Earlier last year, GM Authority reported that General Motors was hit by a class action lawsuit that alleged the Detroit-based automaker knowingly sold faulty eight-speed automatic transmissions in a wide variety of its vehicles. With that in mind, The General was recently ordered by a federal appeals court to face the class action.
According to a report from Reuters, drivers claimed that the affected vehicles shudder and shake in higher gears, as well as hesitate and lurch in lower gears, even after repair attempts were made. They also alleged that General Motors told dealerships to provide assurance that the harsh shifts were considered normal.
It’s worth noting that this litigation involves roughly 800,000 vehicles, including 514,000 in the certified classes.
Of course, General Motors opposed class certification, stating that most class members never experienced problems and therefore lacked any standing to sue. In addition, the Detroit-based automaker claimed that there were too many differences among class members to justify group lawsuits.
However, Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore felt as though overpaying for allegedly defective vehicles was plenty in order to establish standing. She also stated “exactly how, and to what extent, each of the individual plaintiffs experienced a shudder or shift quality issue is irrelevant” to whether The General knowingly concealed defects and whether drivers would have found that information.
Notably, the court also rejected GM’s argument that many potential claims belonged in arbitration.
As such, this lawsuit will be returned to U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit, who certified the classes back in March 2023. “We look forward to holding GM accountable before a Michigan jury,” Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll Partner Ted Leopold remarked in a prepared statement.
For reference, this case is Speerly et al v. General Motors LLC, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-1940.
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Comments
I traded in a 2016 CTS because the transmission shifted like sh*t, still have a ’17 ATS with the same shift faults, lurches at times, first shift from 1 to 2 is always a bump. Had the fluid flushed under warranty and that fixed a shudder at 40 mph. GM fought that the shifting was normal and not a “defect”, unbelievable
I now have a CT5 V6 with the 10 speed, shifts like a dream, never feel a shift.
The 10-speed transmission is Ford’s design/product. GM did the 9-speed that Ford, and then GM, turned into the 8-speed.
It should be easy to produce records of which vehicles were presented at dealerships for problems with that transmission. As well, there should be records of communications between dealers and GM over this issue which would provide acknowledgment that GM knew about the problem.
There are records of GM Advising their dealers to lie about these transmissions and what to tell customers to fool them into accepting the defective drive trains.
I have a 2019 GMC Canyan with the 3.6 litre engine and an 8 speed transmission. It had 62,000 kms on it I hardly ever tow anything and when I do it’s nothing heavy. Never seen a winter either. It developed a bad shutter in the drive line. It’s a good thing I had an extended warranty. It took a week for them to decide if they were going to cover it or not.. They pulled out the transmission and flushed it. Then put a new torque converter in it and put in a different transmission fluid. They covered the parts and labour but i had to pay $495.°° for the fluid and filter. I wasn’t too happy knowing about a lot of people having GMC’s had this issue. Some wasn’t so lucky and lost their transmissions Even the full size pickups. I even called customer service but they said there was nothing they could do to help me.
I have a 2017 Canyon with 3.6. Please make sure they use Mobile 1 transmission fluid. I have Mobile 1 in my transmission, and it stopped shuttering. I still think GM should support this transmission for up to 120,000 miles. They replaced a torque converter, pulled the transmission twice, and finally changed the fluid to Mobile 1. It seemed to have solved the problem, but there’s no guarantee. The consensus is I don’t know what damage was done to the transmission when it was having that problem.
Same here! My 2017 Canyon would shudder at high speeds. They just put a filter and new fluid in, and that seemed to fix it.
What years were impacted?
I’ve heard of a lot of issues in 2017-2021. Not much in the newer ones. But maybe they are just less common?
The newer iteration does not have as much complaints, because they updated the fluid and issued several fixes….however there will always be lemons.
The 2015-2019 models were the worst I believe.
I wish the plaintiffs all the good luck in the world. I hope the settlement is in excess of $500 million since it involves roughly 800,000 vehicles. Hopefully, Mary Buick Envision Made in China-Barra gets fired immediately. GM has gotten away with this before, anybody remember the 1977 Chevymobile lawsuit?
And does anyone remember the more recent Chevy Bolt battery fire issues? Everyone of the 149,000 Chevy Bolts that were built.
Not positive, but I think GM decided they could do some kind of Software update without having to change the battery packs that were originally supposed to go into all the 149,000 Bolts.
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/06/gm-releases-final-fix-for-chevy-bolt-ev-bolt-euv-battery-recall/.
Felt the shutter on my son’s new 2017 Camaro RS, v6, A8, on the way home from the dealership in August, 2018, but thought it was the bad NE MS roads. Read about the shutter online on Camaro6. Had the transmission fluid replaced with old fluid at about 3K miles which did not help. Dealership then flushed and replaced with new Mobil fluid at about 6k early 2019. No problems since & now has 28k miles. Even if gm loses this suit, lawyers will get majority of the money & owners a check for a few $100 off the next gm purchase.
Why would GM allow an unproven transmission in production, don’t they test their products anymore?
These 8 speeds have programming issues, which is WHY they shift really badly, unlike the 6L80s that unfortunately do go bad due to thermostat issues in the stock transmission. That said, they did update the transmission fluid several times…..
Unfortunately rough shifts come with the 8 speed..I am not saying it is normal- I am saying that it is unfortunately part of the transmission due to the programming. I believe in 2014, I read somewhere that the 8 speeds were expected to be introduced MUCH later , not immediately the next year. Had this been done, I suspect the 8 speed may have had the programming issues sorted. Unfortunately the EPA gets their way every single time….
In truth, these 8 speeds are actually MUCH stronger than the 6L80s of the time- internally I mean, with all their issues.
Chevrolet dealer replaced my valve body in March 2021 and its been perfect ever since. 2021 Silverado LT Z71 4wd
It should have been done right in the first place before it was sold. Unfortunately, the other 800,000 vehicle owners involved in the lawsuit may not have been as lucky as you are. I also have some bad news, there is a good chance that this is not the only problem your vehicle will have.
It does NOT happen to every single vehicle however, probably around 3 to 4 percent. This is by going by forums. In Qatar, plenty of 8 speed trucks were sold and there is no lawsuit yet……
I have 2 with the problems a 2016 SS camaro witch surged into a building I had it check and they gave me some pissy ass excuse, Plus a 2017 Colorado ZR2 ,both shutter real bad, the truck had the torque converter replaced and both had the transmission fluid changed.
I purchased my 2017 2SS Camaro, black rag top, w 6K miles, in December 2018, GM Certified. On the way home from Ferndale, MI GM dealership felt the trans shudder. They never disclosed it and denied the issue. I found a great dealership, Randy Wise, Chevy Store, Clio Road Flint and they acknowledged the issue and fixed it. First they flushed and changed the trans fluid 3X to no avail. Then changed the trans valve body. This solved the shudder and hard shifts for now. The faulty trans should never have been released. While the vehicle was GM Certified when purchased I’m told it is not covered under the Class Action. Only vehicles purchased new. This is wrong.
I had a 2019 Ford Edge S/T with their 1st version of the 8 speed trans that was a GM/Ford design and it had a buck when I stared out at around 2200 rpm. I. got in the habit of lifting my foot off the accelerator to let it shift.This buck was more pronounced when I stated off in the morning. I now have a Lincoln Corsair (2024) and the 8 speed trans is a smooth shifter
I sold my 2018 Denali after multiple trips to the dealer with Fluid changes and triple-flush process and finally a valve body replaced under warranty.
When the symptoms returned I had had enough. Even had one Service manager tell me to my face that he drove my truck and everything shifted as normal.
I now have a 2023 High Country 6.2 with 10 speed and it shifts like it is supposed to, so far.
I suppose I should be grateful that I have a manual stick shift. I never liked these computerized automatic transmissions.
In 2020, I was looking for a 2015 Corvette. That was the first year for the 8-speed in a Vette. I found a 2014 (6-speed) with everything I wanted, and I bought it. I guess I dodged the bullet.
I have a 2018 GMC Canyon. Bought it about a year and a half ago with 47,000 miles. Within the first year of owning it, I started to have transmission issues. It would lurch at slow speeds, shutter at high speeds. I ended up paying over $800 out of pocket because the dealer told me a transmission flush was routine maintenance. I insisted they use the better-quality transmission fluid with the lower water content. The transmission is better, but I will still have occasional lurching. These vehicles are so expensive, we should be able to trust the manufacturer to not screw us over.
I only use Mobile 1 Trans fluid it worked in my 2017 Canyon, my shifts are a lot better, and I have no shatter, by the way, don’t waste your money going back to GM find a good transmission shop, and pay less for flush
how do I get more information to become a part of this lawsuit? I have the exact same issues.
I just had my wife’s 2016 Cadillac ATS with V6 and 8 speed into dealer to deal with the stuttering issue and hard shifts. I bought the car new and it presently has 47,500 miles on it. My bill was $1,575 to do the flush and deal with a leak in the differential. How to be become part of this class action suit? We live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2017 Yukon Denali transmission and motor with same issues, anyone know how or what I need to do to become part of this lawsuit? I have plenty of documentation and so wouldn’t Michigan Headquarters. Thanks in Advance!
Paula,
Google it. It is out there. Good luck.
Signed,
One who is in a similiar boat. Bad joke.
My brother f150 pickup was having shadow problems with the transmission I told him to switch to mobile one transmission fluid his problem went away
I think GM should back the transmission & Timing chain in these trucks for 100000 miles of complete coverage. As long as they are properly serviced.
I have to replace my transmission with less than 100,000 road miles on my 2015 Silverado.
Have a 2017 Silverado with a 4l60e trans and it’s doing the same as the 8 speed trans, just died and have to get a re manufactured trans, only has 112 thousand miles on it.
Well, my 2018 with 106k miles is failing. The GMC dealer did a $245 diagnostic. They said there are metal shavings in the pan and “shavings on the dipstick” without doing anything but look at the dipstick. They said they never heard of any problems with these 8 speeds and are unaware of any TSB concerning these. They gave me a quote of $7700. I left. After 51 years owning GM products, I am most disappointed.
I have a 2021 Silverado 1500 RST Z71. I bought it in 2022 with 26k miles. At 50+K it started to shudder, hard shift and lunge. I took it in and they had me pay for a trans flush ($480) and drive for 2k miles. After 2k miles the shudder was worse. They said torque converter was bad and needed warranty replacement. Waited a month for that repair and within 48 hours it was even worse. I was told to drive 1k miles as a “break in” period. After 800 miles it was way worse and suddenly the low engine oil light was on and the truck was 1 quart low on oil. The dealership’s check list from less than a week earlier showed oil level full. This is a mystery to all involved. They then said the transmission was bad and needed replacement. I waited from 10/3-12/8 for the replacement transmission. I drove the truck 3 days and had the same issues. I took the truck back and they decided that the valve body on the new transmission is bad and now I’m waiting for that part. When they diagnosed the bad valve body they said that they received an email from Chevrolet Service that there are 4500+ trucks waiting for the same part and that there will be 800 released on a priority basis at the end of February. So here I sit with no truck since 10/3 and still paying for it. The story goes on and on with the constant back and forth with Chevrolet Customer Service. Which isn’t even Chevrolet. It an in between company that documents your issues and submits it to Chevrolet. Then they wait for a response and contact you. And usually with an insult of an offer. Like the offer of $1500 as a trade in on a used truck from them. For a truck that has a blue book value of over $30K. After owing 5 Silverados, I will never buy another Chevrolet vehicle. They will not back up their garbage products.
Bought a used 2016 Camaro 2SS in September of 2024, car had 22873 miles on it and the Car Fax said it had had the transmission flushed twice since new, once around 3000 miles and again at around 6000 miles. I asked the salesman about this and was told that it was to fix some issue the owner had reported, but it was fine now since the flush had been done BUT he had no idea what the issue it was flushed for. While test driving the car it was fine from what I could tell so I bought it a little later on because I was competing with another buyer. Two weeks after buying the car I was driving down the road and it sounded like I was driving on rumble strips, didn’t think nothing about it since I didn’t know what all issues where going on at the time, a few days later I hear the rumble again so then I searched the internet and start reading all this complaints. Unfortunately I bought the car as is and sent to the dealer because I knew now something was wrong, I talked to the service department manager and was told they had never heard of any issues with this transmission but sounded like it may need the torque converter replaced, if you know nothing about this issue how did they know that was one of the things they do for trying to fix them? Was told a flush would probably fix what I was experiencing but I would have to pay for it out of pocket 650.00 to flush replace the filter and trans fluid.
They are lying to us saying they know nothing of any issues and the dealer even lied to me about the exhaust system on my car and then lied to his boss about what he told me when I questioned the salesman’s boss, he said well So and So said he has never heard of that feature, even though he was telling me about the cars he had owned with the feature on them he even knew where to go into the infotainment system and adjust and change the feature but tells his boss he has no clue what I’m talking about.