GM Class Action Claims Transmission Defect Causes Jerking, Lurching in Lower Gears

GM Transmission Shift Defect Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Six GM customers teamed up against the automobile giant. 
• Why: The plaintiffs claim a defect in certain vehicles’ transmission that causes jerking and lurching in lower gears. They allege that GM knew about the defect for years but failed to disclose it. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Michigan federal court.

Six drivers filed a class action lawsuit alleging that several vehicles manufactured by GM are equipped with defective eight-speed transmissions and that GM concealed the defects from buyers for years.

The defect appears in first generation 8L90 and 8L45 transmissions built after Mar. 1, 2019, and “causes “harsh shifts” in lower gears, which can feel like jerking, lurching and/or hesitations,” according to court documents.

The class vehicles are 2019-2022 model year vehicles, designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed, sold, warranted and serviced by GM and equipped with GM’s eight-speed Hydra-Matic 8L90 transmission or Hydra-Matic 8L45 transmission. This includes the 2019-2022 Chevrolet Camaro, Colorado and Silverado; the 2019 Corvette; the 2019 Cadillac ATS, ATS-V, CTS, CT6 and CTS-V; and the 2019-2022 GMC Canyon and Sierra.

There are six named plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against GM: Matthew Battle, Juan Castaneda, David Figueroa, Robert Gribble and Walter and Janice Helms. The plaintiffs seek to represent statewide classes that include all original purchasers or current owners of class vehicles who purchased the vehicles from authorized GM dealers in California, Michigan, New Jersey, Indiana and Washington. 

GM Class Action Alleges Automaker Ignored ‘Safety Hazard’ Since 2013

The shift defect detailed in the GM class action lawsuit presents a safety hazard because it affects “the driver’s ability to control the vehicle’s speed, acceleration and deceleration,” the complaint says. However, GM “has not… nor can it” fix the defect until the “planned deployment of a major redesign in MY23 models (Gen 2).” 

The plaintiffs argue that GM knew about the defect since 2013. They also allege that the defect is covered by GM warranties, but that GM’s authorized agents have denied customers meaningful remedies to the defect under warranty. 

Have you purchased any of the above class vehicles? You could be a member of this class action lawsuit! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Theodore J. Leopold of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll Pllc et al. The GM Transmission Shift Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Battle et al. v. General Motors, LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-10783, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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