2014-2018 Rear Defroster recall

98Taxi · January 18, 2020

I purchased a 2016 Sierra with 42,000 miles as a CPO vehicle in My of 2019. It was a good decision because I had an injector go and had the torque converter on the 6 speed replaced within three months of ownership.

Approximately 3 weeks ago we had the first hard frost at which time I turned on the rear defroster and nothing happened. This began a chain of events that has me scratching my head. I am almost always able to find information on the internet from others that have experienced what I am regarding a vehicle malfunction. This was not the case with the rear defroster. So I scheduled an appointment with the dealer to have it looked at before my 12 month bumper to bumper CPO warranty expired.

I was informed that the CPO warranty does not cover tires or glass, end of discussion. The technician described the issue as broken tabs on the sliding glass. The service writer said there was no charge because it only takes a couple minutes to confirm the tabs were the issue. I should have insisted on having the tech show me these tabs but did not. I asked if there is a process to escalate this and they recommended that I speak to GMC customer care but they stated that they have never seen GMC cover the glass. I also spoke to the service manager and explained my view on this, that I had no way to test the defroster when I purchased the vehicle in May and that it is a safety issue. His only recommendation was to speak to the selling dealer which in my case is 3 hours away.

I called GMC and explained my situation and the case was created and I was told that it was being escalated to a senior agent level 2 and I would hear back from someone soon. I finally got the call and there was nothing that I could say to this person to sway them into covering the repair which by the way is to replace the entire rear window assembly.

So I called the dealer back with the assumption that I was SOL and that like most things in my life I would have to fix it myself, no big deal. The only problem is that after approximately 8 hours of research I found zero information on tab location wiring diagrams etc on the rear glass. I did find info on the Canadian recall of over 130,000 Sierras for undersized relays that resulted in melting connectors in the passenger side kick panel. So I pulled the C pillars to check the solder points on the wide portion of the defrost grid and they were all very good. I was unable to see where the tabs were broken.

I called the dealer back and explained that I was on my own to fix this and asked if they could clarify where these tabs that were broken as indicated on the work order. I also conveyed the possibility of a mis-diagnosis and that this might be an electrical issue. He told me he would check on it and get back to me. A week went by and I called the dealer back to see what they found and they stated that GMC had just issued a recall on US vehicles made between 2014-2018. I was shocked at the timing and coincidence. The dealer went on to explain that there are a series of steps to the recall. They first check the relay, buss bar and connector updating with new parts. Then they check the tabs and if broken they replace the rear glass. And this is where everything gets shady as it always eventually does with dealers. I was told this sob story that GMC is not reimbursing dealers enough money to cover the replacement of the glass and it would result in a loss of $200. out of their pockets. This particular dealer subs out their glass work as I suspect most do and they stated that they are only covering this for vehicles that were purchased at their dealership.

I spoke to the service manager as well and he dug in and did his best to justify their position and he said he was trying to find a glass shop that would do it for the price that GMC has authorized. His 3 regular glass providers said no way! I was under the assumption that a GMC dealer was obligated to service any vehicle that was either under a warranty or the subject of a recall but he told me no they do not have to work on a vehicle if they choose not to. I explained that I had already wasted at least 8 hours of my own time on this and why would they piss off a customer for such a paltry amount of money. Nothing would change his position on this so here I am with a vehicle that's part of a recall and a dealer refusing to service it. I will call GMC to gripe but they are kind of worthless in my experience. I could call the servicing dealer that's three hours away. I could cover the $200.00 out of my pocket and have it done through this dealers glass company which is local. Or I could just let it go and not have a rear defroster. Does anyone have any experience with something like this?

By the way they would not provide me with a copy of the recall. I almost got it but the service manager must have caught the service writer just before he was going to email it to me. I did manage to get the internal document # so anyone out there with a 2014-2018 truck with rear defroster issues should be having a conversation with their dealer.

The # I got is N192265660 and it is referred to as a thermal event. I hope this help because I never understood why this recall was limited to Canada. I suppose there weren't enough truck fires in the US. Does anyone on this forum have contacts higher up in GMC that may be able to add some assistance?

Lsgun1 · January 18, 2020

Have glass insurance? Crack all the glass and then it's covered.

Mervkirwin · January 18, 2020

Hello, I am from Canada, I did get a recall on the rear defroster, at that time all they did was pull the fuse. A few weeks later they called and I brought my truck back and they fixed it, sorry I can’t remember what they did or any numbers. I did not pay anything. You should go back to your dealer and inform him about the recall and they must fix it, it’s a recall they can’t say know, if something was to happen with the rear defroster (fire) you could sue. Hope they look after you.

Impala_98 · January 27, 2020

I had an issue with my rear defrost a week or 2 before the recall was issued; it actually broke my passenger side rear window. The dealer states they wont have the window for another few weeks so I am riding around with no rear defrost (I think) he dealer didn't pull the fuse and a taped up window (trying to keep the glass from completely falling out).

The recall states "If the rear window or sliding glass assembly appears damaged due to an occurrence of high electrical resistance on the rear defroster circuit, they should also be replaced. "