GM hit with two lawsuits over faulty shifters in popular GMC, Buick, and Chevrolet products as the company becomes the latest to struggle with safety issues.
General Motors was hit with two lawsuits over faulty shifters in some of its most popular models.
General Motors was hit with two new class-action lawsuits over an alleged problem with faulty shifters that can cause owners to be unable to shift into park and turn off their vehicles which can leave them in a dangerous situation. The lawsuits also allege that GM knew about the fault for several years and that it has failed to adequately fix these vehicles.
The lawsuits come at a bad time for GM as it prepares to shift into the next phase of its electrifcation strategy and is trying to avoid any negative attention that could draw attention away from its future electric and hybrid models.
Shifters leave customers out in the cold
In addition to the GMC Acadia, the problem has also been allegedly found in the Buick Encore, Chevrolet Malibu, and the Chevy Volt.
The two lawsuits focus on faulty shifters with the first one filed in Memphis, Tennessee claiming that affected vehicles display a persistent “Shift to Park” message on the dashboard even after the vehicle is formally shifted into park. Some of the owners in that lawsuit report that they had to jiggle the shifter several times just to get the vehicle to recognize that it’s in park.
While this problem may seem like a minor thing at first glance, it morphs into a much larger issue when viewed in a wider lense with the vehicle not being able to shut off due to the shifter thinking that it’s still in gear. This can create a wide range of issues including drain of the battery if the engine is left idling too long. Customers affected could be left stranded on the side of the road or be forced to call roadside assistance. This original lawsuit centers on the GMC Acadia and was filed by plaintiff Rilla Jefferson who began having trouble with the shifter in her Acadia. This lawsuit was followed up with a separate class-action that says the shifter problem can also be found in the 2017-2019 GMC Acadia, 2019 Chevrolet Blazer, 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu, 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse, and 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt with 2020-2023 Buck Encores also being added in too.
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GM’s legal woes latest in string of problems
GM’s latest troubles follow on the heels of other major safety problems including a large engine replacement campaign by Toyota that affects the Tundra and the Lexus LX.
GM’s new class-action lawsuits come as some of its rivals are contending with major safety issues of their own. Toyota was recently forced to replace over 100,000 engines for Toyota Tundra and Lexus LX models after debris leftover from the machining process caused the engines to be internally damaged. Toyota determined that the only way to fix the problem was to replace the engines outright after considerable pushback from angry customers.
As for GM, the lawsuits claim that GM knew about the problem for a long time with the company sending a technical service bulletin to dealerships in June of 2018 warning them of vehicles that might not shut off properly when they are shifted into park. No fix was mentioned in the bulletin and six years later, it appears the company has still not offered a way to fix the faulty shifters. Customers have noticed, with the lawsuit saying that GM breached the terms of their vehicle’s warranty with some reports saying that dealerships never attempted to fix the issue when it was presented to them by owners.
I guess jiggling is too tough for some people, but they are allowed to drive next to us at 60 MPH.
JFC