A class-action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors over purported issues with the Blind Spot Monitoring safety system in the 2018 to 2020 model year Chevy Bolt EV.
This lawsuit, first covered by Car Complaints, was filed this week by a plaintiff in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In the filing, the plaintiff said the 2018 Chevy Bolt that he purchased new has a faulty Blind Spot Monitoring system that will chime and illuminate the warning lights on the vehicle’s side mirrors even if an object is not located in the vehicle’s blind spot. This condition caused the plaintiff “annoyance and confusion” when driving their vehicle and could pose a safety hazard to vehicle occupants and other motorists, the suit also said.
This problem can allegedly be traced back to the aluminum sensor shields that are placed around the blind spot monitoring sensors. These shields can apparently detach from the sensor or come loose, causing the sensor to read the vehicle’s wheels as a moving object.
The plaintiff eventually took their vehicle to a dealership, where a technician diagnosed the problem and charged the vehicle owner $62.46 for replacement aluminum shields. The lawsuit notes the plaintiff was forced to pay out of pocket for these repairs despite GM being fully aware of the sensor issue when the vehicle was purchased. The plaintiff also claims 2020 model year Chevy Bolt EV vehicles were knowingly delivered to customers with this defect.
GM issued a technical service bulletin for this issue in October of last year, which acknowledged some Chevy Bolt EV models may experience issues with the shields for the Blind Spot Monitoring system. The automaker also issued a similar TSB in 2017 for the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV for the exact same problem. The plaintiff claims this is evidence that GM was aware of this defect, but decided to continue selling the vehicles anyways and in some cases, made customers pay out of pocket to have the issue remedied. GM has also not reimbursed any owners who paid for this repair, the person said.
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Comments
Can this vehicle get any more bad press?
There seems to be a disconnect with the corporate offices and dealers with dealers charging customers for repairs where it is specifically stated in GM’s technical service bulletins that a given issue is covered under warranty.
There is a discussion going on in another thread right now about a bad micro switch causing the “shift to park” issue preventing shutting off the engine in various models. In the Volt, the repair is specifically covered under the Voltec warranty, but dealers have tried to charge customers hundreds of dollars.
Something tells me there just might be dishonest dealers out there charging back GM for the warranty work and then doubling up, billing customers for the same repair.
The moral is to try find TSBs related to whatever problem you’re having before you take your vehicle to a GM dealer so who know the warranty coverage status of the repair. How many customers are going to know to do that or know how to do that?
My 2017 bolt is in service center…has been for almost 2 weeks 😖. I’m driving another bolt loaner and just learned it has fire issues too. Wish I’d never gotten it
Sorry to hear of the problems with your Chevy Bolt. I have a 2017 Bolt, and it has been one of the more problem free cars I’ve owned. As long as the battery doesn’t catch fire I am satisfied with the Bolt, fingers crossed.
Who cares about camera systems when the Bolt burns your house down? GM is gonna have to buy them all back. Cheaper than paying fire damages.
GM seems to be missing one really important point:
Any owner or lessee of a Bolt is likely to be enraged
with GMs lackadaisical response , with the imposed restrictions on use , with the missing buy-back program, and with the worry of the fire risk.
These customers will shun GM products and may never return as customers.