Lawsuit: GM Didn’t Notify Recall Owners of Free Rental Cars

Nearly 2.4 million vehicles are subject to a General Motors Co. recall for faulty ignition switches, and the problem has been the focus of a number of class action lawsuits. A new GM lawsuit filed April 2 faults GM for not notifying owners of vehicles subject to recall can receive free rental cars, and is part of an effort to centralize GM recall lawsuits.

The GM class action lawsuits have been bringing them before the same judge who heard the litigation regarding a similar class action lawsuit filed against Toyota Motor Corp. for its own acceleration issues.

Another GM class action lawsuit was filed Feb. 7, only a day after the Center for Auto Safety reported that 303 fatalities from car accidents could be traced back to GM models that were recently recalled because of defective ignition switches. The recall, at the time, had reached 1.6 million vehicles, and the models affected by the recall according to that class action lawsuit include 2005-2007 Chevy Cobalt, 2007 G5 Pontiac, 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, 2006-2007 Chevy HHR, 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice, and 2006-2007 Saturn Sky vehicles.

Since that class action lawsuit was filed, still more deaths have been linked by the Center for Auto Safety to the defective ignition switches, and the consumer advocacy group says that it’s further evidence GM should take the affected vehicles off the road until they are repaired.

This new GM class action lawsuit, which includes lead plaintiffs Devora Kelley and Frederick Whittington, takes GM to task for failing to advertise the availability of free rental cars for drivers whose cars are subject to the recall, and seeks a preliminary injunction that would compel GM to disseminate notice to the members of the putative class, informing them that they can receive free rental cars from local dealerships.

According to the GM class action lawsuit, GM has allegedly notified just dealerships, and not drivers, that a program could offer the free rentals while drivers wait for their vehicles to be repaired.

The GM class action lawsuit alleges that, while the car company did alert drivers to the dangers of faulty ignition switches and provided advice on preventing catastrophic engine failure, the automaker will not have sufficient parts available to replace all the defective components until mid-2015; so that some drivers could be left for over a year before their vehicle was repaired. The number of drivers who have so far been offered loaner cars is only 10,000, according to the filing, a far smaller number than the affected vehicles.

The plaintiffs in the California lawsuit are represented by Eric H Gibbs, Daniel C. Girard, David K. Stein, Scott M. Grzenczyk, Jennifer L. McIntosh and Rachel A. Naor of Girard Gibbs LLP; Robert C. Hilliard, Rudy Gonzales Jr., Catherine D. Tobin and Marion M. Reilly of Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP; and Thomas J. Henry, Greggory A. Teeter and Travis E. Venable of Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys.

The California GM Faulty Ignition Free Rental Car Class Action Lawsuit is Kelley, et al. v. General Motors Co., et al., Case No. 8:14-cv-00465, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Other GM class action lawsuits have asked for separate injunctions, including one to compel GM to issue an emergency “park it now” notification to drivers of the affected models. Altogether, such a large number of vehicles are included in the potential classes, and so many recourses are requested by plaintiffs, the accusations against the automaker are reaching a fever pitch.

File a GM Ignition Switch Recall Class Action Lawsuit Today

If your vehicle is one of those affected by the GM faulty ignition switch recall, you may be slogging through a vast amount of information and allegations regarding the automaker. If you are a consumer whose vehicle lost value due to the safety recall, or were injured as a result of the GM ignition switch defect, legal options are available.

Consumers affected by the GM ignition recall can take legal action by joining the GM Ignition Switch Recall Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. The GM recall class action lawsuit will attempt to hold the automaker accountable for manufacturing and selling defective vehicles and failing to address safety flaws that endangered hundreds of thousands of customers. So act now!