— General Motors has decided more than 317,000 cars and SUVs will be recalled to repair warning chime problems.
Affected are the 2013-2016 Chevrolet Sonic cars and Trax SUVs in addition to 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark cars. GM says the cars and SUVs are equipped with "Bring Your Own Media" (BYOM) radios that cause warning chimes to fail because of issues with the radios.
GM says an engineer discovered a problem with the BYOM radios in September 2015. The engineer found a radio did not sound audible reminder chimes for the driver’s door. Specifically, the problem was noticeable when opening the driver’s door more than 20 seconds after the door was first opened and closed with the key still in the ignition.
GM’s engineers then found a second situation in which the BYOM radio could fail to provide a key-in reminder chime where the driver’s door is opened for the first time more than 10 minutes after turning off the ignition.
The worry is a driver leaving the key in the ignition because of not receiving a warning chime before exiting the car.
The automaker talked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the problems and decided a recall would be necessary.
General Motors says the affected radio was discontinued for the 2015 Chevy Spark, while corrected software is already installed in Chevy Trax vehicles built after April 7, 2016, and Chevrolet Sonics built after April 13, 2016.
General Motors doesn't know when the recall of the 317,000 cars and SUVs will begin, but dealers will need to update the radio software to keep the chimes chiming.
If you own one of the recalled 2013-2016 Chevrolet Sonic cars, Trax SUVs or 2013-2015 Chevrolet Sparks and have questions, call Chevrolet at 800-222-1020 and use GM recall number 17130.
CarComplaints.com has owner-reported complaints about the Chevy cars and SUVs named in the radio recall:
- Chevrolet Sonic - 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / All model years
- Chevrolet Trax - 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / All model years
- Chevrolet Spark - 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / All model years