GM Fuel Economy Lawsuit Looks for Class Certification

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A group of SUV owners involved in a GM fuel economy lawsuit have asked that a Michigan federal judge grant temporary certification to the suit.

Temporary certification would in this case prevent GM from targeting potential Class Members, which they could use to offer unfair compensation.

Lead plaintiff Sean Tolmasoff filed the complaint in May on behalf of himself and all current and former owners and lessees of three GM vehicle models.

The GM affected vehicles include the 2016 Chevrolet Traverse, the 2016 Buick Enclave, and the 2016 GMC Acadia.

Tolmasoff is asking the federal judge to grant provisional certification to the suit. The plaintiff alleges that GM has already started offering unfair compensation to Class Members that could join the lawsuit. Tolmasoff claims that GM is offering compensation without all the information about the lawsuit necessary to make a good decision in order to stop plaintiffs from joining the class action.

Potential Class Members who take this compensation and agree to GM’s terms would lose the legal right to join the suit.

“Failing to inform putative class members of the amount of potential damages, including any exemplary damages, that they might receive if the class action is successful can be coercive and misleading when the defendant obtains releases,” the plaintiff claims.

According to Tolmasoff, GM is acting out of turn, “GM’s aggressive tactics in this case are outside the normal course of conduct in these types of circumstances where an automobile manufacturer is forced to acknowledge a material error similar to the one at issue here. Provisional class certification is necessary to protect the members of the class and the class action process.”

The complaint, filed May 17, came just days after news of the GM elevated fuel economy ratings broke. GM allegedly issued a memo to its dealerships to alert them that the three utility vehicles included in this lawsuit had advertised inaccurate fuel economy ratings.

These GM vehicles advertised a combined fuel economy rating of 22 miles per gallon, which is apparently inaccurate. The vehicles are rated at 22 miles per gallon on the highway, but only 15 miles per gallon in city driving, for a combined total of 17 miles per gallon.

Tolmasoff says he bought a 2016 Chevy Traverse on April 23, and claims this decision was at least partially informed by the vehicle’s 22 miles per gallon fuel economy rating. He alleges that GM either knew or should have known about the false and misleading fuel economy ratings advertised with these vehicles.

This false fuel economy rating, according to the plaintiff, was not only misleading, but also led to higher gas prices and lower vehicular value.

Tolmasoff claims that if GM had offered accurate fuel economy rating information, he either would not have purchased the vehicle or, at the very least, would have paid less for it.

The plaintiff is represented by E. Powell Miller and Sharon Almonrode of Miller Law Firm PC; Richard D. McCune, David C. Wright, Joseph G. Sauder, Matthew D. Schelkopf and Joseph B. Kenney of McCuneWright LLP.

The GM Fuel Economy Class Action Lawsuit is Sean Tolmasoff v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 2:16-cv-11747, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

UPDATE: On July 19, 2017, GM agreed to settle a class action lawsuit claiming it falsely stated the fuel economy in three sport utility vehicles was 22 miles per gallon, when it really was 17 miles per gallon. The GM affected vehicles include the 2016 Chevrolet Traverse, the 2016 Buick Enclave, and the 2016 GMC Acadia.