Buick Exterior Lighting: Turn Signal

Buick is recalling about 120,426 vehicles over a problem with the exterior lighting. If the driver is not aware that a turn signal is not functioning properly, the driver may continue to drive the vehicle.

Campaign
12V484000
Manufacturer
General Motors LLC
Reported
4 October 2012
Vehicles
120,426
Built between
Not published
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
8 September 2014
Repaired
87%
Unrepaired
15,786

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2011-2013 Buick Regal
  • 2013 Chevrolet Malibu

Repair progress

15,786 of 120,426 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q1 2016.

87% repaired — 104,382 of 120,426 reported

Owners not reachable
258

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Buick Regal and model year 2013 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with two turn signal bulbs in each front turn signal. If one of the two front turn signal bulbs burn out in either front turn signal lamp, there is no indication to the driver. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

What could happen

If the driver is not aware that a turn signal is not functioning properly, the driver may continue to drive the vehicle. If half of a front turn signal is not illuminating, other driver's may not be aware that the affected vehicle is turning, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

GM will notify owners, dealers will update the body control module software, free of charge. The recall began in September 2014.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA4 October 2012
  2. Owners notified8 September 2014
  3. Latest repair reportQ1 2016 — 87% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 4 October 2012.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Buick at 1-800-521-7300 or Chevrolet at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 12212.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
12212
Recalling manufacturer
General Motors LLC
Safety standard
FMVSS 108
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand