Federal regulators are checking whether a recall fix really stopped GMC Sierra grille deflectors from detaching

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation opened recall query RQ26003 on October 9, 2026, covering an estimated 535,639 GMC Sierra 1500 pickups from model years 2022 through 2024. The inquiry was prompted by 118 complaints that the upper grille deflector detached while the truck was being driven, and 21 of those complaints involve trucks that had already received the repair from an earlier recall.

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Reported consequences include cracked windshields and nearby drivers forced into evasive action. NHTSA’s documents identify no crashes, injuries or fatalities so far, and the agency has not alleged a defect. The question it is weighing is twofold: whether the original recall covered every vehicle that could be affected, and whether the prescribed repair actually keeps the deflector from coming loose.

Recall 25V-060 and Its Eight Attachment Points

The scale of the new inquiry is the first thing that stands out. At 535,639 trucks, the query population is roughly 7.6 times the 70,768 trucks covered by the original recall, which means the potentially affected group has grown by more than a half-million vehicles on paper alone, even before any finding of fault.

The earlier campaign is GM recall 25V-060. According to the NHTSA recall report, the attachment points holding the front upper grille deflector may fracture over time, and if all eight break the deflector can detach while driving, sometimes announced first by a rattle. The recall covered 70,768 trucks, all 2022 Sierra 1500 pickups with a chrome deflector built between November 9, 2021, and September 29, 2022, and GM estimated that about 3% had the defect.

The remedy told dealers to reinforce or repair every attachment point on the chrome deflector, with GM reimbursing owners who had already paid for a fix. GM reported 1,225 related complaints at the time, including four allegations of an accident, and said it knew of no injuries. Dealers were notified on February 6, 2025, according to the filing. Applied to the recalled population, GM’s 3% estimate works out to roughly 2,100 trucks with the defect, a figure TFL Truck also cites, which is why the 118 new complaints, including 21 from repaired trucks, are being read against a much smaller group of known-bad parts.

A timeline of the recall’s origin adds that GM opened an internal investigation in February 2024 and closed it in late May after finding no defect trend, then reopened it on December 11, 2024, and later confirmed a problem. In its filing, GM acknowledged that one or more of the deflector’s eight attachment points may not hold expected loads, which could lead to fractures over time.

Model Years 2023 and 2024 Enter the Query

The original recall excluded 2022 trucks built without the chrome deflector and every 2023 and 2024 model-year truck. The new query reaches those later trucks because, according to autoevolution’s account, GM told NHTSA that vehicles built after the 2022 model year used parts outside the suspect window, and complaints now indicate that the deflectors on those trucks also come off.

The probe covers the half-ton Sierra only, not the heavy-duty line, and the parts supplier is listed as Minth Tennessee International. The practical stakes are straightforward for drivers on highways, where a grille part leaving a pickup at speed can strike the windshield of a following vehicle or force a sudden swerve. A recall query is a preliminary step, and it can end with NHTSA closing the file or pushing GM to widen the recall and change the repair. As GM Authority’s report on the investigation notes, the case stays open, GM has not announced an expanded recall, and the article includes no statement from the company.

Twenty-One Complaints From Repaired Trucks

The 21 complaints from trucks that had already been fixed carry the most weight, because they suggest the remedy itself may be failing. That is a different problem from a recall that simply missed some trucks, and it explains why NHTSA is testing the adequacy of the fix rather than only the size of the population. Some 2022 trucks may ultimately need a full grille assembly instead of reinforced attachment points, according to autoevolution.

Owners whose deflector has detached can file a complaint on NHTSA’s website, and owners can check any truck for open recalls with the VIN lookup on NHTSA’s recalls page, which shows recall information supplied by the manufacturer. Because the query is open, those complaints feed directly into the question of whether 2023 and 2024 trucks join the recall. The comparison with the original campaign is instructive: GM tallied 1,225 complaints across 70,768 trucks when it recalled the 2022 models, while the new query rests on 118 complaints spread across a population more than seven times larger, so NHTSA will be asking whether the later trucks are failing at a similar pace or a far lower one.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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