A federal appellate judge ruled that General Motors will face a civil suit for allegedly selling faulty transmissions (MY 2015-2019), and having knowledge these transmissions may have been defective, Reuters reported. The class action suit will cover 8L45 or 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions used in pickups such as the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Canyon and Sierra, as well as the Chevy Corvette, Cadillac CTS and Escalade, and more. Originally filed in January 2022 as Speerly, et al. v. GM and certified in March 2023, the suit will cover around 800,000 vehicles.
According to Berger Montague, a firm serving on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, the lawsuit alleges that the transmission defects consist of the following two issues:
- A poorly chosen and insufficiently validated automatic transmission fluid that caused the Class Vehicles to shudder at higher gears
- A defectively designed transmission that fails to adequately purge air from valve bodies causes delayed sifting, jerking, lurching, and overall poor shift quality
According to plaintiffs, these issues are a safety hazard because they can “cause the vehicle to perform erratically, such as with sudden or delayed acceleration," and repair attempts have been unsuccessful.
Drivers also accused GM of telling dealers to assure them that issues were "normal."
GM has filed an opposing class certification arguing that most class members never experienced problems and lacked standing to sue, but Sixth Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore said that overpaying for allegedly defective vehicles was enough to establish standing.
“We look forward to holding GM accountable before a Michigan jury,” said Ted Leopold, a Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll partner representing the drivers.
