GM Class Action Claims The Company Hid Serious Truck Defects From Drivers

General Motors' troublesome eight-speed automatic transmission has been dragged into court again. This latest class action alleges that the company knew certain trucks had a serious transmission defect, hid it from buyers, and continued selling them even after approving a major redesign intended to address problems with the transmission. The proposed class action concerns certain 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon trucks equipped with GM's 8L45 or 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions.

According to Top Class Actions, plaintiffs Matthew Barba and Renzo Calvo-Saez allege the transmissions can hesitate, jerk, and shift harshly, and that GM knew about the alleged defects but didn't disclose them before selling the affected trucks. The case specifically concerns California buyers of certain trucks manufactured after March 1, 2019. 2019 is proving to be a troubled year for the Silverado and Sierra 1500, with some models also affected by the GM L87 engine lawsuit.

The plaintiffs also claim that the automaker knew about issues with the 8L45 and 8L90 transmissions as early as 2013, roughly six years before the trucks involved in this lawsuit. While the plaintiffs' allegations haven't been proven, GM's eight-speed transmission history has already produced years of technical bulletins, internal investigations, and other litigation. This latest case, which is still pending, is now asking whether buyers should have been told what GM allegedly already knew.

GM had approved a major redesign of its eight-speed transmission in early 2018, known as the 8RWD Gen 2, but the replacement wouldn't arrive until the 2023 model year. In between sat the 2019 vehicles at the center of this lawsuit, which the plaintiffs say were still being sold with the very issues that GM had already been trying to engineer out. Between 2014 and 2020, GM issued a whopping 95 technical service bulletins concerning the 8L45 and 8L90 transmissions, according to the Sixth Circuit, with 30 of them specifically addressing harsh shifting.

GM also considered bringing some of the Gen 2 improvements to existing vehicles, but the proposed fixes wouldn't have come cheap. Estimates put a valve-body replacement at $1,550 per vehicle and a complete transmission replacement at $4,450. Plaintiffs in an earlier case alleged GM ultimately decided against rolling those fixes out across the affected fleet because of the cost.

The plaintiffs behind this class action claim that GM's alleged concealment of the transmission defects crossed from bad business into illegal business. They accuse GM of violating California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law by selling the affected trucks without disclosing the transmission issues. They are seeking class certification, a jury trial, an order stopping the alleged practices, and attorneys' fees and costs.