More than 100 owners and lessees of 2011 to 2014 model year Chevrolet Volts have filed a class action lawsuit against General Motors over an alleged steering defect, Autoevolution reports. The plaintiffs say the Volt’s steering will “freeze” while driving, making the car difficult or impossible to control.
The lawsuit was filed with the New Jersey District Court in early December and alleges GM broke several New Jersey state laws, including breach of warranty of merchantability, express warranty and common law fraud. The claims mount to a steep $5 million, according to plaintiffs Tara Follari-Johnson and Christopher Johnson.
“When class members present to GM’s authorized dealerships complaining of the steering defect, the dealerships recommend repairs such as replacing the steering rack or steering gear assembly. However, these repairs only temporarily mask the problem,” Follari-Johnson and Johnson said in a prepared statement.
GM has yet to discover the steering glitch or issue a recall over the problem. A judge will decide in a matter of months if the automaker was aware of the apparent fault in the steering system and decided to continue selling the model. Additional information on the case is available at this link.
Comments
Waaaaaah! You think if GM knows about this problem they are covering it up? Amongst the millions of recalled vehicles they have announced this year, these 100 they are sweeping under the rug…really?
It is a real defect which needs a recall. Here is why there is no recall. Cost!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Safety is at risk and GM and Government are playing risk versus cost games with your safety. When you are the one who has got in an accident, and there definite are those who have, you will change your mind.
The problem: The steering wheel may feel like it’s sticking in the center of its travel. This may be due to a fault in the steering control module software.
Vehicles affected by service bulletin:
2014 Buick LaCrosse
2015 Buick LaCrosse
2014 Buick Regal
2015 Buick Regal
2014 Buick Verano
2015 Buick Verano
2014 Cadillac ELR
2015 Cadillac ELR
2014 Chevrolet Cruze
2015 Chevrolet Cruze
2016 Chevrolet Cruze Limited
2014 Chevrolet Impala
2015 Chevrolet Impala
2014 Chevrolet Malibu
2015 Chevrolet Malibu
2014 Chevrolet Equinox
2015 Chevrolet Equinox
2016 Chevrolet Equinox
2014 Chevrolet Volt
2015 Chevrolet Volt
2014 GMC Terrain
2015 GMC Terrain
2016 GMC Terrain
Although there might actually be a problem, to me this seems to be a bunch of money hungry jerks just jumping on the bandwagon.
I agree that GM execs are money hungry jerks.
The problem has been well documented for several years now, affects Volts here and Amperas in Europe. It’s more on an annoyance, the steering is difficult to keep on center at high way speeds.
GM, in its infinite wisdom, simply cannot fix the problem, so there isn’t a recall.
There actually is an issue, my 2012 Volt has had the Steering column replaced twice as well as the steering rack.. One of the times the wheel actually separated from the rack itself.. which caused me to lose steering completely..
GM has issued a “TSB” which will fix the car for free and warranty the work 100K miles each time it breaks.. Which to me sounds like a “silent recall”
TSB – PI-1322
NHTSA # 10056463
I would like to see more details on this problem.
Generally most class action suits are not really rooted in full fact many times and are mostly lawyers just looking for a settlement for their on behalf. Sure you get a coupon for a discount on a oil change while they bank millions.
Generally they are class action blackmail or extortion.
If this was a major issue the government would have been all over this as well as the media. Trust me the media would have not let this one go this long with out coverage.
I also would like to hear the other side of the story and the details there. Some how the lawyers always leave that part out. Funny how that works.
The Cruze has had the same problem in ’11 – ’14 MYs. Chevy fixed the problem by extending the warranty coverage to 10 years/150,000 miles for the steering.
http://www.torquenews.com/106/gm-issues-service-bulletin-2013-chevy-volt-electric-stalling-issues
Old news if this is the same issue.
This is complete money grab. I had the same symptom on my 2013 Volt. GM knew about the problem and sent letters to all Volt owners to have their cars brought in for repair – at no cost to them. I did just that and it was a simple reprogramming of the steering control module. I was in and out in a day.
Chevy knows about this problem. On the forums it looks like a software update is done to help with the sticking but the steering rack is probably the problem. Some people (or at least 1) has had the rack replaced multiple times for about $2500 or so(free within warranty) but it re-occurs. Tends to happen in cold weather.
If GM can figure out how the rack is engineered incorrectly then they can make better ones and put them in at no cost to the owners hopefully.
Another issue I see is the power mode button to choose between normal, sport, mountain, hold, can wear out so when you press it, the computer may not register the press unless you press it really hard or something.
Hopefully that’ll be fixed too.
Lastly the tires, the stock tires are not well designed. The sidewalls can crack unless you run the tires at something a bit over 40PSI from what I’ve heard.
Hoping the 1st gen Volts can be good used cars.
Seems like bullshit allot of complaints on vehicles now and days are complete bullshit. I did some reading on steering related issues and it’s the vehicle not tracking straight or to straight which could be caused by Wheel Alignment Tires, road slope etc etc. If you ever hit pot hole your vehicle might not drive perfect straight anymore…
If it’s slight resistance to steering after driving straight for a long period of time don’t most modern vehicles have systems to help the vehicle drive straight so you don’t have to constantly adjust?
I didn’t leanr about this issue before I bought a 2016 Volt. I drove it <60 miles, and power steering went out. I've been in a rental courtesy of GM for a month with no anticipated repair date. I think they are moving units – to make CARB quota's.