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
I bought a 2015 Tahoe in Las Vegas Nv. Soon after a couple of years, the paint has faded and cracked. Looks horrible. Have contacted General Motors and nothing has been done on there part to fix it.
I have a 2018 Cadillac Escalade ESV Platinum
I have a 2020 Chevy Tahoe and was never told of this issue with the paint when I bought it from driveway.com certified pre-owned. I hope that I can get help with this issue. Thank you!
I bought a 2020 Cadillac escalade at Shea vehicle city.
I have a 2013 Chevy Suburban I bought used in Sept. 2023 with 160,000 miles and the hood and roof are very cloudy and rough looking. The color is black. Iโm in Texas
I meant in my comment 2021
I brought my 2016 Cadillac CT6 in October of 2012 with 34,000 miles the paint is great on the sides of the car but the hood, roof and trunk are the problem. I had a detailed start on the hood fine sanding and itโs not working, really deep clouding not coming out. So I just read this article I never knew of the GM paint defect. Do I have any options
It sounds like with most of these newer vehicles more prep time should have been given. If my truck was a 13 I would fix it myself
Not newer vehicles, I have a 2003 Escalade doing the exact same thing, hood cloudy, paint chipping and clear coat peeling off, I only have 120,000 miles on the vehicle.
My 2014 Silverado is having the same issue. Paint has peeled away from the panels as if it was never primed, almost like a sticker where the glue has dried up. Just falls right off.
Paint started chipping off from the hood on 2019 escalade esv. I bought it in California
My 2017 cadillac escalade esv is already fading out.