Today, GM announced it is recalling almost 500,000 Chevy Suburban, Tahoe, and Cadillac Escalade SUVs. The recall is over issues with the third-row seat belts. This recall involves 2021 and 2022 versions of the large SUVs. The left and right rear passenger seat belt assembly brackets were formed incorrectly. The rivets that hold the assembly together may come loose. This could cause passengers to become unrestrained in the event of a crash.

If you own one of these large SUVs what should you do?

The recall notice will instruct you to make an appointment with your local Chevy or Cadillac dealership for an inspection. A tech will replace them at no charge if the seat belt assemblies are found to be improperly riveted. GM is advising owners to not use the third-row seats until an inspection is performed. A stop sale has been issued for new inventory at dealerships until repairs, if necessary, are made. 

This is not the first time for GM to be recalling its big SUVs over seat belt issues. In December 2020, GM issued a recall for over 600,000 large pickups and large SUVs. The reason was the front center seat belt assembly could come loose, with potentially the same result as with the current recall. 

Vehicles on the list included 2019–2021 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups, 2020–2021 Silverado and Sierra 2500/3500 pickups, and 2021 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon XL SUVs. The company suggested that center-front passengers might detect a rattling noise, or notice the seat belt is loose.

There are a lot of seat belt recalls for GM’s large SUVs

Then in March of 2021, another recall was issued for 2021 large SUVs. This also was for seat belt issues again involving the third-row seats. The SUVs involved were 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac Escalade ESV, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Chevrolet Suburban, and Chevrolet Tahoe large SUVs. The outboard seat belts could be caught in the folding seat mechanism this time. The seat belt could become damaged and then break in the event of an accident. Notices were sent out in May 2021. 

Driver’s side seat belts were also recalled in 2014 to 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2015 to 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe, and 2014 to 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 models. This time it was for the pretensioner cable assemblies breaking. But these pretensioner cables assemblies had already been recalled once before. So this time the assemblies being recalled were the previously recalled units. 

Needless to say, GM is having problems with seat belts in its large SUVs, and in some cases, large trucks. If you have questions about any of these recalls, you can contact GM at its recall center website, or call 1.800.222.1020. Or you can contact the NHTSA at 1.888.327.4236. Refer to recall number N222372380.

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