Buick Air Bags

Buick is recalling about 61 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. If the air bag does not to deploy in the event of a crash, there is an increased risk of injury to the front passenger.

Campaign
14V298000
Manufacturer
General Motors LLC
Reported
6 June 2014
Vehicles
61
Built between
Dec 2012 – May 2013
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
30 July 2014
Repaired
87%
Unrepaired
8

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between December 2012 and May 2013. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2013 Buick EncoreBuilt April 2013 to May 2013
  • 2013 Chevrolet SparkBuilt December 2012 to March 2013

Repair progress

8 of 61 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2015.

87% repaired — 53 of 61 reported

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 2013 Buick Encore vehicles manufactured April 10, 2013, to May 8, 2013, and Chevrolet Spark vehicles manufactured December 30, 2012, to March 1, 2013. In the affected vehicles, an improper weld on the passenger side front air bag inflator may result in the air bag not deploying.

What could happen

If the air bag does not to deploy in the event of a crash, there is an increased risk of injury to the front passenger.

What gets fixed

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger side front air bag, free of charge. The recall began on July 30, 2014.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtDecember 2012 to May 2013
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA6 June 2014
  3. Owners notified30 July 2014
  4. Latest repair reportQ4 2015 — 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 6 June 2014.

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 General Motors customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick) or 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 14211.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
14211
Recalling manufacturer
General Motors LLC
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