General Motors is recalling nine total vehicles, five 2023 GMC Terrains and four 2023 Chevrolet Equinoxes. Each one is subject to a probable issue with their front-passenger-seat safety sensors. The sensor might not detect when a child is present in the seat. If it fails it might not disable the airbag and injury could occur in the event of a crash.
GM caught this issue before learning of any injuries and actually less than two months after these vehicles rolled off of the production line. According to the filing with the NHTSA, production for the four Equinox models and the five Terrains took place between October 22nd and 25th of this year.
All new Terrains and Equinoxes feature a sensing system that’s engineered to disable the passenger airbag if it detects a small child or a child restraint in the seat. In these nine examples, the system is faulty and the cause is at the heart of their ventilated seating feature.
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GM says that in these vehicles, the vent assemblies are likely missing foam spacers, “which under certain conditions may cause the sensing system not to properly disable the airbag.” GM’s ‘tier 1’ seat supplier notified the brand that it had discovered the issue and that some seats might have been shipped to production facilities.
GM ended up meeting with the ‘tier 1’ supplier, the ‘tier 2’ vent supplier, and its technical experts to evaluate the danger and plan a new procedure to ensure the issue doesn’t come up again. Both suppliers now have a process in place to check for the spacers before the final product can make it into a GM vehicle.
Dealers were made aware of the issue on December 15th and GM will begin notifying owners on January 30th. Til then, owners who worry their vehicle might be included can contact the NHTSA or their local dealer. It’s worth noting that those who don’t have ventilated front seats don’t have to worry about the recall.
