NHTSA campaign 21V051000 · manufacturer recall N212328770

2012 Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC: air bags recall

Q: Is N212328770 the same recall as 21V051000?

Yes. N212328770 is the number General Motors, LLC uses for this campaign in its own paperwork and in the letter it sends owners. 21V051000 is the number NHTSA files it under. One recall, two references — dealers and service departments generally quote the manufacturer's.

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.

high 284,645 vehicles affected 54% reported repaired

Also on this page:

What was reported

Source: manufacturer filing, 49 CFR Part 573

Problem General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2012 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." These vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling. Risk An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death. Fix GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328770.

Reported to NHTSA Feb 5, 2021 by General Motors, LLC, owners notified May 11, 2021.

Which vehicles are covered

Source: NHTSA campaign 21V051000

Model year	On WhichTrim
2012 Cadillac Escalade	every Cadillac on this site
2012 Cadillac Escalade ESV	every Cadillac on this site
2012 Cadillac Escalade EXT	every Cadillac on this site
2012 Chevrolet Avalanche	every Chevrolet on this site
2012 Chevrolet Silverado 1500	every Chevrolet on this site
2012 Chevrolet Silverado 2500	every Chevrolet on this site
2012 Chevrolet Silverado 3500	every Chevrolet on this site
2012 Chevrolet Suburban	every Chevrolet on this site
2012 Chevrolet Tahoe	every Chevrolet on this site
2012 GMC Sierra 1500	every GMC on this site
2012 GMC Sierra 2500	every GMC on this site
2012 GMC Sierra 3500	every GMC on this site
2012 GMC Yukon	every GMC on this site
2012 GMC Yukon XL	every GMC on this site

None of the vehicles this campaign names has a page on WhichTrim: every model year it names is older than the catalogue, which begins at 2016. The campaign record above is complete as filed, and whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by its VIN. Other campaigns on vehicles without a page here →

How much of it has been fixed

Source: manufacturer quarterly report, 49 CFR 573.7

Reported repaired 54%

of the campaign

The final figure: the six quarters of reporting that 49 cfr 573.7 requires have closed.

This is the manufacturer's own cumulative count of vehicles it has inspected and repaired, divided by the vehicles the campaign covers. It files that count with NHTSA every quarter for six consecutive quarters, starting from the quarter in which owners were told a remedy was ready, and then the obligation ends — so a figure on an older campaign is where the count stopped, not where it stands today.

It rarely reaches 100%, and not because the work was not done. The same report asks manufacturers to count vehicles they could not reach at all — exported, stolen, scrapped, or simply never located — and those stay in the denominator. A low number means a lot of these vehicles are still out there unrepaired; it does not tell you which ones.

The federal paperwork

Source: nhtsa.gov

Filed documents

Defect report PDF — The manufacturer's own filing to NHTSA describing the defect, the risk and the affected build range.
Owner letter PDF — The letter mailed to registered owners, in full.

Check one specific vehicle

A recall applies to a build range, so year, make and model cannot settle it. NHTSA checks a VIN against the manufacturer's own list and tells you whether the repair is still outstanding on that vehicle.

NHTSA VIN recall lookup →

Campaign 21V051000 · the manufacturer calls it N212328770

Own one, or run a fleet? Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, this one's expansions included. Or take a free one-line alert by model year.

Common questions

Source: NHTSA, 49 CFR Part 573

Is N212328770 the same recall as 21V051000?

Yes. N212328770 is the number General Motors, LLC uses for this campaign in its own paperwork and in the letter it sends owners. 21V051000 is the number NHTSA files it under. One recall, two references — dealers and service departments generally quote the manufacturer's.

Does this recall repair cost anything?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to remedy a safety defect or a compliance failure at no charge, for vehicles up to 15 years old measured from the date of first sale. A dealer that asks you to pay for a recall repair is in the wrong.

How do I know whether my vehicle is included?

By VIN, not by model year. The manufacturer files a build range with NHTSA and only vehicles inside it are covered, so two identical-looking cars from the same year can differ. NHTSA's own lookup checks a VIN against the manufacturer's list.

What if the repair is not available yet?

It happens, and often. Manufacturers must notify owners when a defect is found even if the parts or the software are not ready, then notify them a second time once the remedy exists. The remedy filed for this campaign is described above.

What did the manufacturer say was wrong?

The problem, risk and fix quoted on this page are the manufacturer's own words as filed with NHTSA under 49 CFR Part 573. WhichTrim does not paraphrase them.

Who started this recall?

NHTSA's record credits NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. A recall can begin with the manufacturer's own testing, with a defect investigation, or with a compliance test against a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard.