A class-action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors by a plaintiff who says the taillights on their K2XX-platform GMC Yukon are faulty.
This lawsuit, which was first reported on by Car Complaints, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by a plaintiff named Rhonda Small. The plaintiff claims the factory taillights in their K2XX-platform GMC Yukon have faulty LED light strips that may cause the brake and/or taillights to fail. These lights may also have a faulty connection inside the light assembly or a defective circuit board, which can lead to similar issues with the brake and taillights.
GM issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) in November of 2019 for certain 2015-2016 model year GMC Yukon SUVs to address a problem with these vehicles’ taillights. The TSB, entitled “Tail Lamps Inoperative,” indicated the stop and tail functions inside the taillamps may experience various issues and instructed dealers “to replace tail lamps if they are found to be inoperative.” The class action lawsuit says later model year GMC Yukon vehicles should have been included in this TSB, which only involved 2015 and 2016 model year vehicles.
As noted by Car Complaints, the plaintiff says the problems with the taillights can be traced back to the “defective design of the alloy base circuit used to maintain continuity,” in the taillights of affected vehicles.
“The alloy’s inability to expand and contract due to the current design causes the Tail Lamp Assembly Defect, whereby the alloy breaks, interrupts the current from maintaining continuity, and results in failure when the circuit trace inside the housing cracks,” the lawsuit says. “The tail lamp assembly should have had expansion and contraction points to prevent premature failure.”
This lawsuit also says the taillights can experience similar issues if enough moisture is allowed to enter the light assembly. If this condition occurs, owners may also observe moisture or a clear white film forming on the inside of the taillight lense(s).
The plaintiff claims GM has actively tried to hide these defects and has left GMC Yukon owners on the hook for costly repairs. The filing also alleges this problem is so widespread that it has led to a backorder of replacement parts across the country.
We’ll provide an update on this class-action proceeding as it moves through the courts.
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Comments
Yah, but gm saved a nickel on each taillight for Mary’s Lectrics.
How much of a coincidence is this ? I just read this while waiting for my local GMC dealer to open this morning to consult with our usual sales-guy about trading our 2019 Acadia for a 2021 Yukon SLT but memories of the horrible experience we had with GM’s shoddy treatment and lack of response to affected owners to the timing-chain stretching issues on our former 2009 Buick Enclave surfaced and I am not going to make that call. Will look elsewhere at another brand. Fed up with GM getting away with this crap on yet another well-known, widespread QC issue.
Haha, if this isn’t a troll comment I don’t know what is. So you aren’t having issues with your current vehicle and want to upgrade to something larger, yet an article about a tail light brings up an issue from 12 years ago on a rogue issue from early adapters of an engine and you are going to look elsewhere? Haha, good luck bud, the grass isn’t always greener. Maybe before announcing to the world your glorious exit you should take a look at the other brands and the issues they are having… GM is known to be more on the reliable side, not the flashiest but just flat out works with some quirks. I will take that any day over a Fiat truck with a fancy interior or an over heating engine from Ford that they just can’t seem to build right yet.
That’s pretty good calling the truth a troll comment, says either the current GM employee or stockholder or somehow involved with general motors, to admit other brands have just as many if not more problems is a statement you’re dreaming about. I work for general motors for over 30 years, I’ve been driving them my entire life and I’m about ready to change brands. Think about it you go from being number one in the world almost to bankrupt the mistakes that were made then are still being made now in a different way and this is one of them.
I had a 2017 GMC Yukon denali xl, it had torque converter issuses I paid 550.00 to flush the transmissionat the dealer requestand was told this wouldfix the problem, it had taillight issuses, also 3 HMI modules and 1 dash harness all in a 2 year since purchase what a shame. And GMC would not replace the torque converter, the taillights they claimed were working fine, abd the HMI modules 1 under warranty the other 2 and dash harness went under my ext warranty, I sold the truck with 45,000 miles on it.
I’m hearing and reading about so many unhappy customers with gm product across the board and I wondering if should go to another brand being that I’m waiting to see and thinking of purchasing the new refresh 2022 Terrain denali but with so many changes and reading all the negative comments about gm just wondering I’m making a good decision can anyone who reads these comments give a future perspective gmc Custoner advice would be greatly appreciated !
Go look at the other brands, there will be just as many if not more issues and complaints, even with Toyota. Grass isn’t always greener. GM tends to have some of the more reliable vehicles, though they may not have the fanciest interiors or most tech they are usually known to be more reliable outside of some rogue issues. Many of the complaints are just trolls or people that flip out if one thing doesn’t go 100% right and they throw a fit and announce how they have had XXX amount of vehicles over XXX amount of years and are leaving because of one issue. Would love to hear a follow up with one of the other brands after they left…
I went back to ford, and never looked back
my 88 silverado had printed circuit board tail light
problems so it is not new.
As a matter of Fact . Last year My Stop Light went out
Cost to Fix $750 each 😳 I finally Contacted my Dealership. They informed me they indeed had a Stoplight problem and extended the Warranty on my Vehicle. 🙏 I dropped it off finally when they called me to come in , they Changed Both Stop lights.🙏
What year was your vehicle? 2015 and 2016 – dealers were told to change them- it;s the same light in the 2017 and they won’t replace gratis.
There is now a class action lawsuit… it is ridiculous and I personally think the miles should not matter, it went out at 40K miles, oh it works randomly…2017
It unbelievable, tge dealership wants $700 to repair it. My passenger side went out last year,now my driver’s side is out. Thank God for Youtube. I hope thay have to pay out the butt.
Another Class Action was just filed in California. Exact same issue. 2017 Yukon XL brake lights.
Same issues with my 2017 GM Yukon XL, GM sent me an extension kinda warranty for my tail lights saying if I encounter problems with the break lights just send it to GM dealership and they will fix it. But then again my tail lights quits working after the dateline is over, now their asking $1600+tax+labor cost to replace them…I wouldn’t trade my XL to a newer one…my dealership sucks too.
I’m so sorry about your lights going out . I’m wondering
If there is a way to convert the LED – to a regular Bulbs.
I do know some Chevrolet Tahoe’s have them , NOT LED. I’m still Researching this . If anyone knows how to do this please Advise . I was going to do this, but like I said GMC took care of my Light Problem .
Are you Canadian?
There are some videos on Youtube that show how to make a repair to the LED brake/taillights on the 2015+ Yukon taillights. My left rear brake light went out and I followed the repair procedure in the Youtube video. Once I cut some access openings, I found the crack in the metal conductor that was keeping the brake light from working. I soldered a jumper in place and also put a jumper on the taillight conductor (a crack was also starting in it) just for good measure and now the light is working fine. The right rear is presently working fine but now I know what to do to fix it when it stops working.
When the right side brake light went out on my wife’s 2016 Yukon, I figured it would be an easy fix. That’s when I learned about LED lights…not just a double filament bulb. Over $1000 repair!!! Realizing I had a 2018 Sierra Denali and the Yukon with a total of eight corners of LED lights, I became concerned. I found there was a recall on the problem and my dealer came thru for me. If I have to pay for the repair in the future, I may have to just bolt on some boat trailer lights.
More stylish anyway!
Don’t have the dealer replace your LED Tailights if they won’t do it for free, whether they want to call it warranty or extended warranty or GM approved adjustment. There are plenty of quality aftermarket tailight assemblies available for far less than GM charges for stock replacements. It’s also pretty easy to change them yourself, or have a handy individual do it for you.
I have a 2015 GMC Yukon that had issues with both tail lights. I ordered the Cadillac style ones off of the internet for about $500 & installed them myself. All of this after I contacted GMC to see if there was a recall. Of course there was not & they wanted to charge me about $1000 to fix them.
I have replaced both my taillights I’m my 2015 Yukon xl. I don’t have the receipts but I still have the two faulty taillights I had to replace at over five hundred each. Never received a letter like in this article. The first one went bad one month after the warranty ran out or at thirty seven months of ownership, dealer told me nothing that they could do out of warranty the other one was about four or five months later. Driver’s side want first. No again I find this article and recall too late to submit to GM. If someone from GM reads this you can have the bad ones back as I am looking at Ford and other big suvs for the next time as mine has 65000 miles on it and getting time to replace it.
The problem with most comments on this post is… Wait for it… YOUR GOING TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR SOMETHING MY AT HOME MECHANIC CAN FIX IN AN HOUR FOR WAY CHEAPER….IN FACT I CHANGED ALL MY LIGHTS ON MY 2010 EQUINOX LTZ THEY ARE ALL LEDS NOW WORK PERFECT! There are tons of online google searches that show you how to take the taillight assembly apart and buy the light housing itself on ebay… It’s made in China anyway! By the way I have owned almost all GM vehicles and the three biggest piece of crap cars I had where an Eagle premier, A Dodge Avenger and a Mazda 6… Yeah so much for Japanese realiblty and they are getting to cost almost as much to fix a Mazda as it does a BMW. I will stay with GM THANK YOU?
That’s funny cause I just replaced 2 brake lights on a yukon I just got a month…and a new transmission and a new blend door actuator
That’s funny cause I just replaced 2 brake lights on a yukon I just got a month…and a new transmission and a new blend door actuator but the great thing is GMC will replace any issues with their suv’s with no hassle or any headaches that’s why I will be a gmc owner for life they are the best running vehicles I’ve ever owned with minimal issues
Many ways to fix these issues not that you should have to with such an expensive vehicle, you could buy aftermarket LED strips and dismantle the light cluster by heating it in the oven at very low temperatures and pulling it apart and inserting your own reliable LED strips providing they provide dual-mode illumination, one for tail, and one for brake light function, or you could simply get a couple of incandescent light sockets and use the standard 3157 incandescent light bulbs and be done with the issue altogether! Not that anybody should have to do all of this with such an expensive vehicle, but the solutions are certainly there for a do it yourselfer willing to do so.
Thanks Mark ,👍🏻 I’m sure there is a Conversion Method
LED is Nice and Bright But ,they don’t tell you how much – to Repair
Frankly, I found that it’s not necessary to make any modifications to the stock LED light assemblies. I found a Youtube video that showed where the problem occurs and followed the procedure to make repairs. There are buss strips in the lamp assembly that have bridge strips that are not designed to deal with temperature change expansion and contraction. Consequently, the bridge strips will crack causing a lack of electrical continuity. I cut two 1″ square access openings, found the cracked bridge, soldered in a bypass jumper and now the light works fine. All it cost was a little time, solder, piece of wire and JB Weld epoxy to seal the lamp assembly back up.
I just had mine replaced on my 2016 Denali at my local dealership under the TSB. super easy process. Took pics of them not working and brought them with just in case they decided to work at the dealership.
How many SUVs does GM build? 10-12? Wouldn’t surprise me if general Mexico moves this vehicle to Mexico too like the escalade. Most of their SUV lineup is mexico/brazil
Commonsense is correct, it isnt just GM that has problems. Ford and Toyota have more recalls than anyone. I’ve been driving GM products my entire life and had only 4 in the last 37 years with no problems. Have a 18 Denali truck now and no problems with 1 recall to calibrate the brakes, my buddy has a 18 Ford F150 and has had 5 recalls plus a new drivers seat that tore and new lugnuts that wore out and not 60,000 miles yet.
I just flat out sold mine. I had a 2016 yukon denali, 48k miles and could not deal with all the issues. Screen going in and out, tail lights, running boards not functioning, failed transmission harness going out. Went back to driving my 2004 lincoln navigator with 184k miles.
When I bought my 2016 Yukon in 2018, as soon as I got it home, the driver side tail light failed.
The tail lights are a curved LED array. If you remove it and open it up, there is an aluminum trace that runs along the back of the array that feeds power to the LEDs. In the upper and lower corners of the array, the aluminum trace is cut out so that the connection is much narrower. As a result, normal movement of the vehicle causes those two narrower traces to flex and the aluminum eventually separates due to metal fatigue.
There are some videos online showing how to use a plastic welding iron to remove the plastic cover over those two narrow traces, solder a new wire across the trace and seal it back up.
Mine was still covered by the dealer warranty and they footed the $800 to replace the module.
I still have one that hasn’t died yet so I might have that to look forward to.
I just got my taillight replaced $843.00 was the total for one light . But when I got to the dealer they told me it was free thank God! 2017 yukon
Both tail lights went out in my 2017 Yukon XL over a 4 day period two weeks ago. GM is stonewalling yet they comped all the 2015 and 2016 brake light repairs. Where are you located? For $1700 bucks I might drive it to your dealer to fix. Seriously.
We’re getting the same issue with our 2017 Yukon. The dealership here in NY is calling us liars, saying its impossible for the lights to go bad. Claiming we had an accident or have aftermarket lights. They told us it will be over $2000 to replace both lights.
I’d like to know where you’re located too. I’ll call that dealership
I’m seriously interested in the lawsuit!!
Mine passenger just went out a couple of weeks ago and I replaced it with an new oem one. My driver went out during my bumper to bumper warranty which they replaced it. Since I passed the mark for the warranty to cover the passenger, I just replaced it on my own after reading all the stories about the brake lights just dying randomly and GM not helping past the warranty period.
Yet ANOTHER faulty component of the GMC Yukon!! It’s surpassed Dodge in the arena of garbage parts and add-ons!
To proclaim, yet again, that I’m “so angry” with this vehicle line, is beyond redundant…HOW can a taxpayer bailed-out automaker get away with perpetuating this crap on the unknowing public that in essence, helped to save the company?!?
**waiting on the class action for faulty fuel injectors!!!
2015 Yukon XL owner. Had to replace the entire tail light assembly at my own expense because the allowed mileage to cover “the known issue” had expired at 72k and the light went on our Yukon out at 73k.
On top of paying $200-$300 to replace, I had to leave an extra down payment of $50 that would be returned to me once I brought back the old one (we chose to replace it ourselves and save on the labor cost).
So GMC can turn around and resale the used assembly kit making more off the consumer.
Yes they kept mine . I’m sure they can refurbished them, and resell. 🤔
It is funny that this problem arises as a result of expansion and contraction. I recall in 2006/2007 while shopping for a new Yukon XL every brand new DTS sitting on the dealer lot in the Texas sun has stress fractured CHMSLs. Seems Milford and Warren are not good at the thermal testing like they used to be!
Blah blah blah
They all have issues due to corporate greed
Will never stray away from my gmc vehicles
2016 Yukon. Driver side taillight out. I have an extended warranty. Was told it doesn’t cover headlights and taillights! So much for that! Worthless!
The part numbers often change. So yeah…a 2017 is not ‘exactly’ the same lamp because the part # is different.
That said…we work on the 2017 Yukon tail lamps all the time. Same exact failure mode.
The lamps can be professionally repaired. A little bit more too it than the Youtube videos.
Can’t post a link here. But you likely can find us on Google if you search ‘yukon tail light repair franklin tn’
I’ve bought 1 GM vehicle (2015 Yukon Denali) and it will be the last I ever by. This vehicle has been the biggest piece of garbage I (or anyone I know) have ever owned. The only saving grace was that I purchased a 3rd party extended warranty because I’ve already had to replace roughly 8-10K worth of stuff on this vehicle in the first 60-80K miles. Just look at the NTSB complaint and review boards and you will see that the 2015-16 Yukon and Sierra pickup trucks have more complaints then any other vehicle. I even went as far to contact Mary Barra’s office (GM Ceo) which they actually did call me back, but they offered pretty much no help except for an extra 2K on trade-in for a new one. What a joke, this company and it’s products are total garbage. Had roughly 8 other vehicles, all FORDS, and not a single issue with any of them.
A tail light went out on my Yukon Denali, I took it to a different dealer than where I bought it and they ordered the part and changed it within the week. No charge. A lot of problems are not as bad when handled by a good GM dealership. I also have a Ford pickup and have been very unhappy with the Ford dealership the numerous times I’ve taken it in for service.
Does this only cover US vehicl3a or does this also encompass Canadian Yukons ?
Last year I got 1 tail light now last week I need another smh!! Now there on back order 2017 yukon 54,000 miles