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 have a pearl 2015 Tahoe LTZ that I purchased used with 49k almost 4 years ago. It now has 118K and I have blistering over the rear drivers tire that became very visible around 100k. This vehicle has been professionally cleaned often since I have had it, as I live in New England and my husband owns a professional detailing business. He sees plenty of these trucks with paint issues too. Why does this lawsuit only cover CA? These trucks cost way too much to be having such issues. This is my second Tahoe. Still have my 08 Z71 with 250K and everything about it is better than this one. How does GM expect its customers to remain loyal to the brand given the lengthy list of issues than many are having? And we wonโt even talk about lifters and transmissions :(
I currently have a 2013 Silverado that has the clear coat completely missing from the left rear quarter panel, and most of the clear coat on my hood.
This is the 5th Chevrolet I have owned dating back to my first car that was a 1985 Chevy cavalier that I have had this issue with.
2015 Escalade paint is cracked and /or clouded over. How do we become part of this lawsuit?
The paint on the hood and roof of my 2016 Cadillac Escalade is cracked and faded.
I have a 2012 Silverado that was painted in 2020 with GM black paint. Recently, Iโve noticed that the paint on the hood is starting to bubble up in several places. I take care of this truck and am meticulous with keeping it clean and the paint waxed.
I have the same problem with my 2015 Cadillac Escalade hood and top.
I have a well maintained 09 Sierra with paint problems due to poor painting by factory paint. Peeled in patches on hood , fender.
I purchased a 2015 Chevy Suburban LTZ in July of 2023 and the paint on my hood is visibly faded out and now there is a patch that is greyish-white and it is bumpy in texture. I was quoted over 700.00 just to paint my hood alone and unfortunately do not have those kinds of funds at the moment, being as I am still making payments on it,so I am riding around with a faded out ugly hood.
Why only those years and why only in CA? I have a 2003 Escalade with only 120,000 miles, had it for 2 years and the
paint is also peeling, had started to fade and clear coat is also peeling, had never seen clear coat peel before so when I saw it I thought someone had somehow melted plastic on my vehicle.
I have a 2018 Chevy Silverado purchased new from a Chevy dealership in the New Orleans area. The clear coat is peeling on different panels on almost the entire vehicle. The truck is well maintained and taken care of.
I have a 2017 GMC Terrain Denali that has the same issues, but my vehicle is not listed. My paint has bubbled, discolored and chipped away and now has rust. Do we know for sure that the vehicles listed in the suit are the only ones affected?