General Motors announced that it is recalling more than 38,000 Oshawa built 2008-2012 Chevrolet Impala 9C1 police cars for front suspension faults.
According to a statement issued by GM on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website, potential fractures in the lower front control arms, could adversely affect handling, possibly resulting in a crash, though to date, GM says it isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from the problem.
Because the 9C1 is designed specifically for police use and features components not used on civilian Impala models, GM spokesman Alan Adler said regular “civilian” Impalas are not affected by the recall.
The front suspension issue on the Impala 9C1 was uncovered after GM received a number of complaints from police departments that the lower control arms had cracked near bushing sleeves. GM started conducting its own investigations back in February and by July engineers had determined the problem was the result of faulty lower control arms, first introduced mid-way through 2008.
Adler said that replacement control arms are now available and police departments (both in Canada and the U.S.), can contact authorized dealers to schedule repairs of the affected vehicles.
