Federal Judge Allows Class-Action Lawsuit Over C7 Z06 Cooling Issues to Move Forward

C7 Corvette Z06 owners in a class-action lawsuit against GM received good news from a federal judge this week.

Judge Victoria A. Robert issued an order on March 29 upholding the rights of plaintiffs under various state laws in 16 states.

The lawsuit claims that GM sold the Corvettes knowing that they had defective cooling systems that can cause them to overheat, especially on the track, causing them to go into limp mode and dramatically slow down, creating a dangerous situation as other cars maintain high speeds around them.

“We look forward to continuing to represent the classes of consumers in this case and fighting for their rights against General Motors,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, one of the firms representing the owners in the suit. “We believe those who purchased the affected Corvette Z06 so-called ‘track cars’ were severely shortchanged and GM owes them answers after failing to live up to deliver on the racecar hype it created.”

The suit affects more than 30,000 such Z06 cars produced during the 2015-17 model years, and besides Hagens Berman, the owners are also represented by law firms Roth Yaffa Cohen, the Miller Law Firm, and Schuler Halvorsen Weisser Zoller Overbeck.

“Accepting as true Plaintiffs’ allegations, the Court finds that Plaintiffs plausibly allege their cars are not fit for the ordinary purpose of providing safe and reliable transportation on public roads and safe and reliable use on race tracks,” the March 29 order states.

Judge Robert upheld fraudulent concealment claims, stating, “In fact, accepting as true Plaintiffs’ allegations regarding the frequency in which the Z06 overheats and enters Limp Mode when used on the track, and in light of how rigorously [Corvette’s chief engineer, Tadge] Juechter says GM track-tests the car, it would be implausible to infer that GM was not aware of the car’s alleged defective cooling system as a result of its testing.” The judge also upheld claims that GM had a duty to disclose the defect and likely had knowledge prior to sale.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages as well as injunctive relief for GM’s misconduct related to the design, manufacture, marketing, sale and lease of affected vehicles.

Source:
Businesswire.com

Related:
Owners File Another Class-Action Lawsuit Over the Corvette Z06’s Overheating Limp Mode ‘Defect’
Federal Judge Tosses Two Claims in Lawsuit Against GM for Overheating Corvette Z06s
GM’s Lawyers Ask Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Corvette Z06’s Cooling Issues