No crashes or injuries reported so far, but the issues could cause one.
Posted 03.20.2013 at 2:29 pm
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Buick LaCrosse
Buick
Cars are growing more and reliant on software for their basic functions, which, as cool as it is (see: the Tesla Model S), occasionally means bugs in the system.
General Motors is seeing that now with a recall of 33,700 of its 2013 Buick LaCrosse sedans and Cadillac SRX SUVs. Because of a glitch, the transmission may unintentionally shift from manual to automatic. Not the best thing to happen if you're out on the road, although GM says no one's been in a crash because of the problem.
About 27,000 were sold in the U.S., 1,300 in Canada, and the rest from Mexico, the Middle East, and China.
The good news about the problem, at least, is that it sounds like an easy fix: anyone driving one of these cars can stop by a dealership and get the software reprogrammed free of cost.
[Reuters]
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Suddenly, GM used car sales are way way UP!
Has no one learned from Apple? Recalls are expensive! If the ability to update software, remotely, was possible, then they would have just saved themselves a ton of money! Let's see how this is handled in the newest generation of vehicles that learned from this mistake.
If I had to take my computer in to get an update every time a new version of software came out... wow! When the vehicle is turned off, it calls home and gets software updates. If worrying about "when" to update that software is the problem then have a drive partition that updates in parallel to the one in use. Switch over to new software when the car is turned off?
"Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon."
The sky is probably not falling.
GM is making the recall voluntarily, so it's probably something that they've discovered - not something that's been impacting consumers severely.
In fact, doing a little searching reveals that the actual issue is trannys switching into 'sports' mode. This apparently reduces the amount of engine braking somewhat.
Sounds like pretty much an annoyance.
BTW, 34,00 cars worldwide is an almost insignificant part of GM's sales. Auto recalls frequently involve 5 to 10 times that number of vehicles.