As GM Authority previously reported back in May 2022, General Motors had a U.S. class-action lawsuit filed against it due to issues with the 8LXX eight-speed automatic transmission. Now, a similar lawsuit has been filed in Canada.
According to a report from Car Complaints, this new class action lawsuit alleges that the GM 8L90 and 8L45E eight-speed automatic transmissions are defective. The case further claims that the harsh shifting properties of the transmissions have the potential to create safety hazards to vehicles, occupants, and others nearby.
The lawsuit states that “All the persons in Canada (including but not limited to individuals, corporations, and estates) who, prior to the date of certification of this action as a class action, bought or leased vehicles (new or used) designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed, sold, warranted, or serviced by GM and equipped with GM’s (collectively, ‘Transmissions’).”
Although the case itself doesn’t go into great detail regarding the alleged transmission problems, it does lay out an extensive list of affected vehicles, which includes:
- 2015-2019 Chevy Corvette
- 2015-2023 Chevy Colorado
- 2015-2023 Chevy Silverado
- 2016-2023 Chevy Camaro
- 2017-2023 Chevy Express
- 2015-2017 Cadillac Escalade
- 2016-2019 Cadillac ATS-V
- 2016-2019 Cadillac CTS-V
- 2016-2020 Cadillac CT6
- 2015-2017 GMC Yukon
- 2015-2019 GMC Canyon
- 2015-2019 GMC Sierra
- 2017-2023 GMC Savana
Of course, General Motors has dealt with various class-action suits over its 8L45E and 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions in the past few years. To this end, GM Authority has covered these reported issues with the GM eight-speed transmission extensively, and even called on the Detroit-based automaker to address the purported problems in an op-ed published back in 2019. While many GM vehicles have replaced the eight-speed transmission with the newer GM 10-speed it co-developed with Ford, certain models like the Camaro, Colorado and Silverado still use this transmission in certain applications.
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Comments
GM used to know how to build good transmissions, not sure what has happened.
Different management, from engineers to bean counters.
And leadership. There’s no accountability anymore.
I have a 2015 Chevy Silverado LT 140,000 mi. My transmission went out and I wanted to be a part of this lawsuit over these transmissions I would like to have a new transmission for my truck
140K miles? People in hell want ice water. Grow a pair.
When in the 1940s? Going back to the 4 speeds they were awful.
Lol, my 2012 Silverado has a 4 spd AT and so does my 2009 g-6. My 2019 Nox has a 6-spd all perform beautifully.
“Used to” might be relative: nobody wants to remember the days of the 305+700R4…
At less than 50,000 miles, I had to get new brakes. It was a known issue on the internet and the dealer tried to hide it! Next the AC went out… another known issue, but I was just barely over the warranty and they refused to cover it. Cheated me out of $1500. Now, at just over 60,000 miles, my transmission is shot. This too, a known issue. There’s even a class action lawsuit on some models! (See links below.). They won’t do anything to help and they want me to pay $5800 to get it fixed. I am a single mom. I support my elderly mother and my son, who has autism. I get my tires rotated on time, my oil changed, and I’ve done every maintenance needed AT THE DEALERSHIP and this is the outcome. Chevy – the manufacturer and its dealers lie and cheat. They have emails showing that they sold this car to Americans knowing this would happen (links below). I will never buy another Chevy!
I thought changing to a new tranny fluid fixed it. Was I lied to?
When are they supposed to let us know about the US transmissions? And the C7 Corvette. We’ll GM sent out letters to all owners.
I have had my 2016 Corvettes transmission flushed 2 times. First was free 2nd I paid for. The new Mobil ! transmission fluid has made it shift smoother. If this lawsuit is won in favor of us we should get reimbursed. Best automatic transmission GM ever produced was the 4 speed Hydromantic used in Oldsmobile’s & Cadillac’s.
Different management, from engineers to bean counters.
Not lied to. Got mine changed and has been fine since. Those that continue to have issues normally have a glazed converter clutch and it needs replace. It is under the drive line warranty.
The greatest issue is that sone dealers are refusing flushes or converter changes that GM would approve.
Hard harsh shifting by some people, but no mechanical issues that stop the transmision from doing its job. The BILLIONS and BILLIONS of driven miles without transmission failures proves the transmission works. A lot of stuff I purchases do not perform the way I hope but the products work. We all have a level of expectations, but if product does the job that it was intended to do, it might satisfy a lot of customers expectations, and a few might not be satisfied. Too many proven driven miles to say this transmission is faulty, it may not satisfy some picky customers but 99% are happy with it.
The lawsuit is in Canada it will not pertain to US.
Dwight Morgan
You Sir are sooooo absolutely completely CORRECT
The same lawsuit is active in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a 2019 with one of those transmission problems. How do we go about getting these bad transmission replaces . Sad the ceo make 21 million a year but yet sell poor quality vehicles.
I was driving through a campground this evening looking for open sites. I was driving quite slow and had to back up a few times. On one occasion, shifting from reverse to forward, my acted like the brakes were on. It wouldn’t move. After a few seconds the transmission jolted into gear and the truck started to go forward. I was being very light on the gas pedal. It’s not right.
My 2015 Sierra Denali with 8 speed had the torque converter changed, fluid flushed twice, still hard shifting. At the end, it started slipping really bad. Traded it. Enough.
As a C7 owner about to have the fluid changed out in a triple flush process for $700 this is not the way GM should do business. The transmission “works” but not as expected by all customers, but especially engineers at GM who designed the unit. And then today, the class action filed in Canada. I’ve dealt with a prior manufacturer that ignored (fought) a recall on “soft alloy” wheels that went out of round with basic everyday driving. Eventually, the pressure was too great and they relented and produced new rims with the proper materials. At the very least, GM should reimburse vehicle owners for the transmission service – it’s the least they could do.
Maybe GM could develop a reliable continuously variable transmissions (CVT). CVTs don’t have fixed gear ratios. CVT’s constantly change their ratio to keep an engine at its ideal operating speed at all timeswhich is great for efficiency. Or as an alternative, GM could put ten-speed transmissions into their vehicles and thereby closely match the performance and efficiency of a CVT. One CVT transmission to rule over all others??
A CVT in a truck! Get serious, they barely power a car!
We rented a 4×4 vehicle with a CVT in Colorado. The brakes over-heated coming down Pike’s Peak. That transmission would not stay in “Low gear” for downhill braking. I would not buy a vehicle with a CTV.
Why are a couple of FWD transaxles talked about here and half the vehicles listed are RWD?
There is plenty of talk about fluid but not the actual difference in the fluids which is coefficient of friction. Why?
As a former heavy vehicle transmission engineer I am not surprised. When GM Powertrain was called Hydramatic there was a long history of problems any time a new transmission model was introduced. Witness the THM200 in B-body V8 applications and then the THM440. It would usually take 2-3 years for Hydramatic to get it right and incorporate the fixes.
Seen it all before. The only thing different here is a more litigation-happy society with lots of lawyers.
I had a 1958 Chevy with a Turboglide transmission. What a disaster that was! I traded in that car right after I had the transmission repaired.
It was a 2 speed POWERGLIDE. Jim Hall used a beefed-up version in his Can-Am Chaparral race cars hooked up to a 427 CI Chevrolet motor. Never failed.
Turboglide and Powerglide are two entirely different transmissions. Powerglide was a 2 speed and Turboglide was a no speed. More close in operation to Dynaflow.
Now Turboglides are a collector’s item.
i have a 2017 i bought new i have replaced the transmission twice so do not tell me this is a good transmission it shudders at high speeds in 8th gear and slips when going from 1st to 2nd .
Have you done the flush with the new Mobil 1 transmission fluid.
I have done the flush added the treatment which helps for a little bit but it always comes back always I now have 200,000 km on my truck and it’s starting to come back you shouldn’t have to change transmission fluid to make the godd@mn thing work
GM will not have these problems when they are total electric! It can’t be sooner!
Mary & the non car people will bankrupt GM before that happens.
Incorrect, the car people would as they would want to build all the special, halo, low volume expensive models as opposed to the volume models that profit. For example, how many on here has said GM needs to make a Raptor Competitor or a Wrangler fighter or that some sport sedan with a V8 or a wagon would sell in droves with a manual? Yeah, car people like them, but they don’t sell. Mary is running a good ship. Look at profits, look at the stocks, look at how competitive many models are and how the interiors have turned around and tech is up. She is not the problem…
Look at the stock today, same as two years ago.
Talked to a transmission builder and he said that the 6 and 8 speeds are actually zf transmissions. He also said that once they are “shop” built they’re fine. Of course to me that’s like paying for it twice.
It’s also easier to blame someone else when you don’t know the answer yourself. Everybody thinks they’re the smartest.
Totally not true
Haha, what transmission builder? That is 100% not true…
These are absolutely NOT ZF transmissions. Period.
I know this isn’t isn’t the best site for this question but some people here seem like they may know more about GM transmissions than I do. I have an ’18 Equinox with the 9 speed trans. it worked fine originally but now, about 32000 miles, has me worried. I can feel it shift now, when slowing down I can feel it shifting gears. Not good. Question is, is there a fluid, no matter expensive, that might work better? Everything in the car is original as of now. Front tires are almost smooth now, but that’s another problem. By the way, I have had a lot of GM cars new, since 1956, wish I still had most of them.
Talk to your Dealership’s Service Manager (not a service advisor). He/She is in the position to give you a straight answer. If you don’t like that person, try another Dealership. That’s the only way to get a knowledgeable answer. Talking to anyone else is a waste of your time. There are too many self proclaimed experts in the automobile business that couldn’t find their butt with both hands.
Second, if the front tires are bald and the rears are not, you haven’t rotated them as you should. That is the ONLY reason for two to wear out before the other two.
My sister called and her new CT4 seems to have the A8 shutter and transmission slippage at 3K miles. She already had it to the dealer at 2K with a bad fan motor. One of the tire air pressure monitors is also bad. She got rid of a BMW bought new at 200K miles but had issues with it also as it got older. She wanted a sedan which has limited choices these days. I recommended the CT4 knowing it had the A8 as the second flush at 3000 or so miles corrected my son’s 2017 Camaro shutter. She loves the car, but now I’m getting real concerned about recommending it.
You’re concerned because of what you read on the internet? Haha
She should have bought a Lexus instead of a crappy caddy. Maybe now she learned her lesson.
Maybe you should run off to your Toyota/Lexass site little man.
You CANNOT design a tranny for a car and then just drop in into a truck that tows stuff and expect it to last. Looks like they did this. GM has been doing this for years. ALso Chrysler, Ford and Honda. The Accord tranny is the same one that is in the CRV. Also the Odessey. Then they wonder why they start to fail. Well, they don’t wonder. They just figure the warranty cost is cheaper than to have designed a whole new tranny. Period.
They didn’t A, just take a car tranny and drop it in a truck. B, they don’t design it for single use. C, do you think they don’t design and test them ahead of time for certain uses? Engines and transmissions are designed for uses in many vehicles way early in the design process. The 3.6, 2.7, 6.2 just to name a few. They make some changes by they are very similar and designed to work across the board and test/design them to be sure. So no, your statement is false and it clearly works.
It’s not he transmission as much as the terrible programming that controls shift points and the lockup converter
I have the 6 speed behind the 2.8 diesel and it is so poorly programmed that I just shake my head.
GM get better people working in this stuff
Your making the company look bad
Have a 2021 Silverado RST that slips from 1st to 2nd Only when I first take off in the morning when transmission is cold. Truck drags, engine roars and then good to go. Dealer kept the truck but naturally couldn’t replicate the problem. Said I would have to live with the problem. Hasn’t gotten any worse or better. Believe others have experienced this same kind of behavior with 8 speed transmission. When the 5 year drivetrain warranty expires, truck is going down the road.
Keep taking it back and at the same time consult your state lemon laws.
My 2022 sierra 2.8 turbo slipped so bad it would about break my neck when it grabbed second gear every day When I cranked it up and went down the road , dealer said sorry they are all like that! I drove 3 more on different dealers lots and he was right . All were crap ! Cost me 15 thousand to trade it for a new suburban after only 6 months of of ownership!
I have a 2016 yukon Denali and I’ve had the transmission flushed twice and it still shifts hard and slips like crazy. All the dealership wants to do is blow smoke up my a*^ …. $485.00 to flush the transmission for it to perform better for 2 weeks or so ill pass
Call the GMC Customer Service people, or just sit there and b!tch. You’ll never get help if you don’t ask for it!
Over the many years, these transmissions have performed for billions and billions and billions and billions of miles. They have done the job. As well as I like my Apple I-14 pro maxx phone, there are some people that complain about this phone. Oh it don’t do this right or I don’t like the way it does this. All these many billions of driven miles by satisfied customers will win this case for GM. It just impossible to satisfy everyone. I love my Hoover vacuum cleaner, my wife hates it. I am one of the millions of GM truck owner that love the operations of my truck, I know there will be a few that do not love the operation of their truck, but that’s the way life goes. The billions of proven driven miles will win this case for GM if I am on the jury.
People have driven billions and billions of miles, as you state, not because the transmission works well, they have driven those miles because they have no option to do otherwise due to GM’s refusal to properly repair or replace. Just because GM , and yourself, claim these transmissions are wonderful doesn’t make it so. These transmissions work like garbage and if GM had any integrity they would develop an actual fix instead of trying to cobble together cheap patches that do very little to improve the performance of this transmission.
I like my truck, other than the trans, but going forward I won’t be willing to support a corporation that is content to deflect, deceive and just flat out lie about their responsibilities for the performance of this piece of junk they call a transmission.
Why is the 2023 Colorado on that list? Wasn’t that 8 speed supposed to be all new, or does it just affect transmissions sold in Canada.
How do I removed 8L90 transmission and convert to 6 speed manual for my 2017 Silverado, plus get AFM repaired. I got double the problems transmission shudder and bent pushrods.
Old world Buick LeSabre…smoothest ride I’d ever had since the ’79 Cougar XR-7.
My 2017 CT6 has been successfully flushed and the shudder has gone away. (so far)
I have a 2017 Cadillac Escalade, which also has a transmission issue and I’m getting nowhere with GM where do I sign up for a lawsuit in Canada?
Ok here goes….purchased my 2018 Canyon new. Had a few shifting issues but nothing serious. Dealer claims that is normal. Was notified when it reached 50000km I must get my trans.oil flushed as the wrong oil was in it and had to replace it with Mobil 1 blue label. Which is the correct oil and will resolve the shifting issue, but they told me it was normal so now why this different oil. Anyways they charged me over $600 to have it flushed. You would think if they had originally put the wrong oil in that it should be under warranty. They told me if I do not flush it I will void my warranty. I now have over 200000 kms and it still down shifts hard but I know it’s not going to be under warranty so I’m driving it till it blows. I’m sure if this class action law suite is successful they will tell me that my warranty is over anyways. This suit could take the courts up to 2 years or more and by that time all the cars and trucks will be over on milage so GM will claim there over warranty. Now one headlight lenses is starting to show small hairline cracks ..you guest it, can’t buy just the lenses have to buy the complete headlight. $900. each not including installation. Been a GM guy for over 45 years but never again.