12,715 Chevy Express and GMC Savana Vans Need a Second Steering Check

• General Motors is recalling 12,715 Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans from the 2025 and 2026 model years, after its June steering recall left 108 suspect steering gear serial numbers off the inspection list.
• A van that a dealer already cleared under recall 26V399 can show up as open again, and the free fix is a serial number check with a new steering gear installed on a match.
• Dealers received the new list on October 29 and owner letters start mailing December 14, which makes a VIN search at nhtsa.gov/recalls the fastest way to learn where a van stands.

The Dealer Cleared Your Van in June, and GM Now Wants a Second Look

General Motors filed recall 26V718 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on October 29, 2026. It covers 12,715 vans built from January 21, 2025 to June 1, 2026: 5,434 model year 2025 Chevrolet Express, 3,259 model year 2026 Chevrolet Express, 3,568 model year 2025 GMC Savana and 454 model year 2026 GMC Savana. The Chevrolet Express makes up 8,693 of the total, or 68.4 percent, and the GMC Savana the other 4,022.

These are vans that dealers already handled under an earlier recall, 26V399, for the same loose nut in the steering gear. Either the dealer inspected the van and left the original gear in place, or the repair order carries no record of the steering gear serial number. GM says every one of those vans needs to be inspected again.

GM puts the number of vans that carry the defect at about 1 percent of the 12,715. That works out to roughly 127 vans. GM’s count of 108 refers to steering gear serial numbers, not vans. The serial number on the gear is what separates a suspect van from a sound one, and a dealer has to read it, which is why the whole group goes back to the shop.

The repair costs the owner nothing, and NHTSA’s record confirms the gear replacement is free. GM’s filing adds that all covered vans are under warranty, so it offers no reimbursement program.

What a Loose Steering Gear Nut Does

The filing describes the defect as a nut in the steering gear assembly that was not tightened properly at the factory. GM states the risk this way in its Part 573 report:

“A loose nut that separates from the steering gear assembly while driving can cause a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.”

The same report lists what a driver can notice before that point. GM writes:

“Drivers may notice degraded steering precision or may notice the steering wheel is off-center when driving straight.”

The filing names no other symptom. GM reports no known crashes or injuries linked to the condition. NHTSA’s record for 26V718 sets neither a park it nor a park outside instruction, so the agency has not told owners to stop driving the vans.

The part is the steering gear assembly, supplied by Nexteer Automotive Group of Saginaw, Michigan. The filing lists three part numbers: 86285183, 85819773 and 85056974. A faulty sensor on Nexteer’s line let some assemblies through with the nut not fully tightened. Nexteer contained the condition on May 29, 2026, and GM says vans produced after June 1, 2026 carry steering gears with properly torqued nuts.

How the First Recall Missed 108 Serial Numbers

The first recall, 26V399, reached NHTSA on June 23, 2026, and covered 26,541 vehicles. Owner letters went out on July 20. Dealers worked from a list of 51 suspect steering gear serial numbers supplied by Nexteer. They replaced the gear on a match and closed every other van after an inspection. Our report on the first steering nut recall has the details of that campaign.

The weak point sat in that list. The inspection criteria for 26V399 left out 108 suspect serial numbers that GM believed Nexteer had contained at its own plant. That belief was wrong, and GM says so in the new filing:

“GM previously conducted a recall for this condition (NHTSA Recall 26V399), and is filing this recall because approximately 108 suspect steering gears were inadvertently excluded from the original recall scope.”

A tip from inside GM brought the gap to light. The Speak Up for Safety program received a report on September 28, 2026 from a quality manager at one of GM’s brands, after a dealer had found a loose nut in the steering gear of a 2025 Chevrolet Express that was inspected and closed under 26V399. A product investigation started on October 6. The investigator matched that van’s serial number to the supplier’s list of suspect parts and found the 108 omitted numbers. Two days later, on October 8, GM revised the 26V399 service bulletin (N262563570) to add them, which brings the list to 159 serial numbers: the original 51 plus the 108 added.

The investigation also turned up two warranty claims that GM treats as potentially related, both on vans previously closed under 26V399. Dealers completed those repairs on July 9 and July 20, 2026. GM’s safety decision authority decided on October 22 to run a recall, and the report reached NHTSA a week later. That is 128 days after the first recall report.

Measured against the first recall, 12,715 vans is just under half of the 26,541 vans in 26V399 (47.9 percent).

Which Vans Are In, and Which Are Out

GM used manufacturing records, part trace data and vehicle service records to build the population. The filing sets two ways into the recall for a van already handled under 26V399: the dealer inspected it and did not install a new steering gear, or the repair order has no record of the steering gear serial number.

Two groups stay out. A van whose repair order records a serial number that is not on the suspect list is excluded, and so is a van that received a completed steering gear replacement under 26V399. Production dates by model run as follows:

2025 Chevrolet Express: January 21, 2025 to October 16, 2025 (5,434 vans). 2026 Chevrolet Express: October 1, 2025 to June 1, 2026 (3,259 vans). 2025 GMC Savana: January 21, 2025 to October 9, 2025 (3,568 vans). 2026 GMC Savana: October 21, 2025 to June 1, 2026 (454 vans).

NHTSA’s record carries one more point for owners. A van that showed a completed recall in June can show an open recall now, as 26V718 is a separate campaign. NHTSA states that vehicles not properly inspected under 26V399 will need to be re-inspected under 26V718. Only a recorded serial number that is not on the suspect list, or a completed gear replacement, takes a van out of the recall.

Fleet operators have a shortcut. NHTSA’s search page accepts up to 100 VINs in one search, so a fleet manager can check up to 100 vans in a single pass instead of one at a time.

What to Do Before the Letter Arrives

GM estimates its owner letters will start going out on December 14, 2026, 46 days after it filed the report. The VINs became searchable on October 29, and dealers were notified the same day. Waiting for the mail adds weeks the process does not require.

Start with the VIN, the 17 character number on the lower left of the windshield. It also appears on the registration card and can be on an insurance card. Enter it at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The search shows a recall that still needs repair and displays “0 unrepaired recalls associated with this VIN” for a vehicle with none. It does not list a recall already repaired, so a van with no open 26V718 is either outside the recall or already repaired. NHTSA adds that VINs for recently announced recalls are added continuously, so run the search again in a few weeks.

If recall 26V718 appears, call a Chevrolet or GMC dealer and book the inspection. Quote both campaign numbers, NHTSA 26V718 and the earlier 26V399, and GM’s number for the new recall, N262579350. The dealer will compare the steering gear serial number with the expanded list and replace the assembly on a match. A van with no match is closed after the inspection. Replacement gears have nuts torqued to specification, and the cost to the owner is zero.

If the van was closed in June and shows no open recall, dig out the repair order from that visit anyway and look for a steering gear serial number. A line with a serial number is a record the dealer can check. A blank is the situation the new recall was written for.

Customer service lines are open for questions: GMC at 1-888-988-7267 and Chevrolet at 1-800-222-1020. The free SaferCar app from NHTSA sends an alert when a recall is found for a vehicle entered into it. A driver who notices the steering wheel sitting off center on a straight road, or steering that feels less precise, can also file a complaint through NHTSA’s Report a Safety Problem page. NHTSA says it reviews each complaint, and similar reports from a number of people can lead to an investigation.

A recall protects only the vans that go through the shop. Our look at recalled vehicles that stay unrepaired covers why so many repairs never get done.

Fleets that mix makes have another steering recall to check, the Ram ProMaster steering recall, so a VIN check across every van in the yard covers both.

Want more car content? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for the best automotive news and analysis on the internet.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow us on Microsoft Start.

Sources

• NHTSA: Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V718
• NHTSA: Recall 26V718 record
• NHTSA: Check for Recalls

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar