The defect
General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT; Chevrolet Avalanche, Express, Silverado HD, Silverado LD, Suburban, and Tahoe; and GMC Savana, Sierra HD, Sierra LD, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles, manufactured between November 7, 2012, through December 18, 2012, for failing to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 102, "Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect", and FMVSS No. 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention." The vehicles may have been built with a fractured park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator gear in the lock module assembly.
The risk
As a result, the vehicle may shift from Park with the ignition key removed or the ignition key in the OFF position. The vehicle may also shift out of Park without application of the brake pedal while the key is off. Either of these scenarios may cause the vehicle to roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, resulting in a possible vehicle crash and/or injury.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the affected vehicles and replace the steering column as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on January 21, 2013. Chevrolet owners may call 1-800-630-2438. Cadillac owners may call 1-866-982-2339. GMC owners may call 1-866-996-9463.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
Components: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | STEERING:COLUMN LOCKING:ANTI-THEFT DEVICE
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadillac Escalade | 2013 | 19 | 4 |
| Cadillac Escalade ESV | 2013 | 2 | 4 |
| Cadillac Escalade EXT | 2013 | 1 | 3 |
| Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 | 2013 | 29 | 1 |
| Chevrolet Express | 2013 | 22 | 8 |
| Chevrolet Silverado | 2013 | 64 | 3 |
| Chevrolet Suburban | 2013 | 118 | 4 |
| Chevrolet Tahoe | 2013 | 233 | 4 |
| GMC Savana | 2013 | 2 | 9 |
| GMC Sierra | 2013 | 39 | 3 |
| GMC Yukon | 2013 | 117 | 4 |
| GMC Yukon XL | 2013 | 22 | 4 |
Other power train recalls in 2013
39 of the 627 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2013 concerned the power train; General Motors LLC filed 272 campaigns in all.
| 13V634000 16 Dec 2013 | Daimler Trucks North America |
| 13V633000 16 Dec 2013 | Daimler Trucks North America |
| 13V610000 6 Dec 2013 | Chrysler Group LLC |
| 13V594000 25 Nov 2013 | Ford Motor Company |
| 13V572000 18 Nov 2013 | Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. |
| 13V571000 14 Nov 2013 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 13V568000 14 Nov 2013 | Volkswagen of America, Inc. |
| 13V538000 30 Oct 2013 | Daimler Trucks North America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2013