— A GM seat belt pretensioner recall is under an upgraded investigation by the government after vehicle owners continued to complain about flexible steel cables that separated.
About 2.8 million model year 2009-2016 General Motors vehicles are included in the upgraded investigation even though the 2014 seat belt pretensioner recall included only 1.4 million of these model year 2009-2014 vehicles.
- 2009-2010 Saturn Outlook
- 2009-2014 Buick Enclave
- 2009-2014 GMC Acadia
- 2009-2014 Chevrolet Traverse
The seat belt pretensioner recall was issued to allegedly repair problems with fatigue and separations of the flexible steel cables that connect the front outboard seat belts to the seat-mounted belt pretensioners.
The initial GM investigation was opened to look at the warranty and complaint data related to seat belt anchor cable separations and replacements in vehicles that were recalled in 2014.
Safety regulators confirm the failure rate is very low for vehicles covered by the 2014 recall, but "complainants may not recognize accumulating cable fatigue damage from the visual cues available in routine vehicle use."
And although the cable separation rate is very low, GM owners have still complained about the problems in vehicles that were not included in the 2014 recall. Additionally, complaints have been received about these GM models which were covered by multiple similar recalls.
- 2011-2012 Chevrolet Malibu
- 2014-2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
- 2014-2015 GMC Sierra 1500
- 2014-2016 Chevrolet Caprice Police Pursuit
- 2014-2016 Chevrolet SS
NHTSA says it upgraded the GM investigation "to more closely assess seat belt conditions and strength levels in the field. This work will include the collection of seat belt samples from a wider range of recalled and peer vehicles for detailed analysis and testing."
CarComplaints.com will update our website with results of the GM seat belt pretensioner recall federal investigation.
Read complaints from drivers of the Saturn Outlook, Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse.
