General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2006-2011 saab 9-3 vehicles manufactured may 31, 2002, to february 15, 2011, 2006-2009 saab 9-5 vehicles manufactured june 7, 2005, to may 28, 2009, and 2008-2009 saturn astra vehicles manufactured april 11, 2007, to july 24, 2008. upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator on saab 9-3 and 9-5 vehicles and will replace the driver's frontal airbag module on saturn astra vehicles, free of charge. the recall began on march 1, 2017. owners may contact saab customer service at 1-800-955-9007 or saturn customer service at 1-800-553-6000. gm's number for this recall is 28810.
Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Some things are often misunderstood about recalls and technical service bulletins (TSBs). Plus a disclaimer.
Recalls do not have to be issued only because something is prone to failure.
NHTSA (a government agency) can only require a recall if a failure will affect safety, emissions, fuel economy, or compliance with some other regulation or law.
Manufacturers can voluntarily recall cars for problems that do not affect these, though.
Recalls often apply to only some cars of a specific model year, rather than all of them.
You should receive a letter from the manufacturer if your car has been recalled.
You can also check with the dealer, which will know which (if any) recalls pertain to your car.
The primary purpose of TSBs is to inform dealers about known problems with a car and how to fix them.
They are not the same as recalls. As with recalls, TSBs often only apply to some cars, not the entire model year.
Dealers often will not provide a preventive repair just because a problem described in a TSB might happen to your car.
They'll usually want to observe symptoms that the problem is already affecting your car.
Even if there are symptoms, a manufacturer doesn't have to pick up the cost of a TSB repair if the car is out of warranty, though sometimes they do.
We provide the text of recalls and TSBs as provided by NHTSA. There can be errors in the text.
If you sign up for notifications in My Garage, we will try to get these to do, but for various reasons (some beyond our control) cannot guarantee you will receive them.
When in doubt about a recall or TSB, contact the dealer.
