- Vehicles
- 491
- Built between
- Apr 1979 – Apr 1979
- Models
- 2
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 7 September 1979
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between April 1979 and April 1979. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 1979 Chevrolet MalibuBuilt April 1979 to April 1979
- 1979 Oldsmobile CutlassBuilt April 1979 to April 1979
What the defect is
The invovled vehicles fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 201, "occupant protection in interior impacts". Incorrect head restraints may have been installed.
What gets fixed
DEALER WILL INSPECT AND, IF NECESSARY, INSTALL NEW HEAD RESTRAINTS AT NO COST TO OWNER.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtApril 1979 to April 1979
- Recall reported to NHTSA28 August 1979
- Owners notified7 September 1979
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 28 August 1979.
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.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 201
- 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
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with bench seats.system: interior; head restraints.consequences of defect: in the event of an accident in which a rear seatpassenger"s head impacts with the front seat head restraint, the possibility ofhead injury to the rear seat passenger may be increased.
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.