Drivers fight back against GM’s challenge to $100M engine defect verdict

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Update:

• Three classes of General Motors (GM) vehicle owners asked a California judge to throw out GM’s request to overturn a $100 million jury verdict.
• The classes’ filing told Judge Edward Chen of U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California that it believes expert testimony is not needed for a class action case to succeed.
• It also states that recent rulings throwing out defect claims in BMW and Mazda vehicles are not the same and do not apply.
• The filing claims GM’s own witnesses testified the engine defect would occur, leading to the vehicles’ engines consuming an excessive amount of oil.
• GM attempted to block the verdict, which would have awarded $2,700 each to class members who owned certain versions of GMC Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL and Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe.

GM engine defect class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A California federal jury awarded $100 million to three classes of General Motors (GM) vehicle owners. 
• Why: The vehicle owners claimed GM sold vehicles with hidden engine defects that caused them to use an excessive amount of oil. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

(Oct. 6, 2022)

General Motors (GM) has been ordered to pay more than $100 million to classes of vehicle owners who argue the company sold vehicles with defective engines. 

A federal jury in California delivered the verdict against GM after less than one day of deliberation. It will benefit three classes of around 38,000 GM vehicle owners from California, North Carolina and Idaho, Law360 reports. 

Vehicle owners, who will receive $2,700 each, had accused GM of selling vehicles — including certain of its GMC Sierra, Yukon, Yukon XL and Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe — with a hidden engine defect that caused them to consume an excessive amount of oil. 

Jurors determined that GM breached its implied warranty and implied warranty of merchantability with the vehicle owners and violated Idaho’s consumer protection act, Law360 reports. 

Vehicle owners claim GM engine defect hidden from the public 

The vehicle owners claimed GM hid a defect in engines the company introduced in 2007 while the automaker reportedly argued that it discovered and fixed the problem. 

The vehicles at the center of the GM engine defect class action lawsuit include trucks and SUVS sold by the company between 2011 and 2014 that contained a Generation IV Vortec 5300 LC9 engine, Law360 reports. 

An engineer for GM reportedly testified during the trial that the automaker developed a cleaning process as a potential remedy to the defect that turned out to not be effective but was less expensive than a different potential fix. 

A separate class action lawsuit filed against GM escaped dismissal last month after a federal judge in Georgia mostly denied the automakers motion to dismiss claims it made defective engines. 

Have you purchased a GM vehicle with a defective engine? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Christopher S. Stombaugh, John E. Tangren, Adam J. Levitt, Daniel R. Ferri, Mark Abramowitz and Joseph Frate of DiCello Levitt LLC; H. Clay Barnett III, J. Mitch Williams, Rebecca Diane Gillilan, and Dylan Thomas Martin of Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles PC; Jennie Anderson of Andrus Anderson; and Anthony Garcia of AG Law PA.

The GM engine defect class action lawsuit is Siqueiros, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-07244, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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