2012 Chevrolet Silverado 2500hd 4wd Ext Cab 144.2" Lt on 2040-cars

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GM seatbelt recall affects over 1m Silverados and Sierras

The Basics: General Motors will recall 895,232 examples of the 2014-2015 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups in the US. The campaign will also affect the trucks in markets worldwide, and the total number the company will recall is 1,037,982. The Problem: A steel cable connects the seatbelt to the vehicle, but over time repeated bending can cause the part to fatigue and separate. Injuries/Deaths: None reported. The Fix: Dealers will enlarge the side shield opening and install a pusher bracket on the tensioner. Technicians will also replace the entire tensioner assembly if necessary. If You Own One: GM will contact owners about the recall. The company hasn't said when those notifications would begin. More Information: There are still about 3,000 new examples of these older pickups at dealerships. Until mechanics fix the problem, these vehicles are subject to a stop-sale. Similar problems have affected the General's vehicles in the past. In 2015, the company recalled over 400,000 units of the 2011-2012 Chevrolet Malibu for fatiguing cables. It also hit over a million Lambda platform crossovers in 2014. GM Recalling Certain 2014-15 Pickups to Repair Seat Belts DETROIT – GM is voluntarily recalling 895,232 model year 2014-15 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups in the United States because the flexible steel cable that connects the seat belt to the vehicle can fatigue and separate over time as a result of the driver repeatedly bending the cable when entering the seat. This issue was discovered through warranty data, and there have been no reports of crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this issue. For trucks in the field, dealers will enlarge the side shield opening, install a pusher bracket on the tensioner, and if necessary, replace the tensioner assembly. The recall in the United States includes a stop-sale of approximately 3,000 new 2014 and 2015 model year pickups still on dealer lots. Dealers will repair the vehicles prior to delivering them to customers. Customers will be notified by General Motors. They also can look up their vehicle identification number (VIN) at either https://vinrcl.safercar.gov/vin/ website or at https://my.gm.com/web/portal/ownercenter to see if their vehicle is part of the recall. GM also will voluntarily recall and repair these models in other countries where they are sold, including Canada, Mexico, and several countries in Latin America and the Middle East.

Question of the Day: What's the most irritating car name?

You hear a lot about how the Chevrolet Nova was a sales flop in Mexico because "No va" means "it doesn't go" in Spanish; in fact, the Nova sold pretty well south of the border, and in any case most Spanish-speakers know that "Nova" means "new" in Latin and Portuguese. However, General Motors doesn't deserve to be let off the hook for bad car names, because the Oldsmobile Achieva— no doubt inspired by the excruciating "coffee achievers" ads of the 1980s— scrapes the biggest fingernails down the screechiest chalkboard in the US-market car-name world. That is, unless you think Daihatsu's incomprehensible choice of Charade was worse. Meanwhile, Japanese car buyers could get machines with cool names like Mazda Bongo Friendee or Honda Life Dunk. It's just not fair! So, what car name drives you the craziest? Related Video: Auto News Design/Style Chevrolet Honda Mazda Daihatsu Automotive History questions car names

Mustang, Camaro, Challenger gallop onto USPS pony car postage stamp set

Some of America's most iconic cars are about to be immortalized on postage stamps. A new set by the U.S. Postal Service will celebrate the the golden era of pony cars, featuring five classic examples of Detroit iron. Each one is beautifully illustrated in oil-on-canvas style, with subjects in motion and sunlight glinting off the chrome, and would add a nice touch to any first-class letter. The pony car segment was all about (relatively) small, sporty alternatives to the full-size land yachts of the 1960s. They typically came equipped with 6-cylinder engines or small-block V8s. The category was named after the Ford Mustang, hence  the name. Some, though, argue that the Plymouth Barracuda, which was launched a couple of weeks before the Mustang, is the first. Luckily, the Falcon-based Mustang's distinct styling generated a sales sensation, or we might be calling them fish cars. Appropriately, one of the featured cars is a Mustang. But it's not just any Mustang. The 1969 Boss 302, seen here resplendent in Bright Yellow, was created for the hotly-contested SCCA Trans-Am racing series. One of its main rivals would have been the 1969 Chevy Camaro Z/28, also created specifically for the series, and is included in the set in Fathom Green. Representing Auburn Hills in the set is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in Plum Crazy, while Southfield's American Motors gets a nod with an AMC Javelin in Big Bad Orange. The Mustang's platform cousin, a 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7, is portrayed in a gorgeous Burgundy Poly that almost looks incomplete without Neko Case on the hood. It's not the first time the USPS has honored America's rich car culture on its stamps. In 2013, it issues a series of muscle car stamps with the help of Richard Petty. That set featured a 1966 Pontiac GTO, 1967 Shelby GT-500, 1970 Chevelle SS, 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda and, of course, a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. Another set in 2016 featured classic pickup trucks. Going further back, a 2008 release had chroed and finned automobiles of the 1950s and a 2005 release featured sporty American cars of the same era. The pony car stamps will debut on August 25 at the Great American Stamp Show in Sacramento, California in partnership with the American Philatelic Society. The public is free to attend the dedication ceremony, but you must RSVP first. After that, they will be available at local post offices and on line at the USPS store.