Owner Letter
Owner LetterDecember 2010
Dear General Motors Customer:
This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
General Motors has decided that certain 2004-2011 model year Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon regular cab vehicles and extended cab vehicles without a rear seat, and equipped with a front 60/40 split bench seat fail to conform to Federal/Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 225 and (CMVSS) 210.1. The top tether anchor for the front center seat is not accessible and the Owner Manual does not include instructions regarding how to use the top tether. As a result, GM is conducting a recall. We apologize for this inconvenience. However, we are concerned about your safety and continued satisfaction with our products.
Important
- Your vehicle is involved in recall 10367.
- This recall notice contains important information and instructions to the use of child restraints in your vehicle.
- Schedule an appointment with your GM dealer.
- This service will be performed for you at no charge.
Why is your vehicle being recalled?
The child restraint top tether anchor for the front center seat position in your vehicle is not accessible as required by the Standard. FMVSS 225 also requires that the Owner Manual includes a step-by-step procedure for attaching a child restraint top tether to a vehicle top tether anchor.
The top tether helps to secure a child seat. Even with the top tether, however, both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and GM discourage placement of a child in a front seat. In the event of a crash, a child in a child restraint in the front center seat position with or without a top tether anchor restraint can be seriously injured or killed.
What will we do?
FMVSS 225 requires that we provide the enclosed Owner Manual Supplement that describes how to install a child restraint using a top tether in the front center seat position; however, General Motors does not recommend that you place a child restraint in the front center seat. A child in a child restraint in the front center seat position can be seriously injured or killed by the frontal airbags if they inflate.
If you must transport a child in a forward-facing child restraint in your vehicle, General Motors recommends placing the forward-facing child restraint in the right front passenger seat where a top tether anchor is already accessible. The vehicle may have a passenger sensing system or a manual airbag on-off switch that is designed to turn off the right front passenger frontal airbag under certain conditions. In addition, a forward-facing child restraint installed in the right front passenger seat would not interact with the driver's frontal airbag. Rear-facing child restraints should not be installed in vehicles without a rear seat, even if the passenger airbag is off. Please refer to the appropriate section in your Owner Manual for more information.
Your GM dealer will cut a hole into the back panel trim cover to allow access to the top tether anchor for the front center seat position. See the enclosed insert for an illustration. This service procedure will be performed for you at no charge. Because of service scheduling requirements, it is likely that your dealer will need your vehicle longer than the actual service correction time of approximately 20 minutes.
What should you do?
Please place the enclosed Owner Manual Supplement in your Owner Manual in the Seats and Restraints section for future reference.
Because a child in a child restraint in the front center seat position can be seriously injured or killed by the frontal airbags if they inflate, GM does not recommend installing child restraints in the front center seat position.
You should contact your GM dealer to arrange a service appointment to have an access hole cut into the back panel trim cover as soon as possible. Until this recall can be performed on your vehicle, a child restraint top tether cannot be attached to the top tether anchor for the front center seat position. After this procedure has been performed by your dealer, the Owner Manual Supplement provides a step-by-step procedure for attaching a child restraint top tether to the vehicle top tether anchor for the front center seat position.
Do you have questions?
If you have questions or concerns that your dealer is unable to resolve, please contact the appropriate Customer Assistance Center at the number listed below. More information about your vehicle can be found at the Owner Center at www.gmownercenter.com.
If after contacting your dealer and the Customer Assistance Center, you are still not satisfied we have done our best to remedy this condition without charge and within a reasonable time, you may wish to write the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington DC 20590, or call the toll-free Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1.888.327.4236 (TTY 1.800.424.9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov.
Federal regulation requires that any vehicle lessor receiving this recall notice must forward a copy of this notice to the lessee within ten days.
Jim Moloney
General Director,
Customer and Relationship Services
Enclosure
10367