A class-action lawsuit filed against General Motors in Oregon has been allowed to continue through the courts after GM’s motion to dismiss the claim was denied.
The American automaker had a class-action lawsuit filed against it in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division in February of 2020. The plaintiff in the suit, William Martell, alleges the 5.3L LC9 V8 engine in the 2011 Chevy Silverado pickup he purchased new in 2011 has various issues related to excessive oil consumption. The suit is nearly identical to numerous other class action proceedings filed against GM in recent years, which allege certain engines in the 5.3L Vortec V8 engine family have several issues that cause them to burn oil at a higher than usual rate.
According to Car Complaints, Judge Michael H. Simon denied GM’s request to have the Oregon class action suit thrown out last week. GM had attempted to a warranty breach claim dismissed as the suit apparently did not mention any engine defects that would be covered by the automaker’s express warranty. The automaker’s express warranty coverage only applies to manufacturing defects, and GM has in the past successfully argued that the oil consumption defect is related to the Vortec V8 engine’s design and not a manufacturing defect or faulty component. The judge denied GM’s claim this time after scrutinizing the language in its implied warranty for “about 10 pages,” Car Complaints reports.
The judge also dismissed other motions filed by GM to have the suit thrown out, which were related to a claim of fraudulent concealment and a claim under the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act.
GM has had several class-action lawsuits filed against it over alleged oil consumption issues with the Vortec V8 engine. The majority of these suits have been dismissed by judges, including a nationwide class action suit filed in Ohio in 2019.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more General Motors legal news and around-the-clock General Motors news coverage.
Once again available in regular and market-exclusive Denali-X variants.
Try stealing a quieter car next time.
The Super Cruise network is expanding quickly.
There were only 2,889 Riviera LXXV Editions built.
View Comments
Soo many manufacturers have that stupid law / corporations of oil burning at 1000 miles. Im faithful at on my vehicles and had many of my cars burned alloy of oil. Its basically the design of the block sand oil rings . problem on. Most engines......
Small block GM v8's demand the correct viscosity of oil.due to ring tolerances. Even the brand of oil is critical.
If it's burning oil that's the problem... Maybe the EPA should Sue them for pollution.
Complex machines (like internal combustion engines with power/efficiencies we are seeing today) clearly must be maintained properly.
At same time, manufacturers that design with a margin of error that reflects "real life" and correct problems that clearly fall on their side of ledger, will always earn loyalty.
Motors are not the main Issue with this platform/ era of truck.
I've driven gm trucks my whole life and never had a major issue like I have now with my transmission in a 2016 Silverado ( it's the trashiest feeling automatic I've ever driven )and all the dealership wants to say is "it's normal" ...
I told the dealer I'm never buying another garbage gm truck again and will tell everyone I know not to buy one. His reply was " why don't you trade it in on a new one, they have no issues like this"( except first cycle of driving of the day)I just about jumped down his throat..
I said "issue" you said it's normal!
I knew I should have bought a Toyota
Can't believe people buy GM junk. They are giving you the middle finger by trying to throw the law suit out
Hopefully the lawsuit goes through. I bought a Chevy Silverado 2009 brand new it only had 63 miles. 5 years later the truck was consuming a lot of oil, I took it to the dealership and they told me that it was Normal. A couple of months later one of the lifters gave out. And of course it was right after the warranty had expired. So I bought another engine and guess what same issue, too much oil consumption and a lifter gave out. The 5.3L engine was a poorly designed and it was meant to fail.
FYI it only applies for 5.3L engine. 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500
Well in my opinion we're living by the Law jungle not what all the land, it's not about pride and what's right and what's wrong anymore it's about that old mighty Dollar how they can get over on someone.
The vaccine is a joke the Delta variant is a joke the whole damn thing is a joke it's going to be a new variant and a new vaccine every year as long as they continue to scare the hell out of you and why we're at it those f****** masks are a joke too
I'm on my 8th avalanche... 02, 03, 05, 07, 08, 13, 08, and now a 13 with 60k miles on it. Never noticed an oil problem until my 1st 08. When checking oil on my previous ones i may have been a quart low when checking them,, but on the 1st 08 I had repeated issues with the oil just barely touching the dipstick and having to add 2 to 3 quarts. This was just at 100k miles. Took it in to the dealership and they installed a shield of some type in the oil Pan to help stop oil usage in accordance with a TSB. Drove it for 3 or 4 months with no change so the dealership took it back and replaced the lifters and pistons. I traded it about 6 months later as the oil pressure gauge continued
to indicate borderline low pressure even after replacing the oil pump again and then the gauge. Traded it for my 1st 13. I drove all of my avalanches way North of 150000 miles except for 2 with no engine problems to speak of. Sometimes you find a bad apple in the bottom of the barrel. The cracked broken dash covers in the avalanche/suburban/ tahoe/Silverado on the other hand, is a more glaring issue that they won't address. Just bought my present 2013 "garage kept" avalanche with 60k and the dash was cracked on it in the same spot they all do. Poor quality control, But they would go broke trying to fix them all because of how many vehicles involved.