Chalk up another victim of the ongoing global supply chain headaches. GM announced to its dealers this morning, by way of its fleet order guide, that their large SUVs – 2022 Tahoe, Yukon, et al – will not be offered with a rear-seat entertainment system “for the model year.” This marks just one of many features which have vanished from vehicles in the wake of what’s been a tough couple of years for carmakers.
Proving the situation is fluid, some items are creeping back into rotation. For example, heated seats are once again part and parcel of the Chevy Traverse – just in time for summer.
It’s all part of a complicated and delicate dance facing the world’s automakers. With a limited supply of microchips on hand compounded by other supply chain problems, some manufacturers have been forced to yank features from their products to keep production lines humming and prevent dealer lots from turning into vast empty spaces. The latter has been of no small concern to the industry, with photos of barren dealerships cropping up quite regularly.
The latest? GM now says the Rear Seat Entertainment option, a package which includes dual 12.6-inch touchscreens mounted to the front seatbacks in addition to some other kit such as compatible wireless headphones, are off the table for its large SUV line. This family includes the Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade, and its variants. The feature was an option on some trims but standard equipment on high-zoot models.
Elsewhere, GM has seemingly sorted its supply chain frustrations for heated seats in the ’22 Traverse, with a note to dealers stating machines built on or after February 21 of this year will have that feature included from the factory. We mention those last three words with some specificity since 2022 Traverse models which arrived on dealer lots denuded of bun warmers will allegedly qualify for “later dealer retrofit to enable functionality” in addition to a small credit on the Monroney. For those wondering, hammering the heated seat button in an affected vehicle simply does nothing – the seat remains cold and the button’s lights do not illuminate.
This phenomenon is not unique to GM, with just about every major manufacturer affected in some form by supply chain problems. The approach of shipping vehicles without essential (but convenient) equipment does raise the question of how this will affect used car shopping several years from now. After all, it is the owner’s responsibility to have the items activated after initial delivery, and it should be noted that not all of the missing features can be retrofitted – start/stop and cylinder deactivation spring immediately to mind. Will future used vehicle buyers realize their new-to-them Yukon doesn’t actually have heated seats until they’ve signed the note? Will GM retrofit the chip to activate them three, four, five years down the road for the second owner? These are new questions yet to be answered.
Perusal of the build-and-price tool for the 2022 GMC Yukon AT4 equipped with a 6.2-liter V8 reveals numerous alterations to its spec sheet. It’s equipped with two-way instead of four-way front seat lumbar supports, for example, there’s no heated steering wheel, nor is there a steering column lock. A $125 credit appears to compensate for those three missing items. Also listed as absent are front and rear park assist and reverse automatic braking ($50 credit), and some V8-equipped 2022 Yukons built between October and mid-December 2021 do not have any start/stop functionality.
The car business has always been tough. These headaches certainly don’t make it any easier.
Image: [GM]
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Maybe they should also save chips by bringing the manual back too! #savethemanuals.
↑ The best take of the year on the chip shortage. Seriously, how bad ass would it be to see even 1/4 of the cars and mid and full size SUVs offer up manual transmissions.
Am thinking specifically of the 5 door hatch categories – Arteon, Stinger, 440i, Panamera, Civic, etc.
That category seems especially suited for the offering. They’d sell 10’s of ’em!
You don’t need no computer chip to shift. Just a left leg and a good bicep!
You don’t need a good bicep to work a shifter from the last 30 years. Just an appreciation for the fun of it.
Definitely a better choice than axing heated seats, which have become table stakes.
“…some V8-equipped 2022 Yukons built between October and mid-December 2021 do not have any start/stop functionality”
This will actually increase their resale value.
SCE to AUX-
Start/stop isn’t big deal to most people as it is on here. On most vehicles in can be almost seamless. Also-most models have a defeat button-what’s the big deal?
Stop-start is idiocy. More wear and tear. More expensive battery and starter. More check engine lights. More things to break. More trips and cash to the dealer to fix. All for near zero fuel savings. Stop-start is the Aztek of features. Too back it can’t be programmed to email “FU” to all the clowns who approved it each cycle.
Mazda’s is pretty cool. A squirt of fuel and firing the plug in the appropriate cylinder and you’re good to go. It only takes .35 seconds,
https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/technology/env/i-stop/
I didn’t state my point in full detail…
I think what is lost here in any discussion like this is: Do you lease? Do you buy? Do you buy used, new? Do buy and do you keep it long term, 100k+?
Any complexity is more inclined to cost you money, long term. Dealerships are getting worse, not better. (GM at least–my experience.)
All buying options have costs. I am a buy new-used, long term ownership kind of guy.
I’d love to lease (vehicles and spouses!), but for my very detailed records, leasing still costs 2X than my choices of long term buying: i.e. choose wisely.
Why not have an idiotic feature to inflate your tires to 45 psi over smooth roads? Not that… is a savings.
I looked into that iStop that Mazda uses. It’s not offered in the US because it doesn’t help how the EPA rates city mileage. I was wondering what some of those empty covered slots were on the MX-5 just to the left of the steering wheel. I saw the iStop button on a review from Australia. But it is a neat system by positioning the pistons in the optimal place, a lightning quick spray of gas ignites and no starter wear and tear.
My VWs stop/start vibrates everything harshly when it kicks back on. But the biggest letdown was in a rental BMW 5-series with the 2.0L turbo 4. That engine felt and vibrated like a lawnmower in desperate need of service. For what they charge for their cars, you’d think they would have made it a little smoother.
I agree. That said, I’ve met plenty of people who don’t seem to be bothered any by it.
Have start stop in my 2012 Buick Lacrosse which is hardly noticeable. My concern with it is will the starter wear out faster and premature wear on the engine starting and stopping it every time you have to stop.
Detroit-X
You are right. We need to go back to carburetors, points, plugs, condenser and changing spark plugs every 12,000 miles. Who needs stop/start that the average driver will have absolutely no involvement with….it’s seamless. And has been around now at least 10 model years-and hasn’t self destructed.
No tvs in the back seat, not enough vw’s to play slugbug anymore. Being a kid sucks.
Comment of the day.
This seems like a wonderful time to drag the little brats back into the 50’s for family trips. Toughen them up. Now, let’s bring back plastic seat covers in the summer.
With chrome seat belt buckles and a way to concentrate the sun’s rays so as to ensure a brand on the kids’ legs!
So since they left out the heated seats and steering wheels on some models, but left the buttons because of the shortage, I wonder if the headrests will still have the provisioned cutouts for this equipment, just to remind the purchaser of what they should have had.
The $125 credit for missing items tells you how much they actually cost vs the selling price for those same items when they appear on the sticker as part of some kind of convenience or comfort package. The discount doesn’t seem to be enough given you’ll always have this “crippled” vehicle, but they know consumers have no choice given the low inventory situation. In a few years when these get traded in dealers will be low-balling them due to the missing items.
Possibly, but not necessarily. How much the automaker decides to discount the car because of the missing part is probably arbitrary and more of a marketing/customer placation exercise than any real reflection into the cost delta from not having that function.
For instance, the 2022 X5 xDrive45e I ordered and received in November of 2021 ended up being part of a short run of various BMWs that were shipped without touchscreen functionality. (You could still use the iDrive controller, or the useless voice or gesture functions, but not touch). The credit on the window sticker was $500. But we all know *damn* well the difference between a screen with touch functionality and one without wasn’t $500.
Fortunately, I was able to retrofit the touchscreen.
I’m sure there’s ONE gesture that didn’t work that you’d likely be “flipping” the infotainment! :-D
How did you retrofit the touchscreen?
When I first glanced at the heading I thought GM was eliminating rear seats until I saw the word Entertainment. I was quickly thinking of a fix was to get plastic lawn chairs and bolt them to the floor which in itself would be not so entertaining for the rear passengers.
GM should bring back the Tahoe “Custom” package which actually does away with the 3rd row seats on the LS trim. But that likely doesn’t save many/any chips and only goes in the low cost trim levels so it won’t happen this year.
I would agree that for some reason some manufacturers seem to be able to make start/stop pretty seamless while others seem to have more issues making it “a smooth transition”.
I live with them when I have rentals, but I’d have a hard time owning a car with most of the systems that just use a conventional starter. They always seem rough and obtrusive.
On the other hand, a bigger electric motor (or two) makes this easy. The stop/start in any hybrid, even a mild hybrid, is usually completely seamless.
dal20402-
Most of the systems have been reworked for the “duty cycle” and are not conventional starters in the true sense.
It seems like the start/stop on some vehicles such as the Equinox (heard one start up next to me approaching a crosswalk on the way out to my car this evening) are all conventional; I’d think that if the manufacturer at least beefs-up the starter and equips the vehicle with an AGM battery, that would at least ensure some longevity, though you’ll be shelling out two or three times more $$$ when the battery needs replacement.
So my Buick e-assist (mild GM hybrid) and my soon to be Ford Maverick should both have a starter that will hold up to the start stop.
It would take a lot more than $125 to get me to sell back my heated seats and wheel.
General Mismanagement is working their “magic” once again…