Federal Appeals Court Rules GM Must Face Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty C7 Transmissions

By
Mitch Talley
-
8
14366

Federal Appeals Court Rules GM Must Face Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty C7 Transmissions


Certain C7 Corvettes are among the half-million vehicles targeted by a class action lawsuit against General Motors just approved by a federal court.

For years, some GM owners have complained about shuddering and shaking in higher gears and lurching in lower gears when shifting their eight-speed 8L45 or 8L90 automatic transmissions. In the past, GM has responded by having dealers reassure customers the issues are normal and also suggested changing the transmission fluid to fix the problem.

Now, the 6th U.S. Circuit of Appeals has ordered GM to face a class action suit involving 514,000 owners of GM vehicles produced from 2015 to 2019, including the Chevrolet Corvette, Camaro, Colorado, and Silverado; Cadillac CTS, CT6, and Escalade; and the GMC Canyon, Sierra, and Yukon, among others.

GM had argued against the class action suit because it believes most customers were not affected by the problem and therefore lacked standing to sue, adding that the differences between class members were also too great for group lawsuits.

C7 Corvette 8L90 8-Speed Transmission


Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore ruled against those arguments, however, noting that overpaying for the defective vehicles was enough to establish standing. The judge also argued that specific shuddering or shift quality experiences of individual plaintiffs were irrelevant to whether GM concealed known defects.

Moore’s ruling returns the case to U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit, who had originally certified the classes in March 2023.

“We look forward to holding GM accountable before a Michigan jury,” said Ted Leopold, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll representing the vehicle owners.


Source:
cbtnews.com

Related:
GM is Offering Reimbursement for C7 Grand Sport and Z06 Owners who Fixed their Cracked Wheels
GM Finds Itself Defending Another 8-Speed Transmission Lawsuit in Michigan
Judge Grants Class Action Status to GM 8-Speed Transmission Lawsuit

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Glad I bought my 2017 C7 Chevy Corvette Stingray Z51 with the 7 speed manual transmission. Automatic transmissions suck & don’t belong in high performance sports cars. I feel bad for those that bought & had problems with the auto trans.

  2. In this part of Florida the roads are almost all straight, left turn here, straight, right turn there, straight, turn again, straight. Plus there is traffic and lots of stop lights most everywhere you go. So unlike the twisty, mountainous roads of Northern, NJ where I used to live, manual transmissions are just extra work here for nothing. I like an automatic down here. But understand why others would like a manual in other locations. I shifted a 4 speed manual 1979 Corvette for 45 years (converted to 5 speed manual Doug Nash in 1987). 225,000 miles of periodic clutch replacements, throwout bearing replacements… All done with that. But good that people had a choice of different transmissions up until C8.

  3. I don’t think you meant to write “certain C8 Corvettes” are included, since it only covers 2015 through 2019 MYs.

  6. Bought a 2019 C7 new that still has the shudder even after the dealer did the fluid flush.It stil shudders after complaining to the dealer,I was told by the dealer it’s something I have to live with.I have the service records to prove the issue,been hoping this would end up in court.

  7. Manufacturer Warranty Law: Governed by the UCC, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the FTC rules, covers retailers’ express or implied guarantees of a product’s quality and/or reliability. The seller is promising that the product will perform as described. If the product breaks or does not as promised, then it has failed to meet the warranty’s requirements.

    UCC-Uniform Commercial Code.
    FTC- Federal Trade Commission.

    Please note: Purchased in 7/21/2017 from a Seattle Chevrolet Dealer, with 18,552K, my 2/2016 base-model C7 does not exhibit the dreaded “shudder”.

    Many thanks,
    Ray

  8. Hey GM…get ready for more lawsuits…the C8 transmission is garbage as well. Too bad the judge wouldn’t allow the lawsuit on the C6 LS7 heads…I guess someone at GM paid off the judge on that case.

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