Talk about a bad break. General Motors is issuing a recall on 210,628 vehicles in the United States and 19,385 vehicles in Canada due to a soft, spongey brake pedal. The recall impacts hundreds of thousands of 2018 and 2019 models of Chevrolet Bolt, Cruze, Equinox, Impala, Malibu, and Volt as well as Buick Cadillac XTS, LaCrosse, Regal; and GMC Terrain. The full list of car models being recalled can be found here.
Getting technical, the cars have improperly chromed rear brake pistons that are causing gas to form in the braking system’s hydraulic circuit. And those softer brakes could cause any number of issues on the road, including possible collisions if drivers can’t predict how quickly the vehicle will come to a stop.
If this issue sounds familiar, it’s because Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recalled nearly 155,000 vans and SUVs, including Dodge Grand Caravan and Jeep Cherokee and Compass models, for the exact same reason in just last month, according to CNET.
General Motors issued another major recall earlier this year, as well as a recall of 800,000 GM trucks for faulty power steering in 2017. A few years ago, GM also survived a cascade of recalls that slowed to a trickle in 2015. But the automaker’s biggest ever recall record still stands: In 1971, GM called back more than 6.6 million cars with faulty engine mounts.