2015 Chevrolet Spark EV

Defect. General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark and 2014-2015 Chevrolet Spark EV vehicles. The secondary hood latch may corrode at the latch pivot, preventing the hood latch from properly engaging.

Risk. A hood latch failure can result in the vehicle's hood opening unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy. Dealers will replace the hood striker assembly and hood latch assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 12, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is A222359300. This recall supersedes and expands NHTSA recall number 14V-593. Vehicles previously repaired under 14V-593 will need to have the new remedy performed.

Defect. General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16V-651, the affected vehicles may not have received the complete software update necessary to remedy the recall condition. Without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.

Risk. A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.

Remedy. GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.

Defect. General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.

Risk. A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.

Remedy. GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.

CONTEXT: IT WAS A WET EVENING HERE IN PORTLAND, OR (8:15PM PDT, APRIL 13TH) AND I WAS GETTING NEW TIRES THE FOLLOWING WEEK, SO I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE LONGEVITY OF THE TIRES. ALSO, WHAT I EXPERIENCED WAS SOMETHING I READ ONLINE BEFORE BUYING THE SPARK. I MADE A LEGAL U-TURN TO GET TO THE ENTRANCE OF FRED MEYER (A KROGER STORE) AND HIT THE ACCELERATOR HARD ENOUGH (~60% THROTTLE) TO SPIN THE TIRES AND THE TRACTION CONTROL ACTIVATED. I THEN SAW THE SEMI-HIDDEN ENTRANCE AND HIT THE BRAKES HARD MAKE A RIGHTHAND TURN INTO FRED MEYER. THE BRAKES ENGAGED (W/ ABS) THEN DISENGAGED AFTER ~.3 SECONDS. IT FELT LIKE THE MOTOR WAS REGEN'ING SLIGHTLY BUT THE MECHANICAL BRAKES WERE NOT ENGAGED. I STARTED TO PUMP THE BRAKES. ABOUT 4 PUMPS AND ~60 FEET LATER, THE BRAKES ENGAGED. I DID NOT MAKE MY TURN AND NO ONE GOT HURT. HERE'S A NOTE I RECEIVED FROM A LADY ON A CHEVY SPARK EV FACEBOOK GROUP: MY HUSBAND (AND AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER) EXPLAINS HOW THIS IS PISS-POOR SOFTWARE PROGRAMMING ON GM'S PART. THIS ALL HAS TO DO WITH WHAT THE SYSTEM DOES WHEN PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL IF SOMETHING LIKE THE ABS MODULE OR OTHER HARDWARE ISN'T FUNCTIONING. WHAT HE EXPLAINS IS HAPPENING IS INSTEAD OF ALLOWING THE NORMAL BRAKING SYSTEM TO CONTINUE TO MODULATE AND FUNCTION, IT JUST SHUTS DOWN. NISSAN EVEN HAD ISSUES WITH BRAKING GOING INTO SOMETHING KNOWN AS 'ICE MODE' AND FAILING. (NOT WIDELY KNOWN OUTSIDE OF THE INDUSTRY) HE ALSO COMPARED THIS TO THE BOEING PLANE CRASH SOFTWARE ISSUE THERE (IN THAT CASE

ON STATIONARY CAR START, SIMULTANEOUSLY RECEIVED A SERVICE AIRBAG WARNING AND SERVICE STABILITRAK WARNING.

WHILE DRIVING NORMALLY, THE "SERVICE STABILITRAC" WARNING APPEARS FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY A "SERVICE BRAKE ASSIST" WARNING. THEN THE BRAKE PEDAL REQUIRES EXTREME EFFORT TO SLOW OR STOP THE CAR. THE REGENERATIVE BRAKING IS ALSO DISABLED. AFTER STOPPING THE CAR, THE CAR CAN BE TURNED OFF AND THEN BACK ON WHEREUPON THE BRAKES WILL BE WORKING NORMALLY. THE WARNINGS AND LOSS OF BRAKING ASSIST MAY STAY AWAY FOR A PERIOD OF 1 MINUTE OR UP TO 1 WEEK OR MORE. IT APPEARS TO BE VERY RANDOM. FORTUNATELY, NONE OF THE OCCURRENCES HAVE RESULTED IN A CRASH, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN SCARED DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS PART (THE DEALER BLAMES THE BPMV AND IS NOW PUTTING THE FOURTH ONE ON MY CAR) HAS BEEN AT THE DEALER. THE SECOND ONE WAS APPARENTLY LEAKING WHEN INSTALLED. THIS WORK WAS PERFORMED AT MOMENTUM CHEVROLET IN SAN JOSE, CA. THE PROBLEM OCCURS WHEN THE CAR IS IN MOTION, TYPICALLY AT 20-50 MPH, AS THAT IS WHAT MOST OF MY DRIVING CONSISTS OF. THERE IS A FORUM THREAD ON THIS SUBJECT AT CHEVY SPARK EV FORUM. OTHER DRIVERS HAVE DESCRIBED MULTIPLE EVENTS IDENTICAL TO MINE. [XXX] PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).*CC

COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE WITH MY 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER DRIVING. SHE NEEDED TO SWERVE INTO A CURVE TO SLOW DOWN BEFORE APPROACHING BUSY INTERSECTION. WE KNOW OF AT LEAST 4 OTHER IDENTICAL ISSUES WITH BRAKE FAILURE AT OUR DEALERSHIP ALONE WITH ONE OWNER HAVING BRAKE FAILURE 3 SEPARATE TIMES ON THE SAME 2015 CHEVY SPARK. THEY REPLACED HER 2015 WITH A 2016 AND HAD THE SAME BRAKE FAILURE IN HER NEW CAR. *TR

THERE WAS A "SERVICE STABILTRAC" WARNING FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY A "SERVICE BRAKE ASSIST" WARNING MESSAGE. IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS THERE WAS A TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE WHILE IN MOTION ON A HIGHWAY (APPROX. 50-60 MPH).

TWO WARNINGS FLASHED: "SERVICE STABILITRAC" FOLLOWED BY "SERVICE BRAKE ASSIST." IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS THERE WAS A COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE WHILE IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET. LUCKILY WE WERE ON A SLIGHT INCLINE AND THERE WASN'T MUCH TRAFFIC SO WE WERE ABLE TO SAFELY NAVIGATE THE CAR INTO A PARKING LOT AND STOP BY HITTING A CURB. OTHERWISE, I DON'T WANT TO SPECULATE ON WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED.

THERE WAS A "SERVICE BRAKE ASSIST" WARNING THAT FLASHED AND IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS THERE WAS A BRAKE FAILURE WHILE IN MOTION. THE BRAKE PEDAL WENT DOWN TO THE FLOOR AND WE WERE UNABLE TO STOP ON A CITY STREET.