Chevrolet and GMC recall query RQ18002
Windshield Wiper Transmission Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this recall query about the visibility on 12 model years (2010–2016). Opened Nov 2, 2018, closed Dec 19, 2019 after 14 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn November 2, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Recall Query (RQ18-002) to assess the scope of Recall 16V-582. General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper failure in the Model Year (MY) 2013 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Failures were attributed to water and debris intrusion into the windshield wiper assembly ball joints, leading to excessive wear and eventual detachment of the affected ball joint with an attendant loss of windshield wiper function. The recall remedy addressed these conditions with the installation of an improved windshield wiper motor/transmission assembly and the relocation of a drain hole on the Air Inlet Panel at the base of the windshield. RQ18-002 was opened to assess windshield wiper failure rates in the MY 2010-2012 and MY 2014 - 2016 Equinox and Terrain (subject vehicles).During the course of the investigation, ODI received additional consumer complaint traffic bringing its total to 602 concerning the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. In their December 20, 2018 response to ODI's Information Request (IR) Letter, GM reported 1,303 complaints related to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. Together, these bodies of data correspond to 1,905 unique Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN).GM stated the recalled vehicles exhibited double the warranty rate and five times the complaint rate of the subject vehicles and that continuing complaint traffic concerning the alleged defect in the subject vehicles stemmed from publicity surrounding Recall 16V-582. ODI's review of GM's data confirms the stated difference in failure rates between the recalled and subject vehicles. However, ODI believes that the subject vehicle failure rates are nevertheless elevated and that publicity alone cannot account for the continued consumer complaint traffic concerning the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. ODI is upgrading to RQ18-002 to an Engineering Analysis to compare subject vehicle failure rates and engineering practices to those in peer vehicles. The 602 ODI complaints cited can be viewed in a separate attachment.
A Recall Query is a look at a recall that already exists — whether its remedy works, whether it reached every vehicle it should have, whether the manufacturer met its obligations. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2018 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2018 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2018 | |
| Manufacturer's response — data | INRD | 2018 | 5 files 12345 |
| Manufacturer's response — full submission | INRL | 2018 | 2 files 12 |
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Nov 2, 2018, owners had filed 67 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 7 named the visibility/wiper NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one is closed. A recall query ends with NHTSA’s finding on the recall it examined — the remedy stands, is widened, or a new campaign follows; the file names the recall it concerned and NHTSA’s closing resume carries the reasoning.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named on model years this site has no page for: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox; 2011 Chevrolet Equinox; 2012 Chevrolet Equinox; 2014 Chevrolet Equinox; 2015 Chevrolet Equinox; 2010 GMC Terrain; 2011 GMC Terrain; 2012 GMC Terrain; 2014 GMC Terrain; 2015 GMC Terrain.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs RQ18002 a recall?
No. A recall query is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is RQ18002 still open?
No. It closed on Dec 19, 2019 without a recall.
Which vehicles does RQ18002 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 12 model years: 2016 Chevrolet Equinox, 2016 GMC Terrain, 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, 2011 Chevrolet Equinox, 2012 Chevrolet Equinox, 2014 Chevrolet Equinox and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.