[obermd]

I just checked the NHTSA web-site, www.nhtsa.gov, and it shows no recalls ever issued for the 2016 and 2017 Volt. Yet members here are reporting their dealerships are telling them about recalls and one member reported he received a letter from GM.

Either we are seeing the very earliest stages of a recall, where dealerships are told about a pending recall but the NHTSA and GM haven't formally declared one yet, or GM is still treating the Volt with kids gloves when it comes to potential issues.

 

[scottf200]

I look mine up here: https://my.chevrolet.com/recalls

 

[Steverino]

A "Recall" is a very specific thing. There are other things that dealer misleadingly refer to as a recall, such as customer service campaigns and service bulletins. "All front driver wheel assemblies must be replaced because they could fall off while driving" would be a recall. " Replacing the steering rack to address a "notch" some feel while driving would be customer service campaign.

So a recall is about safety. Of course that can be misleading as well. Many posts here will claim a safety issue. Example, "I can't see out the rear window as much as I want. This is a major safety issue!" This will not be the subject of an official recall. Gas lines leaking gasoline onto an engine manifold would.

 

[Prohidium]

There is a difference between a safety recall and a defect recall. The latter is what GM issues to owners when GM finds a problem that needs to be addressed that isn't necessarily a significant safety concern such as a part that is failing prematurely or it needs to correct an assembly problem. The former is something that is done when a major issue is found that has the potential to cause failure to a point where someone can be seriously harmed and is an imminent threat such as an exploding gas tank if rear ended.

 

[obermd]

I'm very aware of the differences between a recall, TSB, SC (Special Coverage), and a customer care campaign. The other thing I scanned while I at the NHTSA site was manufacturer communications. SCs and Customer Care Campaigns all show up in the manufacturer communications, as do any really unique repairs relating to safety. For instance, the Gen 1's SC for the Electronic Power Steering notchiness showed up as a manufacturer communication for multiple GM vehicles. It wasn't a safety issue, but was an annoyance (I know this first hand - my Cruze had to have the steering rack replaced to fix it).

In thread http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?291641-New-in-NY the OP stated that his Volt was effectively on a "stop sale" for a problem. Yet I didn't seen any manufacturer communications from GM to the NHTSA with this type of problem. There is something going on here at GM that isn't rising to the level of required public reporting to the NHTSA.

Question for the moderators - are members allowed to scan and post these service/recall letters they receive from GM? It would be interesting to read the actual letters since these letters specify the actual type of notification - recall, special coverage, customer care campaign, etc. Owners normally don't receive TSBs.

 

[DonC]

In thread http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?291641-New-in-NY the OP stated that his Volt was effectively on a "stop sale" for a problem. Yet I didn't seen any manufacturer communications from GM to the NHTSA with this type of problem. There is something going on here at GM that isn't rising to the level of required public reporting to the NHTSA.

Question for the moderators - are members allowed to scan and post these service/recall letters they receive from GM? It would be interesting to read the actual letters since these letters specify the actual type of notification - recall, special coverage, customer care campaign, etc. Owners normally don't receive TSBs.

To be precise, the OP said this is what the salesperson told him. Could be a lot of things, including they're trying to sell the car to someone else at a higher price or the car was damaged and they're waiting on the body shop. Not saying this is the case, I have no way of knowing, just pointing out that much of what you get from salespeople at a dealership needs to be taken with many grains of salt. Ditto for many service advisers. In this case we haven't seen other dealers stop selling the Volt so I'm rather dubious at this point. If it's correct we'll get confirmation pretty quickly.

Of course you can post letters from GM. Has happened many times before. Service bulletins are also posted from time to time.

 

[Khunshawnd]

To be precise, the OP said this is what the salesperson told him. Could be a lot of things, including they're trying to sell the car to someone else at a higher price or the car was damaged and they're waiting on the body shop. Not saying this is the case, I have no way of knowing, just pointing out that much of what you get from salespeople at a dealership needs to be taken with many grains of salt. Ditto for many service advisers. In this case we haven't seen other dealers stop selling the Volt so I'm rather dubious at this point. If it's correct we'll get confirmation pretty quickly.
Of course you can post letters from GM. Has happened many times before. Service bulletins are also posted from time to time.

OP here. In a different thread, http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?291553-Dealer-called-me-about-another-recall, a couple of people were able to give the recall a #: 17197. It does appear that it was issued in the last couple of days, and it's likely it just hasn't registered on GM's site yet. So, I've got my fingers crossed that the salesman is being legit, but I will definitely pin him down about it Monday!

 

[obermd]

Thanks DonC.

 

[Tomt]

Many confuse TSBs with Recalls... They are not the same thing and TSBs are not listed by the NHTSA...

 

[obermd]

Many confuse TSBs with Recalls... They are not the same thing and TSBs are not listed by the NHTSA...

Nor are Service Campaigns, which is what appears to be what dealerships were notified about last week.

 

[scottf200]

Anyone use these sites to look for TSBs?

https://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/ (this one shows documents)
http://www.chevroletproblems.com/tsbs/Volt/

 

[Steverino]

I'm very aware of the differences between a recall, TSB, SC (Special Coverage), and a customer care campaign. The other thing I scanned while I at the NHTSA site was manufacturer communications. SCs and Customer Care Campaigns all show up in the manufacturer communications, as do any really unique repairs relating to safety.

It would have been helpful to have included this detail in your original post.