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General Motors has reportedly reached a settlement deal with consumers who claim that certain Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain SUVs possess defective engines that use too much oil.
The proposed GM class action settlement is worth between $40 million and $45 million, and will cover three related class action lawsuits over the engine oil issue.
Under the terms of the GM class action settlement, General Motors will establish a program to cover the costs of repairing affected SUVs after the warranty has expired, and to reimburse owners who paid out-of-pocket to repair damage allegedly related to the excessive oil consumption problem.
The settlement deal was struck to avoid the continued costs and risks of pursuing further litigation.
According to the drivers’ motion for preliminary settlement approval, “absent a settlement, the final resolution of the litigation through the trial process may require several more months or even years of protected , adversarial litigation and appeals, which will delay relief to the tens of thousands of possible settlement class members.”
The drivers went on to say that the GM class action settlement posed an opportunity for the drivers to receive more compensation than they otherwise would have, because reportedly, GM would attempt to have two of the related class action lawsuits — those filed in California and Illinois — dismissed, which would possibly result in Class Members receiving no compensation.
As part of the proposed GM engine defect class action settlement, General Motors will pay up to $2.5 million in attorney fees and expenses.
The three related suits that the GM oil settlement deal will cover claimed that the affected engines were in certain Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain SUVs.
One suit was filed in September 2018 by Florida residents Ellen Berman and Dayana Guach. They claimed that the SUVs have a defect that causes the engines to consume as much as 1 quart of oil for every 1,000 miles driven. Allegedly, drivers are not notified of this over use, so oil levels can fall dangerously low.
The Florida residents argued that the defect posed a substantial safety risk to drivers, and therefore “the class vehicles do not provide for safe and reliable transportation.”
Other class action lawsuits over the same issue were filed in California in 2017 and in Illinois in April 2018.
In the engine oil class action lawsuit filed in Illinois, drivers argued that the excessive oil use of the engines led to a range of problems, which reportedly included the engines shutting down and losing power unexpectedly.
Additionally, the Illinois drivers argued that the vehicles could stall and start fires unexpectedly.
The majority of claims brought forward by drivers in the California engine oil class action lawsuit were dismissed in June. A judge argued that the drivers had not sufficiently established that their vehicles were affected by a manufacturing defect that was, as the drivers claimed, covered by the vehicle’s warranty.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The GM vehicle owners are represented by Rachel Soffin, Gregory F. Coleman, Adam A. Edwards and Mark E. Silvey of Greg Coleman Law PC, Robert Ahdoot of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC, and Daniel K. Bryson and J. Hunter Bryson of Whitfield Bryson & Mason LLP.
The GM Chevrolet Equinox SUV Oil Consumption Defect Class Action Lawsuits are Ellen Berman, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 2:18-cv-14371, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida; Hindsman, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-05337, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; and Sanchez, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 1:18-cv-02536, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
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141 thoughts onGM Oil-Guzzling SUVs Class Action Settlement Valued at $40M
Yes, I have this problem on my 2011 Chevy Equinox I use about 1-1/2 quarts per 800 miles. I just put 1,500 worth of work into this car and the car still consumes high I can across the recall bulletin.
I have a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox, 111k miles has had excessive oil consumption since purchasing with less than 20,000 miles. Took to Chevy dealer for oil change and told them about issues, they acted oblivious. We have never trusted the oil gages and almost recently lost the entire car due to oil “DRYING OUT” while driving.
I have a 2012 Chevy Equinox. Experienced all of these issues. Had to replace the engine on my own. As well as sensors related to catalytic converter sending bad signal to computer. By the time I received service notices I was pass the mileage or years since I had hit just over the 150k mark. So I got nothing repaired by GM nor any compensation. Same thing happened for the windshield wiper transmission.
I had taken our 2013 Equinox in back in May 2020. The appointment would have been scheduled earlier, however, COVID shut everything down in the state of WI. At the time, our Equinox was consuming nearly 8 quarts between filter changes and had been getting substantially worse as miles were being put on. The car had only 75k when the excessive consumption had started. Fast forward a bit, the car had failed the consumption test and parts were placed on order for the vehicle. When I brought it in for the lower end rebuild to begin, I was told I needed to pay half the costs totaling over $1,700. This is a well known, and documented issue. From my perspective, I see this as being a disappointing move by the dealerships part and on GM. This is the second vehicle in a row that we have owned from GM that has experienced oil related issues that amount to significant costs. The first was a Buick Enclave with 40,000 miles and now this. GM will be losing a generational customer. This is coming from an individual that has owned nothing but GM products – including a 600 rear wheel horsepower CTS-V, several Duramax trucks, and Buick daily drivers.
I have a 2012 Equinox, which I bought new. It now has 130,000 miles and is using excess oil. The dealership started an oil consumption test and discovered it is burning excess oil due to the incorrectly manufactured piston rings. I need to be part of this class action law suit. The cost to repair my vehicle and fix the piston rings is at least $4,000. This is the manufacturers problem as my vehicle was manufactured faulty.
I have a 2012 equinox, it burns oil a lot. Can I get on the list.
I just bought an Equinox back in July and am having these issues. Is there any way I can get included in this settlement?
How do you get these repairs handled or even part of this class action?
GM Customer Service 866-790-5600; you can request a case be opened on your auto issues. There is an extended warranty for the oil consumption issue on the 2013 Equinox and Terrain- Special Coverage Adjustment Also look for Technical Bulletin N19229110 – Excessive – A GM dealership should be able to help you thru this.
That extended warranty is crap! The deadline when it expired was July 15, 2020 and that’s only known IF u received notice which I didn’t! That notice supposedly went out in august 2019 . I didn’t even own the vehicle at that time!!!! So where would be my notice or how would I even have known this was goin to happen?!? What a bunch of Sugar Honey Ice TEA!!!
Can someone tell me who I can contact regarding the lawsuit for the GMC Terrain, as now the engine needs replaced due to to much oil consumption and it took out the timing chain among other issues. This is very irritating to get a vehicle and within 1 year of having it the engine needs replaced. I am very disappointed with GM motors. But I need answers now. Please if anyone has contact information to give me thank you,
I own 2012 Chevrolet Equinox and was told by my local auto shop that it is running low engine oil. I would be part of the lawsuit.