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GM Reaches $120M Settlement With US States Over Ignition Switch Claims

General Motors has reached a $120-million settlement with 49 US states and the District of Columbia over claims relating to its faulty ignition switches, Reuters reports. The automaker has already paid roughly $2.5 billion in penalties and settlements pertaining to the faulty parts, which have been implicated in 124 deaths and 275 injuries occurring over several years.

The issue prompted a recall that encompassed a total of 2.6 million vehicles.

The settlement stipulates that GM’s dealers cannot sell certified pre-owned vehicles unless recall servicing has been completed, and it requires the automaker to “improve and enhance recall awareness to car owners with open recalls” through a special team.

The defect at fault in these claims was related to the keyed ignition switches GM used in numerous models since the early 2000s, which were especially prone to switching off without warning while the vehicle was in use. The sudden loss of power caused the engine to stop running, resulting in a loss of power steering and power braking at the same time that airbags were disabled.

GM “turned a blind eye for years and chose to conceal the safety defects associated with several models of their vehicles,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement. The state attorneys general involved in reaching the settlement with GM said that the automaker was aware of the problem as early as 2004, but took no action, not considering the defect a safety concern.

GM has since taken a number of steps “to ensure the safety of its vehicles,” a GM spokesperson says, including implementing a new organizational structure committed to global vehicle safety, and a program to encourage employees to blow the whistle on potential safety issues.

Aaron Brzozowski is a writer and motoring enthusiast from Detroit with an affinity for '80s German steel. He is not active on the Twitter these days, but you may send him a courier pigeon.

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Comments

  1. I’ve said it time and time again! Not one red can’t should GM have to pay or should these sad people get one dime from this!

    A IGNITION SWITCH DOES NOT MAKE YOU CRASH!

    Reply
    1. So when a car suddenly loses power steering, brakes, air bags, all at the same time, you cannot fathom any driving circumstances where this could be the cause of the crash, and simultaneously detrimental to occupant survival?

      This is a known fault discovered by one of its own engineers back in 2005. There is no problem then when they don’t fix this part related to safety that doesn’t meet their OWN size specifications, and wait to do anything until there is a body count?

      Reply
      1. Low hanging fruit!

        So let me ask you something have ever ran out of gas? And when that happen did the engine lose power? Brakes lose power? Power steering lose power? Please answer?

        This has happened to all of us and when it happens all power is lost. So that is no reason to crash so having a disabled air bag is illrelivent a person doesn’t need a air bag unless you get into a CRASH! The drive is suppose to be in control of their car at all times!

        This IGNITION did not cause the CRASH! The person driving Did and should be held responsible not GM!

        Like I said low hanging fruit!

        Reply
        1. Wow. Are you ok, Brian?

          Reply
    2. ‘…not one red can’t should GM …’ etc..

      Having a little trouble following your logic/language path there, brother Bri.

      Reply
  2. Red cent

    Nice try!

    Reply
  3. The logic is this.

    The ignition hoes off but the car still steers and the car still stops as it retains vacuum to stop even after the engine is off.

    The trouble is yes the ignition was an issue. But in many cases the death happened due to the driver being impaired by drugs or alcohol. Is sober they would just restart the car.

    The same for belts as most were not belted and they would have survived if belted.

    GM should be responsible for the ignition and the accident if it was the direct fault but they should not be in cases where the driver directly contributed to their death.

    Most of these folks would be alive if they had just been in the condition to deal with the stalled engine.

    Some of these GM was fully at fault but many the drive was the greater factor of death.

    Cars stall all the time are we going to sue them all because the drivers were too stoned and unbelted to save themselves?

    Reply
  4. Gentlemen

    The judgement has already been handed. It does nothing to argue.

    You are all forgetting that such rulings will make sure that GM and other car makers will work harder at resolving defects by producing better quality cars for all of us.

    I am hoping that I will be able to use a car past 100K miles without spending a fortune fixing small manufacturer costly intended defects. I have a 2004 Deville DTS that has 60K miles on it that every time I take it out of the garage I end up spending $1K in maintenance. my 2005 ParkAvenue has 120K miles and it is starting to do the same.

    GM spent years tweaking the defects of their products to coincide with the end of the warranty period which bankrupt the company because they lost sales and the confidence of consumers. If GM doesn’t start producing better quality cars they will be bankrupt for good. Trump will not help and I doubt the American people would want to bail out the company twice.

    Reply
    1. Well GM has improved the cars.

      Sales and profit are back and they are moving ahead.

      If you want to use a 2004 DTS as an example of how bad it was that is fine but it does not represent today.

      There is still room to improve and they are working to that goal.

      I know first hand how bad some of those cars were but I also know about the many changes since 08.

      I don’t see a bail ou coming again but I also do not see one needed either.

      Reply
      1. Well that is your perception. If you dare to consult carcomplaints.com you would nt be saying “GM has improved the cars”. The number of TSBSs and the number of customer reported issues dont reflect the same. Do you have any empirical data to share with us? and not perceptions?

        GM still continue to produce nice looking products that connect with the consumer on an emotional level but quality the products arent; especially when compared to imports or even locally assembled foreign company products.

        GM engineers, designers and bean counters are still trying to exploit their customers. They have a philosophy if they produce a car that lasts they want have a customer to sell new products to. basically they think if they produce a good quality car the customer will not replace the car 4 or 5 years later. They are making sure that the cars they sell will breakdown after 4-5 years so that they can sell the customer a new vehicle. Hence the poor quality of GM vehicles.

        This GM philosophy is the Ignition Switch saga, North star engine and many others. This is the philosophy that ran the company to the ground once before and it will run it to the ground once again.

        The only way to break the philosophy is with similar lawsuits. I encourage them and welcome them. May be eventually they will start producing better cars for all of us to enjoy.

        My dream is that one day I would buy a GM car not because the one I have which is only 4-5 years old is run down and costing me a fortune in maintenance but because I want to change my daily drive with a new one and keep the older one for a relative or an occasional drive.

        Mark my words If GM doesnt produce quality cars and back them up with a solid warranty to backup and guarantee the quality they are producing such as 10 year unlimited mileage, GM will be facing another bankruptcy scenario in a few more years.

        Reply
        1. First off I live eat and work on all vehicles I even owned som of the poor and even own a much improved 2017.

          GM product are much improved and much better than the DTS era that you experienced. But note I never said perfect.

          But if you want to get to perfect there are few of those too. Add to the mix how easy it is to report some of the most minor cases today vs back in the DTS era on the web also makes a difference.

          Then you drill down the complaints on the web. Some are legit and some are Just petty complains.

          I hear about issues on all vehicles about things that were wrong or to their displeasure when they bought the car.

          The number of TSB’s recalls over the most minor things is a sign of GM improvement as they no longer pass over these anymore. I has a recall on my vehicle. You know what it was? It was for 2 pages in the Owners Manual.

          The era of your grief as an era a GM had a very toxic culture internally. They also were dead broke. This lead to short cut and people hiding things. This lead to engine not tested in the proper ways and to failure of many transmissions. This lead to many low cost electronics that failed.

          Today they now have the funding to properly develope products. They also have tried to get back to better relationships with suppliers. They have brought programs to reports and fix issues.

          Yes there are still some issues and there always be issues with vehicles more complicated than a Apollo capsule. But you do not see the chronic issues of the past where like the NStar were it was not if but when you have an issue.

          Many issues now are small and batch related.

          GM still needs to get the dealers to work better with the customers as not all are doing well with shortages of good techs today. This is a big problem for everyone.

          But with the newest models you are not seeing all the issues like you see at FCA, you don’t see the million car recalls like the Ford Explorer.

          You look st quality issues at Cadillac and one of the most reported is. Cue. Many report the way it functions as a Quality issue. Yes it should be and soon will be addresses but this is buyers remorse as it was what it was when they purchased.

          One current issue is the new Freon. Guess what they all have to use it and al, are having issues.

          Like I said the web leaves no stone unturned and you have to qualify what you read. I agree TSB’s are up but this is step of improvement as many of these TSB’s are continued improvement where in the past you would never see them.

          Each step to new platforms and drive lines is a step to improved product. They could not toss it all out at once. This is why we still see some work to be done.

          We also see internally the changes needed to fix the way GM worked for decades or should I say not worked.

          I know people in development that used to do only as they were told now they are told do it the way you know it should be done.

          Case in point. Stamping body panels was an issue. GM panel gaps were embarising. The engineer who over saw this when the new leaders came in asked why can’t we make panel gaps like Hyundai?

          He was told we can but were never told and not permitted to ask. He was told do what you need to do in getting it right and you bring up any issues and you can ask or just fix it from here on.

          There was a group that was the problem and a group that was not. The problem group is in great decline.

          Some of the issues still lye with the board. This is why Cadillac is in NYC to keep their nose out of their business. Mark Ruess is running block for them and we should see he results with out he boards meddling.

          I have seen great changes and heard from people today that really are happy with the changes at GM and with their jobs.

          GM still has many things to deal with like too much capacity and too many dealers. They still have a few lingering product of the old zgM still around platform wise that soon will be gone. Even platforms like the Alpha was compromised since it was done right after the bail out and funds were still low. But with profits and higher stock value this should not be an issue this time around.

          Just go to any forum and you will see just as many quality complains.

          Also read Lutz book on Bean Counters VS Car Guys. A great read and insight to the failing of GM.

          Reply
          1. I agree with you that GM has been implementing change but it isnt far enough to make a big product quality improvement,

            The better written TSBs are just that better written to give a different impression to the reader but the real problem is still there the product isnt of high enough quality.

            All the new product are riddled with quality defects. My company runs a fleet of 2500 vehicles. I can tell you this that we decided no more GM vehicles because of quality issues.

            GM must improve product quality or bye bye because no one will want to buy their products.

            Reply
            1. Well the changes have to come in stages as you do not correct 50 years of issues in 5 to 10 years.

              Second everyone has issues if you are honest on new vehicles. Just look at how many million Ford is recalling right now several million.

              Companies like Toyota have some degree smaller recalls as the make fewer and smaller changes. Look at the Tacoma and how little it changes. But yet they had frames rusting in half in less than 9 years.

              GM has improved quality and will continue to improve. They are selling more vehicles at less discounts making more money and growing stock value.

              The are around $45 a Share as Ford struggles at $12 a share.

              Toyota also is no where as good as they used to be as they have their issues as does Honda and Hyundai.

              But with that said most cars will go 12 years pretty much problem free or if there is an issue it is small.

              Reply
        2. FYI bankruptcy is more likely at FCA or Ford who have proven to not have controlled cost or to gain much in profits.

          GM has proven profitable as well as now gaining interest by Wall St as a tech company not just an aging automaker.

          They now need to deliver on the goods but they will.

          Reply
          1. GM produces the best designed vehicles that connect with the consumer on a different level which has helped it sell overpriced vehicles compared to the quality of similar cars sold by the competition. This will be short lived if the quality doesn’t improve drastically.

            GM profitability will be short lived because it is an emotional consumer response who are Buying American, beautifully nicely designed vehicle from the new improved quality driven GM company. All of this is marketing nothing more.

            In reality the TSBs and complaints are still where they used to be but they are differently worded. Marketing at work.

            GM Quality might be perceived to be better when compared to other US automakers but it isnt better than the other competition which have been grabbing its market share for a number of decades now.

            GM tech is dangerous tech that might cost people their lives. If it is built the same way their cars are. I am hoping not.

            The new self driven products and the Cadillac division program in NewYork is the best thing the company could have done to learn about how defective and expensive it is to run GM cars in a fleet. If they learn from this experience may be they will finally improve quality issues that make it so expensive to operate a GM car.

            GM must improve quality or it will die for good this time.

            Reply
            1. GM and every mfg need to continue to improve. But you are being dishonest to say that GM has not improved.

              I owned several new GM products in the early 2000’s. Yes they should have been better. My 04 GTP was the worse, nothing major but hard back seat, light failure on the climate control, amp failure were nagging but the car alway ran well, never rusted out and we got 9 years with little drama. Since 08 we have had 4 new GM vehicles and only had to take one in for a flash on the radio screen as it froze.

              As for expense most GM cars use things like timing chains that last 3x the time of a timing belt. Timing belt changes run $600 to $800 on the average import.

              GM cars cost a little more but you generally get it in better cars. They also generally sell at a higher resale price.

              Go by most High Schools here and you will mostly see GM cars as the hold up and have less need for work. I still see Barettas on the road from the 90’s as well as many W bodies that just keep on going but few Toyotas, Honda,s and No Hyundais of the era.

              I have a friend who showed me new Hyundai’s that they had to hit the under body unit body with a hammer to remove the rust inside then sprayed wax inside. He could get a cheap price to buy a Hyundai but bought a used Chevy.

              I agree GM needs to continue to improve. That will never stop. But I do take issue with your theory they will fail anytime soon. That is just not in the cards unless there is some catastrophic issue.

              No company is fail proof but GM is not really at risk. Their greatest issue now is to get new CUV models out as the sedans are a dying segment no matter what company it is.

              Reply

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