General Motors Facing Class Action Suit Over Alleged Infotainment Issues
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A class-action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida alleging problems with its IOR seven-inch infotainment system.
According to Car Complaints, the original plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit says the IOR 7-inch radio in certain 2019 and 2020 model year GM vehicles are prone to experiencing a range of different issues including Bluetooth problems, display screens that suddenly go black and rearview camera problems.
Some users also report the system’s audio volume will suddenly spike to max volume, distracting drivers while they are behind the wheel. GM previously issue a technical service bulletin pertaining to this issue, which indicated the system’s audio volume may “ramp up to maximum without input to the volume controls.”
Additionally, some users report that when on a Bluetooth audio call, the ringer sound will not stop for the duration of the call. To terminate the sound, the lawsuit says, “the vehicle operator must turn off the ignition, open and close the vehicle door, and reengage the ignition.” Users also report that the reverse camera image will remain on the screen for 30-50 seconds after the vehicle has been put into drive, confusing and/or distracting drivers.
The suit says that GM dealers refuse to replace or repair the faulty infotainment systems and that the automaker will not issue a recall for the problems. GM has not yet issued a software update for the IOR 7-inch system that might address the purported problems, either.
The suit also alleges these problems have turned affected vehicles into “ticking time bombs” and diminished their second-hand value considerably.
The list of affected vehicles is as follows, via Car Complaints:
- 2019 Chevrolet Colorado
- 2019 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
- 2019 GMC Canyon
- 2019 GMC Sierra 1500
- 2020 Chevrolet Blazer
- 2020 Chevrolet Camaro
- 2020 Chevrolet Colorado
- 2020 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2020 Chevrolet Sonic
- 2020 Chevrolet Trax
- 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
- 2020 Chevrolet 2500HD
- 2020 Chevrolet 3500HD
- 2020 GMC Canyon
- 2020 GMC Terrain
- 2020 GMC Sierra 1500
- 2020 GMC 2500HD
- 2020 GMC 3500HD
GM has not publicly responded to the claims made in the class-action lawsuit. The purported problems are only found on the IOR seven-inch infotainment system and not the larger 8-inch system that is found in many of the same vehicles.
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Thing is made by Denso. So much for Japanese quality.
@Sam: I’m not so sure there really ever was that “Japanese quality”. From working with Honda for 12 years, I really learned one thing for certain. The Japanese companies are masters at marketing. They could put a turd on a set of wheels and slap a Honda or Toyota emblem on it and it would sell. And all the while the buyers would be saying just how great their turd is compared to anything from GM, Ford or Chrysler. Very pathetic and is exactly why I will never purchase/lease anything from them. But my extensive experience with Honda as well as having a good friend who’s been at a Toyota store for more than 30 years now (he stays for the money he makes) has shown me that their products are no better than anything else out there.
You are stupid!
I didn’t totally agree with his comment either, but surely you’ve got something better than that as a response.
Not just the manufacturing at the factory level. It’s also the R and D, the quality of the mechanic at the dealership level and the after sale customer service and their policy too. The whole package, you dummy! LOL
japanese reliability may be overrated but gm’s unreliability appears to be warranted based on all of these comments.
i haven’t seen this many comments since the c8 came out.
Ridiculous comment. They have never put out a turd so your statement is absolutely devoid of any merit.
7inch is not by Denso or for that matter Denso does not supply Infotainment to GM.
All Gen 3 systems are Denso. Gen 2 and 2.5 were Bosch.
It’s not a secret, supplier logos are right on the labels.
I disagree. IOR 7-inch radio is from LG.
The Bosh ones are made in Mexico.. LOL. NO habla ingles!
Dose anyone know if I can join one of the other law suits or start my own for my equinox? Already spent 4 000 and still not working
Never has gm quality been so prevelant as 202O hd3500 4×4 The tilt telescopic steering wheel is a pathetic engineered system , the Info tainment centre so far from satisfactory , just awful engineering, wish I had my 2008 back , least it had Sirius/xm
Unleash the lawyers………again.
My dad just helped me spec out a 2021 Camaro 2SS that I’m leaning towards getting so I guess I should be in clear
The SS wouldn’t have an IOR 7″ radio. It’d have an 8″.
Some things never change at GM with terrible customer service one of there biggest issues
Their.
My only question is who makes the units for Cadillac and Buick as their vehicles are not on the list as General Motors should consider using the same components from Cadillac and Buick in Chevrolet and GMC as well.
Or who does the electronics for the 8″ screen
The IOR is the base model radio. You won’t see that in Buick or Cadillac. You would see the IOS, IOT, or IOU radios.
So what is GM doing to fix this issue.
My screen freezes when thgis happens I either disconnect the negative cable or take out the radio fuse and reinstall.
Also while driving my radio volume would increase for a couple of seconds then go back to normal.
There may be a way to do it yourself. Touch the home button on your radio. Then touch the settings icon. Scroll down one screen I think it is and select updates. Then select search for updates. If it finds an update, select update and follow the onscreen instructions. If you have one available, hook up a jumper box to your battery to help maintain battery voltage. Make sure your headlights get turned off and any other accessory that may put a load on your battery is in the off position. If it doesn’t find an update, then take it to your local GM dealer and they will have to do the update via SPS and USB flash drive.
V808 is the latest update and it had to be installed by dealer for my 2020 Canyon Denali. Did not see any improvement. One thing I would do if my vehicle kept having Infotainment issues, I would make sure my battery cable connections are tight. Found mine were loose on brand new truck and once tightened 90% of my issues went away.. Also make sure your alternator cable has been checked to make sure it does not have heat shrink sealer on lug side that connects to alternator. There is a factory service bulletin on this and this does cause infotainment issues. If you have access to another battery, try that as well. New and batteries a year old can be bad. I went through 3 Interstate batteries in a year and a half. Crappy batteries. Computers are sensitive to poor power quality. When vehicle starts, if the battery drops way down in voltage, truck will probably start, but reduced voltage can and will cause the computer systems to boot up with errors. You might not get an error code, but operation will be flakey. I suspect the Infotainment systems might have this problem.
Looks like Gary zeroed in on the exact trouble.
Questions for the “NEW gm”..
A). Why does Gary have more horse sense than the 50,000 electrical engineers you guys have hired over the past few years..
B). Why is ‘gm’ putting in extra cheap batteries in their flagship products?
C). Since they are doing B). (above), why not put a larger capacitor in the microprocessor supply so it can ride through a junky voltage startup?
D). Since you guys are “ISO-9000” certified, why are there so many loose connections? If you claim they rattle loose in shipment, how about using a century old ‘Bellevue’ (cupped) washer, or Heaven Forbid, a lock washer to keep things together? Does ISO to you guys mean ‘consistent’ manufacturing in that every truck from the factory has exactly 5 loose connections?
Mike, I just bought a 2022 Trailblazer and have the issue of the volume increasing and decreasing, kind of like surges in volume. It is very annoying. GM didn’t have an answer for this when I contacted them. Have you found a solution other than not listening to your radio at all?
Carla,
Welcome to the world of GM Infotainment woes. So here is my list of things to check that might help with problem. I experienced these issues until I did the following and now I do not experience these issues.
1) Make sure your vehicle has latest GM update. On my truck that is V808
2) Make sure you have latest On-Star update that was done in February of 2021 on my truck.
3) Make sure you do not have the alternator cable that has a tech bulletin out on it because there is heat seal sealant on the lug that connects to alternator. They say this is a full size truck issue, but most of the 3.6ltr engines use the same cable. Dealers don`t like to check this, but it must be done. Battery will not charge correctly or get charged to it`s peak capacity. When running this causes voltage fluctuations to the system.
4) Check your battery terminal connections. On my truck, the terminal lugs were way under torqued and I found that when I connected my Amp Power Step controls to battery.
After the battery terminal issue was found, the gremlins went away. I can`t remember when I have had an issue since I did the above list.
5) Battery could be flakey. This is a tough one on new vehicle to verify, but they can be flakey and it not an uncommon issue.
These vehicle are very sensitive to have a full battery charge and solid voltage when vehicle starts. Makes sure you turn off anything that could load system when starting. I turn off auto climate, seat heaters and stuff like that.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
I have a 2014 Terrain I purchased new and it’s had the same problem for about a year now, except for the past couple of weeks it won’t come on at all, after I called gm about a month ago. Sounds like they should do a recall to replace the infotainment component with the one they put in the Cadillac and Buicks.
Omfg I thought with the downsizing of Gm they would build better cars
HA!
The fact that they haven’t had a recall yet means that they can’t fix the problem either, and not enough of their engineers speak Japanese to communicate with Denso to get the thing fixed !
That is, unless the lawyers said its cheaper to ignore the problem – after all, the DAMAGE to GM’s brand image won’t be felt until after Machete Mary Barra’s Golden Parachute opens.
But then, its a gamble since people have told me they won’t be ordering any more Silverados due to the truck’s constantly failing sensors.
You can only keep producing a large amount of crap for a limited time before things start to catch up with you.
Not sure what you mean by constantly failing sensors. We aren’t seeing that here at the dealership I work at. I think you may have some bad information.
Honda issued a recall for a software update to address similar issues for the Pilot, & Odyssey. It never ends. @@
Wow, this doesn’t even address the known issue with 2016-2018 7in radio GM cars and trucks that don’t dim properly at night. This has effected my 2018 cruze since day one. This is a major safety issue as it blinds the driver. NHTSA needs to force a recall.
Problem, if you park so you can go immediately to drive(no need to back out) and shift from park to D quickly, the radio won’t dim at night. If you shift to reverse until backup camera comes on it works fine. If you forget and are driving you need to shift to reverse or hold down the home and fast foward buttons for 10 sec to reset the radio.
This issue doesn’t occur if your driving at dusk and the day light sensor triggers the car to switch to night/headlight on.
2. Issue My Bluetooth when making calls sounds like I have all the windows down to others. It goes away after 3-5minutes sometimes.
3. Issue wifi hotspot turns itself on all the time. Seems to be some software bug between the radio and the onstar app.
My 2018 Cruze has done that a few times. Nothing like driving home at night with that blinding screen in your face.
You can go to the option to turn off the display, but wouldn’t you know it, it doesn’t actually power off the screen? No, you still have the backlight at maximum, but it’s at least tolerable for the duration.
I never pinned it down to the backup camera like that, as it’s such a random thing. Also my car doesn’t have a Park or Drive, but I’m guessing you’re probably right about not going to reverse first. It has for sure done it when fueling the car, and I assumed it was the bright lights at the gas station, but maybe it’s because I don’t normally back out of the spot.
You can adjust the backlight brightness using the cabin light brightness nob on the left of the steering wheel.
No kidding, really? Thanks a lot…
Anyway, what we’re talking about is when it isn’t working properly. That’s the problem. The screen gets confused or whatever and gets stuck on full brightness. Nothing short of turning off the car and opening and closing the door corrects it.
will have to wait 30 seconds after turning on the car before moving the knob before the screens will react.
Also the light sensor is the ball or black square at the top/front of the dash, you can cover it with your hand or flash something bight at it and a few seconds later the lights in the cabin will adjust.
bright*
Look, I know how the car works. For further info, I keep the lights fairly dim when I drive at night and it normally works just fine.
Imagine if you can, that the display for the stereo / backup camera sometimes doesn’t work right and it sets the brightness to full and leaves it that way. It’s as if that one display thinks it’s daytime when it’s pitch black outside. For your entire trip home in the dark.
Obviously the first thing you’re going to do is to try to dim the lights, but it isn’t the entire interior of the car that’s messed up – it’s just that screen, and there is nothing you can do while driving to stop it from blinding you. It’s stuck on full bright. It isn’t working correctly and has nothing to do with anything the driver did or didn’t do.
The info from Troy G about not using using the backup camera probably is related though, because the last couple of times I remember it happening was when filling the car at night, and I normally don’t back up from a gas station when leaving.
Nebula,, did you discover that by ‘accident’ or is that mentioned in the owner’s manual??
By accident, it might be in the manual but I haven’t bothered to look for it.
The 8” radio has its share of issues too! Mine has a list of problems including not recognizing that a phone is connected even if the phone can be accessed via Siri, partial loading of contacts, no Sirius stations sometimes etc…
It is tarnishing the image of an otherwise fine 2020 GMC 2500 Denali. How difficult can this be to fix?
I have complained many many times to where GM replaced the infotainment system in my 2012 Cruze LTZ RS. Thats how long this problem has been around and I still have similar issues with it to this day. They just stopped caring after a certain point
“They just stopped caring after a certain point”
Usually around 3 years / 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.
Similar issues on my 2015 GMC Acadia, display goes black, reverse camera stays on even after the shifter has been put in D, never could get my phone to connect via bluetooth.
I find it comical the lawyer limited his list to so few vehicles effected. My 2018 XTS has all those issues, plus a few more like: a volume button that fails to work at all (then shut off car-open door-restart, and it works again), or how about nav that forgets your destination, a screen that goes black twice a week, or my personal favorite….blue tooth that works great for music but randomly selects when a phone call goes through the system and others where you must hold your phone. Whats really funny here, is I stopped buying BMW’s and switched to Cadillac because all the electrical issues BMW claims they don’t have and BMW’s terrible customer service.
He probably didn’t have an exhaustive list of vehicles, and was going on actual evidence that he could present in court based on his clients cars.
My 2015 Sierra SLE is on its third stereo and now I’m looking for an aftermarket stereo system because my warranty is out. Power button don’t work, the stereo will play on its own when the truck is locked and I’m in the house…even in the middle of the night. Blinks on and off very quickly, and other issues. Same issues every time. Now I gotta go from 8” screen to a 7” screen in aftermarket. Everyone else I speak with who has the same truck has issues. Should be a recall on it or something but I think the issue is that gm don’t know how to fix it. Frustrating
Agree! My 2017 Sierra with the 8″ screen (IIRC) randomly weirds out in every mode, intermittently. It’s ~ an hour drive to work. 2-3 days, no issues. The 4th day – total random weirdness. Changes screens by itself, calls OnStar by itself, goes through my Contact list if in ApplePlay, etc. Even changed the system language to French once; that time it affected the DIC (?) screen between the speedo and tach. Turn off display to quiet the distractions, it turns itself back on. All this repeatedly. Happens with phone on BT, ApplePlay or not connected at all. Began about a year ago, about 1x/month, now almost every trip to work. When it decides it’s a day to misbehave, man it goes wild now. Have this captured on the phone video. I’m not one to complain, but this is crazy. Waiting for the Class Action, b-to-b warranty expired.
I have this same info system weirdness on my 2018 Silverado 1500. Except it’s weird all the time. I was able to reset one time by using the Onstar on/off method, but that’s not working any longer.
I had the same thing going on with my 2020 Sierra. I finally sued GM and recently collected.
Can you tell me more about how you went about this process? Would you recommend? Please let me know. Thanks.
I bought a Blazer rs in June. I don’t have any of these issues. it dose take a minute when I get into the car to download contacts. And my back up camera changes in into a forward facing camera until I get moving. And I like that it shows where the curbs and parking stops are.
I own a [2020] Blazer too. Mine has an 8” screen. In fact, I thought all Blazers have the 8” screen standard. So I’m confused why it’s on this list. I don’t have sny issues either.
I have issues with BT dropping and volume spikes in the infotainment unit in my 2019 GMC truck, so they probably have a good case here.
GM is not the only company having issues with screens and infotainments. Just seem the lawyers love to go after GM. Software fixes are not a simple fix all the time. They very well maybe working on a fix but it maybe more involved than a simple update.
It may be the case that they are working on a solution but in fact, this is the first vehicle I have owned in 15 years that has had issues anything like this. Our BMW’s, Audis, Ford and even my 2016 RAM all had infotainment systems that connected to Apple phones without issue. My current 2020 Denali 2500 Duramax is an $80,000 truck for crying out loud. You would think that GM could get someone on this and make this a memory. I expect that there will be teething issues with technology but there is no excuse for what is obviously a long running issue like this to be left unfixed. This is an issue that is staring you directly in your face every time you start your vehicle. It screams “lack of quality” and they need to put it to bed.
I’ve had several issues with my iphone on the new infotainment system, HOWEVER, this was with IOS 13 as soon as I updated my iPhone to IOS 14 all my connectivity issues went away on the new Chevy Infotainment 3 system.
I’m still watching it but it seems something in the last IOS did not like it.
seems they still have not solved their screen problems.i have a 2013 caddy srx and i am on my third screen in 2yrs now this one is blacking out ! i cant afford another 1500to replace it again!.i guess its time to look at another auto company
My 2019 only act up when I answer the phone with the toll at play connected then the Kiam goes all the way up then it goes all the way down and the radio cuts off and then it restarts itself. Dealership first so I was delusional and it was just a code in when I actually showed him what it was doing they replace the radio and it still does it so I have contacted a lawyer and we’re working on it
Anyone experience dealership stating radio and on-star module have to be in sync/replaced for infotainment screen proper function with a likely low estimate of $2k to repair. 2016 3500HD Silverado.
uhh they both do not need to be replaced at the same time…. However, they do need to be “Programmed” for the VIN of the vehicle.
I have a 2020 silverado 1500 with 7” screen. Just turned on the android auto feature yesterday and it was pretty glitchy starting up WAZE. I noticed some issues about setting priority over which phone system is used when in android auto (radio versus android app for phone – I wonder if that i a leakage issue with the ringing – havent got an inbound call on it yet). I will say with a samsung 10+ plugged in the stereo quality on my TIDAL app is up there with bang and olufsen (speakers aren’t b&O but the signal is). I also have some DSD and DSG music I play via the hi-fi Onkyo app with extension and that is sparkling clear. Im going to get the 1300 200+200W subwoofer as soon as my next paycheck to add bass. Im not having any issues yet, but will definitely keep an eye on it. So I wonder from those having issue here — did you get the subwoofer add on and are you also using android auto ? Oddly, with the latest android update Im having issues with my samsung BT working with my Audi A8 – after 7 years Working flawlessly its now dropping calls and taking up to 7 attempts to dial out to place a call. I think it might be a BT update issue as of late. Do those creating this complaint realize BT is a moving target that GM could weasel out of ? Now I’m happy I got the 100K bumper to bumper add-on in closing…
infotainment system updates are slow while phone updates are fast. Most of the issues can be contributed to the phones for GMs argument.
I can be a good example…. I’ve had several issues with my iphone on my new Volt but as soon as I updated to IOS14 on my phone many of those issues went poof and has been working sense.
I have a 2016 Duramax and my screen is started doing some crazy stuff too I can also hear a beeping in my Dash and it goes from the radio to the information and switches back to the information and goes to radio and then later on it quits and sometimes my screen to start flickering on and off and other day I was outside listening to my radio for about 35 to 45 minutes I got up the next morning to crank up my Duramax and it would not start I think it has something to do with that radio full and down the juice because I think it comes on and does that same stuff whenever you’re not in the vehicle then I charge my battery for about 30 minutes and I haven’t had a problem sent so I think that might be the glitch in the screen I worry about it acting up like that could it catch my truck on fire you’re right then vehicles are so expensive I know they have some problems out of them but fix them the price that we pay for them Vehicles they should be gold plated they don’t make them like they used to I need to go back to making them like they used to all this electronic s*** is what going bad on these trucks and cars and they make them as cheap as possible I have a 2016 Duramax and I was going down the road and you can hit a bump and you can see that thin metal on the hood just jumping cheap cheap cheap cheap made vehicles these car dealers are to be ashamed of their self what they are charging for these vehicles and you’re not getting the quality
my 2004 GMC Yukon XL had parasitic battery drain from the body computer and the radio. I replaced the radio, which helped at first. but it got to the point I had to pull the radio fuse and put a battery cable disconnect to park it overnight – and rehook the battery the next startup. with the radio fuse in it was under 8 hours to kill the battery. first I redid many of the ground straps. that helped some. but I later learned it was probably the body ECU. traded truck in with a great trade in value so it was never fixed by me.
I have a 2016 Colorado and I’m having a tone of problems with the system, mine switches from Bluetooth to radio and skipping stations and skipping songs and repeating songs , the camera fades to black and stick for a while
I have a 2021 Terrain SLE, radio comes on loud when I start the car. It sounds like GM has had problem’s for many years. I leased or I would sell the car, so frustrated with the radio issue.
The question is it HW or SW related or both? I think it is both.