Recall - Missing I/P Knee Bolster: Overview
89oldsmobile07SUBJECT PAD ASSEMBLY
MODELS/YEARS SPECIFIC 1989 NINETY-EIGHT VEHICLES
NUMBER: 89-C-06
DATE: June 1989
SECTION: 8C & 9J
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended, provides that each vehicle which is subject to a recall campaign of this type must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the owner tendered it for repair. A failure to adequately repair within 60 days after tender of a vehicle is prima facie evidence of failure to repair within a reasonable time.
If the condition is not adequately repaired within a reasonable time, the owners may be entitled to an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle at no charge or to a refund of the purchase price less a reasonable allowance for depreciation.
To avoid having to provide these burdensome solutions, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with each owner and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the attached copy of the lefter which is being sent to owners, the owners are being Instructed to contact the nearest Oldsmobile Zone Office if their dealer does not remedy the condition with five days of the mutually agreed upon service date. If the condition is not remedied with a reasonable time, they are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
CONDITION
General Motors has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety may exist in twenty six specific 1989 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Vehicles equipped with Supplemental Inflatable Restraint which were assembled at the Orion Assembly Plant. The standard (base) pad assembly may have been installed along the lower portion of the instrument panel instead of the pad assembly which is designed for use with Supplemental Inflatable Restaints. Lack of this special pad assembly (also known as a "knee bolster") may, in the event of a vehicle crash, allow greater injury to the driver than might otherwise occur.
To prevent the possibility of this occurring, dealers are to inspect the instrument panel of the vehicles involved, replace parts as required, and perform the S.I.R. electrical test, all as directed in the SERVICE PROCEDURE of this Product Campaign Bulletin.
"Ship-to" dealerships with involved vehicles were previously advised to hold vehicle(s) by Oldsmobile DCS Administrative Message #89-001, dated Thursday, May 25, 1989. Parts for the involved vehicles were shipped from the Orion Assembly Plant to the "ship-to" dealers with a sheet noting the vehicle VIN's.