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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
I just had to junk my 2017 Eqinox. Car sstalled when idling and had to be restarted repeatedly. Finally stopped working. All this occurred on one day. Had it towed and mechanic said engine blew due to lack of oil. No warning indicator in car alerted me and also had 2,000 miles before next scheduled oil change. Shocked and extremely disappointed in the Chevy product! Even car rep at dealership told me that this had been a problem with Equinoxes. I had 92,000 miles on it and always changed oil when due.
I need a timing chain replacement, just replaced the alternator and my Chevrolet keeps burning oil. HELP.
I have 2014 Chevy equinox that needs a quart of oil every 500 miles.
I have a 2011 GMC Terrain that burns lot of oil. I check the oil every time I put gas on the truck It’s burning 1 quart. How do I get in the list.
I would like the name/email of the law firm handling this! I have a 2011 Equinox and it reached 60,000 miles and just went out on me. Have the lawyers contact me.
My 2012 equinox goes thru about a qrt of oil every 600 miles . Now I am having major issues.
My issues are exactly as those above. They said my vin # was not on the list of those vehicles eligible to be fixed and even it it was I was past the date to fix it. It is a run around and they deny it is a defect. It’s a “extended warranty service” as they claim any fix to be. I would gladly submit my documentation and join a lawsuit against GM and our local dealership who basically said “too bad. If you die, it’s not our problem.”
I too have a 2013 Equinox that is burning through a LOT of oil. I got a notice from GM several months ago that stated a part (can’t remember specifically which part) needed to be replaced to solve the problem. When I took the letter to my local Chevy dealership he said my Equinox had too many miles on it to take part in the recall. If this was a manufacturing problem by GM, it shouldn’t matter how many miles a vehicle has on it as long as excessive oil consumption caused by the problem exists. Had I known about the excessive oil consumption, I never would have bought the vehicle!
I have a 2016 Chevy Equinox and just had to replace the engine as the motor locked up due to oil issue. The mechanic told us that it was using lots of oil.
I have a 2013 GMC Terrain and we just had to have the engine replaced with only 100000 miles on it. We had an extended warranty that covered it. But, now with the new engine and only 2000 miles put on it since the engine replacement, it is blowing through oil and coming out of my exhaust covering my back window
We
We bought my daughter 2013 equinox a year ago. We get the oil changed every 3 months and every week check the oil almost none left . Engine is knocking not a good deal . And why was this not disclosed.
I’m currently dealing with these same issues and actively pursuing steps to get this taken care of since this is General Motors issue and not consumers issues. I will be progressively emailing about these issues starting with my local dealer and going up a chain of command and if need be starting a class action lawsuit.
Hi, I’m Javier. I have the same problem with my 2013 Chevrolet equinox. It keeps burning 1 quart a week . If you decide to suit email me at royalbluefreight@yahoo.com. thank you.
I’ve been running this course for 8 months. Gm will keep going to
Dealer to see if “willing to provide financial assistance to repair” the dealer will say cal gm they have funds to help.
Then gm will offer you $2,000 toward a new car and tell you the dealers are independent dealers so they can’t force them to do anything. And close your case. You will explain it is gm issue not dealership and then a new case will be opened apologizing for trouble you’ve had and they will have you recount what happened again- most likely trying to catch you like you may be lying. They will tell you so sorry but dealership says they won’t help. You will rant and rave and they will over a rewards certificate again. When you tell them you will contact an attorney? They will tell you that once you do that they can’t talk to you or work with you in a resolution. They will “get back to you” once they see wgat gm will offer to help. Then a new rep will tell you that cost is what you were quoted but happy to help you schedule the repair- all talk of assistance or reward certificate gone. Case closed. You will rant yet again about time, gm faulty part, lawyers and once again a new rep will tell you so sorry! Let me see what I can do. What they will do is give you same runaround you’ve already received.
Been there done that. Now I’m contacting the attorneys
The exact same thing happened to me. I have a 2012 Chevy Equinox and GM offered me $2000 towards a new car but they won’t fix the issue.
I have a 2013 Chevy equinox, I have replaced the timing chain and many sensors and it still runs like crap. Still owe $9000 on it and don’t know what to do.