Wipeout: Government Agency Investigating GM Windshield Wiper Recall

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

Back in August 2016, General Motors recalled 367,808 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers for potentially faulty windshield wipers. At the time, certain 2013 models were identified as having linkages that could rust and separate, leaving drivers with a fistful of nothing when they hit the wiper stalk.

Like all good things – poutine, back bacon, and Donald Sutherland – attention towards the issue originated in Canada. Apparently, an employee reported the problem in December 2015 and, after recalling these crossovers in the Great White North, GM did the same for some American units, as well.

Now, the U.S. gubmint is investigating the possibility that GM didn’t recall enough Equinox and Terrains for this particular issue. At stake? Over 1.7 million units spanning seven model years.

According to various outlets, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has 249 wiper failure complaints from owners whose vehicles weren’t included in the recall. While no crashes or injuries were reported – a very good thing – it wouldn’t take too much for things to go awry if a driver was left wiperless in a sudden downpour.

Specifically, the government is seeking to find out if a recall for this problem should be issued for Equinox and Terrain crossovers built from 2010 to 2016. The existing campaign, NHTSA number 16V582000, says the ball joints in the windshield wiper module may corrode and wear over time, possibly resulting in one or both of the windshield wipers becoming inoperative.

Some of the Equinox and Terrain machines from that generation are now nearly 10 years old, meaning more than a few of them have likely changed hands many times. Finding all the owners will be a challenge. According to government docs, a total of 268,668 of the 367,808 machines affected by the existing safety campaign have been repaired. That’s a rate of 73 percent, leaving about 100,000 units MIA. Over 4,000 have been classified as “unreachable.”

For its part, GM says it recalled the 2013 vehicles because warranty claims showed a higher than expected failure rate on the affected part. The company goes on to say it is monitoring other model years and will work with NHTSA on the probe.

[Image: General Motors]

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • IBx1 IBx1 on Nov 07, 2018

    Thank you for the poutine

  • Markgilbert Markgilbert on Jan 05, 2019

    Such an informative article. This article gives all the important info's of GM windshield wiper.it's very helpful.Thanks for sharing. Keep posting this type of post. Regards From- Cool Car Accessories

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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