General Motors 5.3L V8 Oil Consumption Lawsuit Dismissed
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The engine oil consumption lawsuit filed against General Motors in Missouri in January has been thrown out by the judge presiding over the case.
According to Car Complaints, Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. dismissed all claims in this class action suit, which included complaints of violations of the Express Warranty and Implied Warranty of Merchantability, along with the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA). The plaintiffs originally sued over problems with the Generation IV 5.3L Vortec V8 engine in their vehicles, which has several design defects that can cause it to burn oil excessively.
The Express Warranty claims were thrown out as the plaintiffs did not notify GM of their claims in accordance with the terms of the vehicle’s warranty. By Missouri law, the buyer of a warranty-backed product “must within a reasonable time after he discovers or should have discovered any breach [of warranty] notify the seller of breach or be barred from any remedy,” the judge said.
The Implied Warranty of Merchantability claim was thrown out as the plaintiffs were unable to prove their vehicles were unfit for providing transportation, Car Complaints notes. According to the judge, “[w]here a car can provide safe, reliable transportation[,] it is generally considered merchantable.”
5.3L Vortec V8 engine
Finally, the claims related to the MMPA were thrown out on the basis that advertising cannot be used to form an MMPA claim. The plaintiffs said GM omitted the alleged oil consumption defect in its advertising, promotion and sale of the vehicles with the affected 5.3L V8 Vortec engine and that they would not have purchased the vehicle, or paid less for it, had they been aware of the defects.
The plaintiffs in this case sued GM over claims the Vortec V8 engine in their vehicles have faulty piston rings that fail to keep oil in the crankcase. This can lead to low oil levels, which can cause high heat and friction levels in the engine and potentially damage the engine internals. The oil leakage can also foul the spark plugs, causing the engine to misfire and/or shut down completely. The suit involved several full-size GM truck and SUV models built between the 2010 and 2014 model year.
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Here’s a strange concept….check your oil once and awhile. If it needs a quart then add a quart.
Bigger picture is gm as well as ford being held to much lower standards than tesla. If this was a similar case against tesla their would be outrage nationwide even here. And as taxpayers are used as a donation opportunity offered without question by government to ford and gm it’s time they be held to same if not more scrutiny than Tesla. Gm recently avoided major loss in court for a major flaw in massive amounts of vehicles by way of their warranty didn’t cover design flaws only manufacturing or part ones. Just think if musk avoided responsibility in same way.
WTF does Tesla have to do with any of this?
And are you kidding me about a different standard? GM and Ford have been getting sued to death for well over 50 years!!!
You are delusional, not only that but The Grateful Dead suck.
If it were only an occasional quart, that would be acceptable, and expected. However, my GMC Terrain, needs more than a quart added less than every 1,000 miles. Usually need to add a quart every 600-700 miles. So between oil changes, I’m adding almost 9-10 quarts of full synthetic oil, at $6-8 a quart. Pretty sure I’d have bought a different vehicle, had I known this.
My 2008 Chevy impala has over 416,000 kl on it ,from new it used 1ltr of oil every 8,000 kl. Still does the same,I was just told that my oil pressure while on high rpms shows lower than normal oil pressure that is why my engine service light stays on. Can’t use my command start. Very happy with car,by the way it had 35 kl on it and always use synthetic oil.
We have a 2014 5.3 L vortec in our Yukon, 207,000 kilometers, it does consume a small amount of oil but not much. We put the synthetic recommended oil. Course mr lube morons once told me that it was oilchanged and said start engine , there was no oil, luckily I turned it off quickly and then they added 6 litres of oil morons
I purchased my 2001 Yukon Denali 6.0 liter new . With 498K on it now, uses 1 qt oil every 1000 miles, as it did since new. Still running strong. Oil is cheap.
1 qt of oil every 1000 miles wow, ya that’s a drinker, but ya, oil is cheap. Mine only drinks less than a qt every 3000 miles, I think it actually drinks less oil now for some reason. maybe because I started changing oil more frequently than 3000 miles.
It’s nice that all your rigs run normally. My 2007 Tahoe burns through a fresh oil change in weeks and then leaks the rest on the street…. even after the warranty work was done!
for 12 dollars you can get some oil seal conditioner, worked perfectly in my 2009 Montana V6 3900 series vvt motor, doesn’t even leak a drop since doing this, also tighten up the bolts on your oilpan, after 14 years it is a good idea. Doesn’t even use a drop of oil either with over 200,000 kms.
Another pretty well know issue with lots of forum posts and videos. Most important thing I learned is to stick with full synthetic DEXOS 2 oil and change more frequently than the on-board DIC recommends. Some go as early as 50% life remaining. Some go through the added precaution of disabling the AFM system using a AFM lockout dongle like the popular one made by the company Ranger. One of the fixes made by GM I read about was a new valve cover GM implemented in around 2012 and a programming change GM made to the oil life calculator to shorten the interval.
My Chevy was junk the day I paid 50 grand for it. They couldn’t care less as long as I’m the one that had to do all the fixing. The first few months were great then the paint started peeling off. Right about 14 months I rolled in there thinking they’d be embarrassed and fix it. What a bad decision they make. I’m the guy with lemon on the side of the truck in your neighborhood.
If theres any good comments it’s just GM hiding their flaws. I one of the other million companies vehicles. GM cost me a ton of money all buy themselves.
are you a paid blogger? paid for by Ford?
If gm’s engineering and warranty service were as good as it’s lawyers they might have some very happy customers.
Dismissed due to excessive time.
Complete BS.
Either the engines use oil or not.
Wonder how many customers will buy another gM product.
Customer for life. Haaaaaaaaaa
Mike I had this issue on a 2012 avalanche I bought used with 39k and it used 4 1/2 qts in 4000i miles I
no blue smoke think that warrants more then your suggestion of checking oil and adding a qtt. Because of issue with design of valve cover and afm the afm lifters where shot 3700 dollars under extended warranty. Well known issue. Your comment seems uninformed. Now gotta get ecu program to turn AFM off
Ranger sells a module that plugs right in to OBD port and turns AFM off. Unplug it and it goes back to normal. I’ve used it in my 2012 Silverado for years. Works great and popular among owners who are aware of the issues. You can find them on Amazon among other places.
I have a 2006 sierra with the 5.3L vortec (165k miles) and it consumes no oil between oil changes. I also have a 2011 sierra with the 6.0L vortec (190k miles) and that as well consumes zero oil between oil changes. Just change your oil every 3500 miles with the good stuff and it’s almost impossible to kill a vortex motor. Also pay attention to the recommended oil weight on newer motors. Running a slightly thicker oil will cause major problems down the road.
hah, this is why I try to buy the last model year , like 2014 Yukon, last of it’s generation, it had all the glitches fixed and indestructible 5.3L drive train with the 6 speed transmision not the infamous 10 speed or 8 speed transmissions that Ford/GM co-created. AFM works fine on the 2014 model.
I should not have to check my oil every 500 miles. My 2011 GMC engine was burning oil like crazy and fouling plugs. This happened around 50,000 miles and still under warranty. They tried to fix it. No change. The fix for me was a AFM deleter. Never another problem
However this is a design flaw no doubt.
The issue isn’t oil consumption, it’s afm (active fuel management) where cylinders break down from 4 to 8 when power is applied to the throttle. You’ll get a low oil consumption or failed oil sensor check engine light . Where what’s happening is damage to the lifters and cam when it’s going from 4 to 8 cylinders on demand. But it was the 5.3 engine from 2007 to 2011 years. Of course they’re going to throw it out because our government was bailing out GM at that time, so they’re gonna want there money first and piss on the consumers.
Seems as you mentioned our government has become more of a parental figure to ford and gm rather than a acquaintance. Government now answers the call evry time ford and gm run into trouble. Government has created a financial relationship between taxpayers and poorly run private business. A relationship that taxpayers are forced into and serve nothing more than being unappreciated cash cows. And taxpayers unfortunately cant get out of this nightmare because the politicians they elect to look out for them have the authority to make such wrecklas decisions on their behalf.
Each and evry dollar ford and gm bleed from taxpayers is a lost dollar with no chance of return. Do ford and gm kick back a dime to taxpayers when their actualy out on their turning profits? Profits only possible because taxpayers are forced to answer the call evry time ford and gm run themselves into ground government will proudly offer up a massive investment on taxpayers behalf.
I have gmc terrain 3.0l v6 steering pump failed parts discontinued…….
Well it seems I’m going to be Debbie Downer. I purchased a brand new 2007 Suburban with the 5.3 then followed it up with a 2008 Yukon xl with the 5.3. Had the oil consumption issue and had a hell of a time getting GM to open up the engine and see what’s what. Basically they semi threatened that if nothing were found to be causing this, the cost would be on me. Nervously I waited, but meanwhile I called a couple family members that work for dealerships…GM dealerships. I asked what they knew. They said go in there tell them you believe the problem to be sticky oil secondary rings…. So basically the extra set of rings due to the V4 to V8 flexible timing deal….oil consumption rings…..
Long story short this is what the problem was it basically was 3800 to 5500 it would have cost me if they would have dragged the oil consumption test out any longer I would have been over 100,000 miles warranty. Took me about a year in order for them to own up and finally take care of it. Wow what a process and a bunch of BS. Also for anyone that gives a crap the 2008 Yukon XL experience with the 5.3 I had the same exact issue I will never own another 5.3 l engine in any of my GM vehicles.
Just saying!!
I’ve had Chevys my whole life till I bought 2.4l Equinox which is another oil burner and class action suit I was so passed at hearing all these issues I traded it for a Toyota Rav 4
If a die hard Chevy fan like me switches they have a serious problem
what kind of oil did you put in there? Sand?
after how many kilometers/miles did it start to burn? did you have a moron oil changer put no oil in and then run the engine dry?
U all complain of produce defects. Everything is made cheap not to last. And thank to people 40byr old and younger are to dumb for quality to last more than 1 year.. quality made to last at least 10 yrs w repair parts. None of that happens anymore as tech advances every other day verse every ur. Thank you so much for spending hard earn cash faster than to make it. Lóok has goes up .50 $ per day and hr wages stay same for decades.