Cars and Drivers

GM Adds Another Fire Warning to Previous Recall

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Source: Wikimedia Commons
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) issued a recall in late June on about 184,000 SUVs that the company had identified as being susceptible to a fire caused by a short circuit in the driver’s side master power window switch. The company issued another warning on the same vehicles earlier this week, advising owners to park the vehicle outside until the switch can be inspected and replaced if necessary.

The affected SUVs are some model year 2005-2007 SAAB 9-7x vehicles; 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXTs and GMC Envoy XLs; and 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazers, GMC Envoys, Buick Rainiers, and Isuzu Ascenders. Fluid could get inside the master power window switch on the driver’s door and cause corrosion that could result in a short circuit. A short could cause the power window and door locks to function intermittently or not all and may overheat, melting parts of the door and causing “odor, smoke, or a fire.”

According to a report from the AP, parts to fix the problem are not scheduled to be available until October at the earliest, and GM has directed its dealers not to sell the vehicles as used cars until the problem is fixed.

GM first tried to deal with this issue with a service campaign in 20 states and the District of Columbia under which the company would fix only vehicles that had demonstrated the problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pressured the company to recall the vehicles in cold-weather states in mid-2012 after the agency and GM had received 242 complaints, including 28 fires. No injuries were reported.

The June recall to replace the switch followed another attempt in 2013 by GM to cut its losses by putting a protective coating around the circuit board.

There’s nothing really new about the latest notice except that reinforces GM’s recent commitment to safety and puts into even sharper relief the practices the company followed under previous management.  Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer noted:

GM’s new focus on safety is reflected in its continued analysis of past quality issues. The automaker continues to identify and publicize any situation that can cause serious injury, such as the latest recall for potential fire hazards on older SUVs. While this frequency of recalls has the potential to damage GM’s image we continue to see limited negative impact from the consumer shopping perspective.

The company’s stock is trading up about 0.5% in the noon hour Friday at $33.29 in a 52-week range of $31.70 to $41.85.

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