General Motors Corporation has initiated a massive recall of 857,735 vehicles. The recall involves the following vehicles: model year 2006-2008 Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, Hummer H2; model year 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Tahoe, GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL, Saturn Outlook, and model year 2008 Buick enclave. All of the above vehicles are equipped with a heated windshield wiper fluid system. The heater is controlled by a printed circuit board which can short circuit and overheat the control circuit ground wire. This condition subsequently poses a fire hazard. Dealers will install a wire harnes containing an in-line fuse free of charge. General Motors has not yet established on owner notification schedule.
BMW is recalling 200,000 model year 2006 3 series (sport seat), model year 2004-2006 5 series (standard and sport seats), and model year 2004-2006 X3 passenger vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with an occupant detection mat in the front passenger seat. The mats can crack as a result of a fatigue failure and can cause deactivation of the front passenger air bag. If this happens, the air bag warning lamp and the air bag on-off lamps will become illuminated. This recall is expected to begin in late September. Dealers will "rework" the mat so that external force applied to the mat will not cause it to crack.
Hyundai is recalling 65,000 model year 2008 Elantra vehciles equipped with 2.0 liter engines. These vehicles contain fuel pumps that may not have the proper internal electrical contact and as a result could become a fire hazard. Dealers will replace the fuel subassembly free of charge. This recall is expected to begin during the month of September, 2008.
All of the above information was obtained from reports prepared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). For further information, please go to NHTSA's website at www.nhtsa.gov .
