GMC Sierra Headlight Lawsuit Says New Design Was a Flop

UPDATE: On May 13, 2019, the GMC Sierra Headlights Class Action Lawsuit was dismissed.

Truck owners are reporting that some GMC Sierra vehicles may have headlights that do not provide enough light for safe nighttime driving.

According to consumers, some GMC Sierra pickup trucks made in 2014 and 2015 have defective headlights, that were designed in such a way that doesn’t let them produce enough light for nighttime driving. In fact, hundreds of GMC Sierra owners have already filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and some consumers filed a GMC Sierra headlight lawsuit over the issue in 2015.

Allegedly, before the model year 2014, the trucks were made with three headlight bulbs: one for low beams, one for high beams, and one for fog lights.

In 2014, GMC allegedly changed their headlight assembly to only include one bulb — the same bulb functioned for both the low and high beams. Reportedly, the consumers say that the new headlight system works by moving a shutter to cut of project light when the headlights are in the low beam setting, and then moving the shutter away so high beams can be used.

Consumers say that this change gave the trucks less illumination capacity.

After the 2014 cars were released, consumers took to the internet to complain about the defects they claimed were present in their vehicles. Many consumers said they felt unsafe driving at night. Consumers described the experience as “terrible,” and one driver even said that their experience driving at night in his GMC vehicle was “the worst I’ve ever experienced.”

Other drivers say that the headlights are also dangerous in tricky driving conditions like mountain roads, rural roads, conditions that make the road difficult to see, or in situations in which the roads are not well lit.

In the 2015 GMC Sierra headlight lawsuit, customers said that GMC knew that the new headlight system did not provide enough light for night driving, but continued to sell the vehicles nonetheless. The consumers aimed to hold the company accountable for deceptive acts and practices, fraudulent concealment, unjust enrichment, and breach of explicit and implied warranty.

One driver in the GMC Sierra headlight lawsuit said that he took his vehicle to the dealership to report that he was having difficulty with the headlights, but the dealership would not fix the problem. He said that he had to purchase a new headlight system for his vehicle that would enable him to drive the truck at night, which cost him around $500.

Another driver claimed that he was able to have the headlights replaced at a GMC dealership. But even after they were replaced and the lights were recalibrated, the problem was not solved and his vehicle was not safe to drive. According to the customer, even after he had his GMC Sierra lights repacked and recalibrated, it was “still unsafe,” because the lights were so dim.

The GMC Sierra Headlights Class Action Lawsuit is Becerra, et al. v. General Motors LLC, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-02365, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.