How To Change Dashboard In 2008 Chevy Avalanche Take

Most of the afflicted Chevy vehicles are from the 2007-2014 models years and congenital on the GMT900-series of platforms^[one]. This includes the Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe, besides every bit the Cadillac Escalade, and GMC Yukon and Sierra.

In most cases GM won't allow owners to make warranty claims on the dash because it'due south a "cosmetic issue."
OK, certain – visually it stinks, but what concerns owners the most is will a busted nuance affect an airbag deployment? Volition the broken bits get projectiles in a crash? How bad volition the vehicle'due south resale value take a hitting?

Oh, and so there's the whole questioning what other parts of your vehicle might be declining as you sentry the dashboard fall apart in front end of your optics.

"The Barrage we purchased has been an outstanding vehicle in many means and we painstakingly accept care to preserve the looks and mechanics of the vehicle, Only, when out of the blue the dash cracks for no credible reason in two different places, information technology makes me wonder if they skimped any where else on the vehicle" – 2007 Avalanche owner in KY

Dashboard Design Plays a Big Role in Longevity ∞

Dashboards volition fissure for a number of reasons, only the well-nigh common is due to the lord's day. Heat buildup nether the windshield and exposure to UV light tin dry out and break downwardly the chemical bonds in the plastic.

But 2007-2014 GM vehicles aren't the just ones under the sun, so why exercise some dashboards crack, while others don't?

GM changed their dashboard design ∞

First and foremost, if an automaker uses cheap plastic for their dashboards it's going to break down faster. It's inexpensive for a reason.

Even if GM used good plastic, a bad pattern will create problems too.

Owners say that GM switched from a multi-slice dashboard design to a jumpsuit for the 2007-2014 model years. A big slice of plastic without any relief points is going to put it under boosted strain.

Other owners believe that GM overtightened the bolts holding the dashboards in identify during manufacturing, which would put even more than stress on the plastic.

The 'Normal Vesture and Tear' Excuse ∞

If you complain about dashboard issues to a Chevy service section, don't await a ton of sympathy.

A minor crack will soon exist a larger cleft

A lot of owners are existence told this is normal. Is it though? There are plenty of 2007 vehicles on the road that don't accept a grand canyon running down the center of their nuance.

So perhaps GM is passing information technology off as normal so they tin become effectually covering it nether the standard warranty.

Dealers volition happily replace your dashboard, but information technology tin can price betwixt $1000-$2000 out of pocket.

The problem with calling it cosmetic ∞

Hearing GM or the National Highway Traffic Safety Assistants (NHTSA) pass this off as just cosmetic is frustrating for many reasons.

NHTSA will merely investigate safety issues and doesn't consider a croaky dashboard to pose whatsoever risk.
Dashboards and airbag covers are designed to dissever in specific ways. Yep, information technology'due south unlikely that a cracked dashboard will prevent or interfere with an airbag deployment, but is it impossible?
Speaking of possibilities, what's going to happen to all those sharp pieces of busted plastic hanging out near a controlled explosive (i.e. an airbag) in a crash?
What's going to happen to the resale value of the vehicles?

"The cracks appear on the corners of the airbag in the dash or over the instrument panel. We have all contacted GM and most have had no luck. The majority of us are told that the dash is not covered under warranty or the repair price for the replacement is done on a case by instance ground … Our issue with this is the rubber matter. If nosotros are to exist involved in an accident, these cleaved nuance pieces can go flying at you on touch on." - 2011 Chevy Suburban owner

GM Cracked Dashboard Class-Action Lawsuit ∞

Tired of basis the bill and waiting for GM or NHTSA to do something, owners filed a cracked dash class-action lawsuit confronting GM in February of 2018.

The lawsuit alleges cracks in a dashboard occur in the steering cavalcade cowling and passenger airbag expanse, but having the dash replaced past a dealer does no skillful because the aforementioned allegedly defective design is installed.

The plaintiffs say General Motors has refused to issue a recall to fix the dashboards and continues to forcefulness customers to pay for the damage. The lawsuit doesn't embrace the 2007 or 2008 model years of the vehicles we find have the near problems:

2009-2014 Chevrolet Silverado
2009-2014 Chevrolet Tahoe
2009-2014 Chevrolet Suburban
2009-2014 Chevrolet Avalanche

The GM cracked dash lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Courtroom for the Eastern District of Michigan - Smith et al. v. General Motors, LLC.

This includes GMT900/910/920/930/940 on wikipedia ↩︎