General Motors has had a tremendously horrible year, as far as safety concerns go, and there is no end on the horizon. Yet another problem has surfaced, forcing the automaker to recall a group of SUVs for a third time.
The problem, which was revealed in a document this week, concerns the driver’s-side door switches that control the window could potentially catch fire. The issue is so severe that GM is urging owners to park these vehicles outdoors as it could catch fire while unattended.
This recall will affect about 189,000 cars across North America. The affected vehicles include mostly 2006 and 2007 models of the Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainer, Isuzu Ascender and the Saab 97-X.
The automaker has also urged its dealerships to stop selling the used models of these vehicles until the problem is fixed. And it doesn’t look like that will be anytime soon as GM says that the necessary parts to fix the issue won’t be available until October.
This issue first came to light in early 2012 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began investigating the consumer complaints of fires of the driver side door switches. The investigation revealed that if water finds its way into the switches, it can cause rust that can result in a short circuit, overheating and possible fires. Letters were sent to owners to warn them, but not much else was done until August 2012. Under government pressure GM recalled 278,000 SUVs in cold-weather states and offered extended warranties to the rest of the country. Just 10 months later the recall was expended nationwide.
The problem has prompted 242 complaints and about 28 fires, with no reported injuries.
General Motors is in the midst of the worst safety crisis in the company’s history. The automaker has issued 60 recalls of nearly 29 million vehicles just this year. This is inclusive of the infamous ignition switch recall that the company is currently receiving claims for.
