2011 Buick Enclave Cxl Sport Utility 4-door 3.6l on 2040-cars

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GM announces 6 recalls covering nearly 720k cars

General Motors has announced yet another sprawling recall campaign, with six separate elements covering 717,950 vehicles on US roads. At this point in 2014, it's starting to seem like there are more days with a GM recall than without. Perhaps most troubling about this latest volley, though, is that every vehicle is from the past few years, indicating that GM's quality woes may not be limited to pre-bankruptcy vehicles.
The largest element of this latest campaign covers 414,333 units, and includes the 2011 to 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, 2010 to 2012 Chevy Equinox, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX and the 2011 to 2012 Buick Regal and LaCrosse. Only vehicles with powered, height-adjustable seats are covered. In these particular cars and crossovers, the bolt that secures the height adjuster actuator may loosen of its own accord and in some cases fall out completely. If this happens, the seats will be able to move both up and down. GM claims the vehicles are safe to drive, provided drivers don't vertically adjust their seats. This particular issue has caused one crash and three injuries.
The largest element of this latest campaign covers 414,333 units, including the Chevrolet Camaro and Equinox, GMC Terrain, Cadillac SRX and the Buick Regal and LaCrosse.

Buick teases 'groovy' EV concept to debut this summer

Buick has been taking its slow, deliberate steps toward joining the General Motors EV club in the U.S. There was the Electra concept shown at Auto Shanghai way back in 2020. There was the mystery Buick fastback concept that showed up in GM's promotional vid for the Ultifi software platform in October 2021. Then GM applied to reserve the Electra name in Canada in December, and last month applied to reserve the Velite name in the U.S. Now Buick drops this, a tease for an electric vehicle that will debut this summer. The surprise came in the midst of call-and-response tweets between GM and its brands, the mothership asking, "Hey @Cadillac @GMC @Chevrolet @Buick @GMFleet @BrightDrop — your new boss needs a new ride. Which one of you has the best vehicle to serve my EV-il needs?" The Tri-Shield brand responded with this image and the caption, "WeÂ’re fans of all @GM EVs, but this summer we will show you our dreams of a groovy electric future. ? WeÂ’re sure a mastermind who makes his own quasi-futuristic clothes will be impressed." WeÂ’re fans of all @GM EVs, but this summer we will show you our dreams of a groovy electric future. ? WeÂ’re sure a mastermind who makes his own quasi-futuristic clothes will be impressed. ? https://t.co/7r3Czy8CXV pic.twitter.com/e1XzwFEVsJ — Buick (@Buick) February 13, 2022 The "mastermind"-slash-seamstress reference is looking at GM's villainous Super Bowl ad featuring Dr. Evil, his closest councilors, his son and Baby Me (R.I.P. Verne Troyer). GM's got 30 EVs on the way by 2025 for global markets, and it has begun to fill in the blanks in the U.S. for all its brands but Buick. Based on the automaker's 2019 Sustainability Report, we're expecting a Buick crossover and an SUV by 2025. If the tweeted image is of a people-hauler, it's the swoopiest crossover we've laid eyes on in some time. The rune-like DRL topped by brightwork and chiseled clear panels sits at the corner of a hood that looks like it could have been borrowed from a C7 Corvette. Frankly, this reminds us more of the Buick-branded fastback sedan in the Ultifi video than anything else we've seen. And we have no problem with any of this. As for the Velite trademark application, that could be Buick transplanting a little bit more of its Chinese operations to the U.S. Buick sells a Velite 7 electric crossover, Velite 6 EV and PHEV crossovers, and a Velite 5 PHEV sedan in China.

Fingers point to dragged-out NHTSA investigation after second death by ARC airbag inflator

Safety advocates have increased criticism of the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after an exploding airbag inflator that's been under investigation for more than six years killed a second person.  On Wednesday, NHTSA posted recall documents filed by General Motors that revealed the second death, the driver of a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV with an inflator made by Tennessee company ARC blew apart, spewing shrapnel. No details were given about where and when the death occurred. NHTSA has said that ARC Automotive of Knoxville has manufactured about 8 million inflators used nationwide in vehicles made by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler (now Stellantis), Kia and Hyundai. “NHTSA should have been all over this along time ago,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of California-based Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. “There's just no denying that itÂ’s a (safety) defect.” NHTSA, the agency charged with with keeping America's automobiles and roads safe, began investigating ARC inflators in July of 2015 after two people were injured by flying shrapnel. The investigation became more urgent in 2016, when a Canadian woman driving an older Hyundai Elantra was killed by metal airbag fragments. Public records show only a little progress on the probe. In April, the agency posted a memo in saying it was reviewing volumes of information it received from ARC. Safety advocates such as Shahan say that the dragged-out investigation is an example of the deadly consequences that can result from an understaffed and underfunded agency. The second death should not have happened, Shahan said, and vehicles with faulty ARC inflators should have been recalled faster. The agency, Shahan said, is “grossly underfunded," but it still should have sought recalls of the ARC inflators. She said historically NHTSA has taken little action during Republican administrations but has ramped up safety efforts when Democrats control the White House. Messages were left Wednesday by the Associated Press seeking comment from NHTSA and ARC. At this time, relatively few vehicles are effected. The GM recall covers only 550 Chevy Traverse SUVs from the 2013 through 2017 model years, as well as Buick Enclave SUVs from 2008 through 2017. The automaker said in a statement that the faulty front driver's airbag inflators were either installed at the factory or in replacement airbag modules.