GM defective paint class action overview:ย
- Who: Four owners of vehicles made by General Motors are suing the company.ย
- Why: The plaintiffs say General Motors used defective paint on its vehicles. It was prone to cracking, clouding and delaminating.ย
- Where: The GM defective paint class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.
This new class action alleges that General Motors sold cars coated with defective paint. That causes the vehiclesโ exteriors to peel, crack, become cloudy and delaminate.
Plaintiffs Bryon Lyman, Kelly McAteer, Jason Merkel and Mark Volk filed the class action lawsuit against General Motors LLC on July 9 in a California federal court. They allege violations of state and federal consumer laws.ย
The class action refers to paint on 2015-2020 Chevrolet Tahoes, 2015-2020 Chevrolet Suburbans, 2015-2020 GMC Yukons, 2015-2020 GMC Yukon XLs, and 2015-2020 Cadillac Escalades.ย
โAlthough the defect manifested over time, [General Motors] knew or should have known of those issues prior to sale of the [vehicles]; yet GM continued to put the latently defective class vehicles on the market,โ the lawsuit alleges.
The Lawsuit alleges that the paint issue is an expensive fix
The class action contains many consumer stories about the issues with their vehiclesโ paint jobs.
Lyman says he bought a used 2017 Tahoe LT in California in 2019. He alleges that In early 2022, he began noticing issues with the vehicleโs paint. Despite his efforts to polish the car himself, the problem continued. A professional detailer later diagnosed it as a โclearcoat issueโ and buffed the car. Lyman says that only provided a โbandaidโ fix.ย
Lyman states that to repair and repaint the vehicle fully, he would have needed to spend over $10,000. This process would involve sanding the car down to bare metal. Lyman alleges that would significantly depreciate his carโs value.ย
GM likely knew about the defect, plaintiffs allege
The lawsuit alleges that the problem is not unique to Lymanโs Tahoe. Many other General Motors customers suffer from the same defect. Itโs allegedly repeatedly leading to peeling, cracking, cloudiness, flaking, bubbling, erosion, and microblistering of the clearcoat.
The plaintiffs say they expected their โluxuryโ vehicles to be of good quality and had no reason to anticipate the paint issues. Had they known, they would not have bought the vehicles or paid less for them. The lawsuit says General Motors knew or should have known about the defect due to the high number of customer complaints.
The plaintiffs seek to represent anyone in the United States who bought or leased a class vehicle in California. Theyโre suing for breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, fraud, and violations of state consumer laws. The plaintiffs are asking for class action certification, damages, fees, costs, and a jury trial.ย
Meanwhile, consumers recently filed class action lawsuits against General Motors (GM) over claims involving alleged vehicle defects, unlawful data collection and sharing and hackable key fobs. GM also expanded a recall last month over concerns certain GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado vehicles contain tailgates that can inadvertently unlatch while the vehicle is parked.ย
Are you affected by this GM defective paint lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!ย
Steven W. Ritcheson, Taylor C. Bartlett, and Jeanie Sleadd of Heninger Garrison Davis LLC represent the plaintiffs.ย
The GM defective paint class action is Bryon Lyman et al v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 2:24-cv-05786ย in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.ย
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461 thoughts onGM class action claims Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and other vehicles have defective paint
This also happened to me regarding my 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. Itโs paint delaminated terribly and Iโve had to buff, polish and wax it every other day practically. Now that doesnโt even help. It needs a repaint. It gradually worsened after I purchased it in 2019. I started recognizing the difference in 2019, and the dealership said they had no responsibility and I would have to repaint it and be charged of course.
This issue existed on my 2014 Topaz Blue Avalance with deamination across the roof/windshield line.
What appeared to be a rock shot in the fall of my last year of warranty creeper into total lamination across the entire windshield line.
After several dealer and escalation attempts and with the General essentially demying.responsability I mentioned the issue to a friend at the Warren Design studios. He asked what color, I told him, he replied โooooooohโ indicating to me a known problem.
Itโs a shame I had to address this on my own, as a result it is highly unlikely that I will be buying a GM in the future after a lifetime of purchases.
The 2013 models should be part of the class in my view given the evidence trail.
I donโt believe itโs just those vehicles. I have a 2020 Chevy Equinox experiencing the same issues.
I have a 2021 equinox with a couple problems with almost like bumpy clearcoatโฆand a couple little places on both sides of my vehicle same exact spot on both side where paint has fell off.
I had to repaint my 2017 Tahoe. It was out of warranty.
I bought my wife a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe in 2020 and at first the truck was nice and shiny, we even purchased a whole vehicle protection plan called Zurich Sheild, nonetheless the paint on the hood and roof has faded out completely!
2018 GMC Yukon XL Denali
Black Paint Is Fading On The Hood, Roof and Now The Door Sills.
I Do Also Own A 2015 Chevy Silverado LTZ Z71 Black and I Never Had Any Paint Issues With My Truck, Unlike My Yukon XL. I Did Wash and Wax The Same Times After I Bought My GMC Yukon XL In January 2018.
My 2016 Suburbans paint has failed. Have contacted the dealership multiple times to no avail. The estimates we received to correct the paint range between 5900 and 10,000. The paint has worsened with each passing year.
2015 Tahoe LTZ. Cloudy paint etc especially hood.
2017 escalade paint problem
Not just those vehicles. I have a 2015 Chevy Traverse same problem it looks horrible.
Same. Escalade ESV rooftop badly effected.
We have a 2017 Yukon XL Denali in Black Cherry. Noticing paint clouding on hood. Looks pretty bad. Tried buffing it out but only slightly worked ans still very noticeable.