INDIANA – GM has recently issued a recall for certain units of the 2020 through 2023 GMC Terrain with incorrectly powder-coated child seat anchorage systems. Because of this possible manufacturing defect, installing a child safety seat using the anchorage bars may not be possible.
Affected units of the GMC Terrain may have excessive powder-coat paint applied to one or more of the four LATCH anchorage bars for the rear seat lower child seat.
The excessive thickness of the powder coating on the GMC Terrain anchorage bars may increase the diameter of the anchorage bars beyond the 6 millimeters, plus or minus 1 millimeter, mandated by the Federal/Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard.
In some cases, this could prevent the bars from seating correctly and thus prevent the installation of a child safety seat using the anchorage bars. GM notes that as a stopgap until the problem is corrected, the GMC Terrain owner can still securely install a child safety seat using the rear seat belts as directed in the owner’s manual.
GM instructs dealerships to inspect potentially affected GMC Terrain units and measure the thickness of the LATCH child safety seat anchorage bars. If the bars are too thick, the dealership’s service personnel should sand the powder coat paint down to the bare metal, repaint the bars using single-step primer and an appropriate paint, and recheck the dimensions.
The repair requires approximately 24 minutes to complete, or slightly longer if more than two of the four anchorage bars must be repainted. Customers will be reimbursed if approved by GM before the repair.
Notably, the recall requires all dealers to hold involved units of the GMC Terrain in inventory until any necessary repair is carried out. The vehicles may not be delivered, sold, traded to other dealerships, or used in demonstrations until inspected and, if necessary, repaired. Sale, lease, or delivery of these units before inspection is a violation of federal law.
Affected vehicles:
- 2020 GMC Terrain
- 2021 GMC Terrain
- 2022 GMC Terrain
- 2023 GMC Terrain
- 2020 Chevy Equinox
- 2021 Chevy Equinox
- 2022 Chevy Equinox
- 2023 Chevy Equinox
213,465 vehicles are affected by this recall. The same recall applies to 454,722 units of 2020 through 2023 Chevy Equinox, which may have been produced with similarly excessively thick paint on the anchorage bars.
GM will notify owners of potentially affected GMC Terrain units of the recall and available fix. Owners of 2020 through 2023 GMC Terrain crossovers who have additional questions or concerns can call GMC customer service, referencing the recall number provided below.
Contacts:
- GM recall number: N232403240
- GMC Customer Service: 1-800-462-8782
