, vans, SUVs, and crossovers are immensely complex. There are so many parts and computers that all need to work together in harmony and many of those parts come from a number of third-party suppliers. That means not every part in your vehicle may not have been produced by the company represented by your car's emblem. As with anything that is human-made, possible failures can occur.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating complaints that airbags in certain GM vehicles may not inflate in a crash. As of right now, there is no recall.

Get our free mobile app

The NHTSA has opened an investigation looking at about 750,000 Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC vehicles from the 2020 and 2021 model years. Dakota News Now says the investigation covers full-size pickups and SUVs and a couple of sedans.

The vehicles under investigation include:

Chevrolet Silverado
Chevrolet Tahoe
Chevrolet Suburban
GMC Sierra
GMC Yukon
Cadillac Escalade
Cadillac XT4
Cadillac CT4
Cadillac CT5

On Tuesday, the agency posted documents showing 15 complaints of airbag malfunctions including six significant crashes where front airbags did not deploy. They say those crashes ended with eight reported injuries.

As of right now, GM has issued a service bulletin to dealerships in March, but there is no official recall. According to the bulletin, rust particles can accumulate on the driver's airbag connection terminal. The airbag malfunction light could come on and prevent the airbag from inflating in a crash.

GM released a statement saying they are not aware of airbags failing to inflate due to the rust problem. GM says their own tests show that the airbags will inflate in a crash even when the malfunction light is on. GM says in an effort to cooperate with the NHTSA's investigation, any vehicles that experience this condition would be repaired under warranty.