GM Recalls One Million SUV's

General Motors has just issued a recall involving vehicles with a heated washer fluid system. A short circuit in the system could cause electrical features to malfunction, which could lead to an odor, smoke or potentially a fire. Crap! We own one of the affected vehicles. When I read about this early yesterday, I wasn't very concerned. I'd never seen any button for some fancy schmancy heated washer fluid system in ours. But, since it's my wife's vehicle, and she was out and about with a friend who picked her up, I decided to go check it out.

Ayup. Our 2008 Saturn Outlook IS equipped with all of the bells and whistles; even the ones that tend to smoke and burn. Fortunately, it's not a serious problem and we'll get it resolved at the dealership. On the plus side, while I was rooting through the owners manual on the vehicle to determine whether or not we had the smoke and burn option, I DID discover another kewl accessory that we didn't even know we had - a built in power inverter.

I'm so glad that I paid $20 for the noisy, stinky, cigarette-lighter-plug-in converter that we used on our last trip now (Sucker's in the trash can now). I can't describe how cool it was to peel back a rubber cover in an SUV and see a standard household outlet awaiting my electronic needs. That, on top of heated washer fluid that may or may not heat more than it's required to. . .what a deal! Since I detoured into our personal involvement with this recall before disclosing the details of it, here we go:

GM said it includes the 2008 Buick Enclave, 2006-2008 Buick Lucerne, 2006-2008 Cadillac DTS, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT, 2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, 2007-2008 GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL, 2006-2008 Hummer H2 and 2007-2008 Saturn Outlook.

GM spokeswoman Carolyn Markey said there have been nine reports of fires and three of them have been linked to the system. There have been no accidents or injuries connected to the defect, she said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation last February into 2007 Yukon and Tahoe vehicles over potential engine compartment fires. In June, the highway safety agency upgraded its investigation into about 2.7 million 2007-2008 GM trucks and SUVs and reported allegations of 41 engine fires.

Dealers will install a wire harness with an in-line fuse to fix the problem free of charge, GM said.

For more information, owners may contact Buick at (866) 608-8080, Cadillac at (800) 982-2339, Chevrolet at (800) 630-2438, Saturn at (800) 972-8876, GMC at (866) 996-9436 or Hummer at (800) 732-5493.

Good luck and, don't forget to use *OnStar in case of personal vehicle infernos!