— General Motors is recalling almost 5,500 model year 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impala cars equipped with front vent-heated passenger seats. GM says the cars have a front passenger airbags that can deploy if a child car seat is installed in the passenger seats.
The automaker says the Impalas have "automatic occupant sensing" systems with a calibration learning error that can fail to prevent the airbag from deploying with a child in the seat. The system is meant to recognize an infant in a car seat in the front passenger seat.
With an infant in the seat or with an unoccupied seat, the airbag light should remain off and the airbag deactivated. The error in the system will cause the airbag light to illuminate and the airbag to deploy even if the passenger seat is empty. With an infant in a car seat, the deployed airbag could do serious physical harm.
The calibration learning error can also cause the front passenger seat belt warning light and chime to activate when the seat is empty and the belt is not buckled.
GM says the recalled 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impalas were built April 15, 2013, to June 19, 2015, and again, only cars equipped with front vent-heated passenger seats are involved in the recall.
General Motors doesn't know when the Impala recall will begin, but dealers will precondition the empty seat to correct the error, and also reset the electronic control unit to a seat zero-value.
Owners of the 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impala cars can contact Chevrolet at 800-222-1020 and make reference to recall number 15400.
- Read complaints about the 2014 Chevrolet Impala, 2015 Chevrolet Impala or other model years of Chevy Impala cars.
