There are all sorts of recalls throughout the auto industry, but this one about to hit the 2010-2017 GMC Terrain is rather peculiar. The pickup truck and SUV division at General Motors (GM) is having to recall some 725,000 units to the shop to correct an issue with their headlights.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the headlights are too... bright/glaring. In fact, the agency is concerned that other drivers may be blinded during certain weather conditions, such as snow and fog.
Specifically, the reflection from the headlight housing illuminates two small areas above the vehicle that, when measured according to federal motor vehicle safety standards, returns a result of about 450 to 470 candelas, the unit of light intensity. That's more than three times the allowable limit at these measurement points.
In 2019, the automaker asked NHTSA to consider an exemption for the Terrain's headlight problem, saying the "reflection has no effect on the safety of the model for oncoming or surrounding vehicles." He also said that the headlight supplier, Stanley, has redesigned replacement units that "prevent the reflections that are causing the problem."
GM also said it has only heard of one customer request related to this issue and is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this situation with the headlights.
Nevertheless, the NHTSA rejected GM's request last Friday. As a result, the U.S. manufacturer will be forced to recall the vehicles and repair the headlights at no cost. NHTSA said that approximately 726,959 Terrains manufactured between May 21, 2009 and July 13, 2017 are potentially affected by the recall.
Car and Driver magazine, which is reporting the news, says GM told Reuters that some Terrain models received replacement headlight parts and that these made sure the problem was fixed for 2018 and newer models.