WASHINGTON, D.C. -

A recall General Motors issued for Pontiac sedans more than four years ago might be expanded to include more than a half-million more units as an investigation now is branching out to possibly cover other vehicles from the automaker.

According to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation has received 212 reports alleging that the brake lights do not operate properly on model-year 2005–2009 Pontiac G6 vehicles.

NHTSA indicated complainants allege that the brake lights illuminate when the brake pedal has not been depressed, or the lights do not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed.

“Brake lights that are not operating properly may not warn a driver in a following vehicle of the braking status which could lead to a crash,” NHTSA said.

In addition, officials reported the cruise control may not engage or will disengage unintentionally.

In September of 2008, ODI first opened an investigation into allegations of brake light malfunctions on model-year 2005-2007 Pontiac G6 vehicles. This investigation resulted in a safety recall the following January, which involved 7,927 model-year 2005 and 85 model-year 2006 Pontiac G6 vehicles that were manufactured in January 2005 only.

The complaints identified in NHTSA’s newest investigation include vehicles that fall outside of the model year 2005 and 2006 scope as well as the 2007 through 2009 model years.

As a result, ODI’s latest report now covers approximately 550,000 Pontiac vehicles.

Furthermore, in a letter to GM’s director of product investigations, structure and safety integration, the chief of ODI’s vehicle integrity division made the connection to a service bulletin the automaker sent to dealers in October of 2010.

ODI’s Scott Yon referenced a GM technical service bulletin that mentioned not only the issues stemming from the Pontiac recall but also noted the Chevrolet Malibu from the 2004 through 2011 model years as well as the Saturn Aura from the 2007 through 2009 model years.

In the letter dated Feb. 13, Yon indicated that ODI has received 72 complaints about the Chevy model and 25 complaints about the Saturn unit “that appear to be affected by this same condition.”

And that condition according to Yon is, “corrosion in the wiring connector could cause the brake lamps to illuminate when the brake pedal had not been depressed, or the lamps to not illuminate when the brake pedal was depressed.

“Therefore, for the scope of this letter, ODI is looking to include all vehicles listed in the TSB,” Yon wrote to GM’s Carmen Benavides.

Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.