A senior United States district judge has rejected a motion from GM to dismiss Cole Ulrich, et al., v. General Motors, a companion lawsuit to Speerly v. General Motors, according to CarComplaints. The class action lawsuit alleges that GM knowingly sold vehicles with defective transmissions, specifically the Hydra-Matic 8L45E and 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions, which have been installed in a wide range of vehicles, from sports cars to luxury sedans to full-size trucks.
The transmission lawsuit fails “to state viable claims, [but] many of the counts survive and warrant further examination,” according to Judge David M. Lawson. He further ruled there are adequate facts suggesting the vehicles were “not fit for the ordinary purpose of providing reasonably safe transportation” due to the GM transmissions in question.
The lawsuit includes reports of “numerous dangerous incidents where drivers lost control of class vehicles and struck or nearly collided with other cars, objects, or pedestrians, or had harrowing near-miss incidents with oncoming or overtaking traffic due to abrupt, unpredictable, and uncontrollable acceleration or deceleration caused by the transmissions’ failure to engage or maintain appropriate drive gear settings,” according to the judge.
The class action lawsuit claims the its 8L45E and 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions in thirteen different GM vehicle models produced between 2015 and March 1st, 2019 are defective. The models included in the suit are listed below.
- 2015-2019Â Cadillac Escalade/Cadillac Escalade ESV
- 2016-2019Â Cadillac ATS
- 2016-2019Â Cadillac ATS-V
- 2016-2019Â Cadillac CTS
- 2016-2019Â Cadillac CTS-V
- 2016-2019Â Cadillac CT6
- 2015-2019Â Chevrolet Silverado
- 2017-2019Â Chevrolet Colorado
- 2015-2019Â Chevrolet Corvette
- 2016-2019Â Chevrolet Camaro
- 2017-2019Â GMC Canyon
- 2015-2019Â GMC Sierra
- 2015-2019Â GMC Yukon/Yukon XL
The lawsuit alleges that the affected transmissions are a safety hazard because they can “slip, buck, kick, jerk and harshly engage” from time to time. This, according to the plaintiffs, “causes the vehicle to perform erratically, such as with sudden or delayed acceleration” and sometimes makes it feel as if another car collided with the vehicle when the transmission shifts.
No injuries or deaths have been connected to the faulty transmission shifts. The sudden, violent shifts and other problems allegedly result from excess friction in the torque converter caused by internal transmission fluid starvation.
Comments
I thought it was the 9-speed that was the problematic one. Maybe both are. Great.
Not sure why you are getting the downvotes. Copium, perhaps? The 9TXX is an embarrassment.
The FWD 9 speed has nothing to do with this. This is the RWD based 8 speed that was put in the full sized trucks and SUV’s. The 9 speed FWD based one did have some issues with recalls but has been a decent trans-axle when proper maintenance has been done on them. This is the 9T45, 50, 60 and 65 family as used in everything from the Trax all the way up to the Traverse. The recall was to repair or replace certain 2017-2019 applications of external components and an incorrectly sized Sun gear. The 8 speed RWD based transmissions issues are completely different and far more numerous!
Got a 9T60, and it’s been flawless for 247,000 miles. Got an LC9 engine farm truck (supposedly AFM issues engine) only issue after 220,000 miles is intake came loose and needed bolted back down and oil pressure gauge sensor went out. Have driven many 8 speed rental cars/trucks. It’s a good transmission. Only real thing I want recalled is the number of our of control lawyers and judges in this country.
If you had a 8 speed fail under warranty, guess what, that’s what a warranty is for. If it failed out of warranty, sorry about your luck, that’s part of owning a vehicle, and I can show you 10X as many customers who had no problem vs your 1-2 unsatisfactory experiences. Be grateful you didn’t have a Nissan CVT that grenades reliably before 100K, or a Toyota truck with a 30% engine failure rate . It is time to grow up and take responsibility for your life choices.
Good. GM should liable for these trash 8 speeds.
The only winner here will be the lawyers.
Class actions are just a tool for law firms to get a settlement where they take the money for representing you and in the end you may get a free oil change.
If People had just gone in and got the flush 90% of these would be fine. It was free and as long as the converter clutch was not toast would save the transmission and converter.
Been there done that.
Now if you want to talk a real issue the sifters not going into part in a number of models was and is still an issue. The shifter will go into park but the body control module will not register it and you can shut off the engine. It is about $500 for a new shifter that only fixes it for a while. Then it happens again.
Dont gaslight.
I had a flush and new torque converter in my 17 Camaro at 1500 miles. 3 different flushes too including the newest. The transmission is complete garbage.
Many had new transmissions installed and still horrible.
Shift to park is an issue for some indeed.
Thats for gaslighting us while telling us to not gaslight 😂
But while on topic about the Camaro, that’s not a transmission issue. That’s a program issue. The tranny isn’t bad, it needs a tune.
I have had the flush twice and a new torque converter replaced at 27k miles. I am now at 30k miles and it is once again shuddering. What tune do I need to fix this? Will an AMF disabler be enough or do I need a compete tune?
I agree with you. 2018 Cadillac CT6 began having issues with rough shifts, slight bucking and just an unpleasant driving quality. They flushed the fluid after the first 12 months and there was a dramatic improvement, yet it still wasn’t as it should be. Fast forward three years and it’s back with a vengeance. As recommended by the dealer, I had the fluid flushed again at my cost even though the car was still well within the power train warranty. It didn’t little to improve it. I’ve since been told by someone who previously worked in the dealership (for all that’s worth) that the only way to really correct it is to replace the torque converter. I’ve never heard/read that elsewhere so am skeptical. Rather that go that route, I just decided to drive it until the end of this year and trade it. It has less than 65K miles and is otherwise an excellent vehicle.
I had mine (8L90) serviced as recommended and when I got it back it was undriveable. I took it back and they said I needed a new transmission. It cost me $6300. It was fine when I took it in for service. Flushing it is what destroyed it. Those transmissions are garbage. It took two months to get a replacement because they were out of stock. They can’t keep up with the demand for replacements because so many are failing. I like the truck but it’s a POS. Next will probably be the lifters failing and taking out the engine. I’m done with GM. I bought an older Ford while it was in the shop and the chevy is getting sold if I can find someone stupid enough to buy it.
But I do agree with you that the only winner here will be the lawyers. GM can keep their oil change though. I don’t trust them to do anything right anymore.
We have the 9 speed in our 2019 Buick Enclave and it’s a solid reliable transmission. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again a car is not a refrigerator or washing machine…cars especially new cars from all maintenance require frequent maintenance. I’d much rather change my transmission fluid and pay for that then have to replace a transmission out of warranty. Believe me my friend is a mechanic and if saw some of things he saw you’d stand there with your mouth gapping open and these cars aren’t even that old.
The judgement against GM which will be at least $100 millions should come out of Mary Buick Envision Made in China-Barra’s compensation.
Ford should be on the hook for this as well since these POS’s were a joint venture between the two manufacturers.
That was the 9 and 10 speed, not the 8
Yet they flubbed the 10 speeds as well, as while the 8’s are now pretty solid, the 10’s are suffering from quality issues intermittently. Trust ford to overcomplicate everything.
Why, why did we have to have transmissions with a myriad of gears when 4 was enough for decades? Some say it was liberal governments pushing towards impossible CAFE standards. Others say that GM thought more shifts would eke out a mile to the gallon more, and that multiple gear shifting could be handled by new and improved TCMs. Like the new Corvette. Sometimes you can carry technology to far.
I agree with you. My ’21 GMC Sierra with the 4.3 V6 has the 6 speed transmission (4 conventional, 2 overdrives). Seems plenty good to me.
My 2012 Silverado has the 4-spd and it has been flawless. I wouldn’t buy anything new without an extended factory warranty.
Those are better but have issues with torque convertors also.
I would do a trans service often, every 20-25k.
If you do not know a reputable tranny shop you may want to consider researching for one.
If you get it in at the first sign of trouble you may be able to just replace the torque convertor before it totals out the whole trans.
They make torque convertors with an upgrade made with parts from Sonax but they are pricey.
Some shops will tell you need a trans rebuild also so a 2nd opinion if that is the case.
Tuner shops can limit the lock-up to higher speeds only.
I have two of these vehicles, a 2016 ss camaro, and a 2017 colorado zr2. The camaro , I took my foot off the gas to pull into a parking spot the car surged and went up over the curb and ran into a building causing thousands of dollars of damage to the building and the car,took to a chevy dealership and they could not find a code or anything else wrong. took back to the dealership a couple months later for rpms jumping up by themselves and no code showed up and they gave me a lame excuse. Took it back a third time for a transmission flush.
the colorado took it in for the shaking, they put a new torque converter in it took it back 2 months later and they did a transmission flush that was all done the first year owning, bought brand new.
My 2017 Silverado eight speed started shuddering at 38K miles last year. The dealer where I bought it from, Russell Chevrolet, Sherwood, AR said too bad, it’s out of warranty. They wanted $735 to change the fluid. Gwatney Chevrolet, Jacksonville, AR changed the fluid for free. So far at 43K miles, trans seems to be ok. Do you think I’ll ever buy another vehicle from Russell Chevrolet?
Good, they should be held liable for selling junk. They should have had a lawsuit brought on them for the 2006 to 2013 Impala as well for slipping out of gear and erratic shifting. They got away with that one and then they wonder why the final generation of the Impala did not sell well.
And to think Ford, Chrysler, and VW used to be the ones with the crappy transmissions. But that’s OK. Mary thinks everything is great and keeps getting all the money.
exactly…MARY & THE BOARD NEED TO GO
2017 Camaro and have all the TSB’s done. For the most part I haven’t any drastic issues, I get the washboard issue now and then. It’s for the most part OK. My issue is the most expensive transmission flush is required. That was never mentioned when purchasing the vehicle. When a $500+ transmission flush is needed for a daily driver that is extreme. The sad part is the flush is only good for about 30,000 miles.
Sounds crazy but my trans was shuddering a little.I added some Lucas Trans slip to my full synthetic trans fluid seems to work.keeps me away from rip off service I don’t need.I currently have 3GMs running smoothly staying away from dealers who try to comfort you with recalls and fixes that cost you time and more time without even a loaner for daily needs.So many failures in todays auto market across many brands..Sometimes we should stay with what worked.Was to much emphasis on EVs putting all this failed us on better stronger Heavy duty Engines and trans without crawling back to dealers,It’s a big mess.Iam 64yrs young and don’t trust any brand right now.If you got something good now keep it till the wheels fall off. Your Service Manager will miss you.
They should add the 2020-2025 Corvette to the list
I drive a 2016 Chevy Silverado Z71, the transmission was ok at first but my motor ending up going it sat for 8 mos before a new motor arrived and the dealership that had replace the motor after the motor was installed they told me the torque converter had to be flushed and I told them why wasn’t this done why the motor was out. To me it was just a money grab of $1000.00 dollars to do the job. Prior to the motor replacement I was having transmission issues like jumping hard shifting. I had 2 transmission flushes since I’ve owned the truck there’s days it runs good and every now and then it acts up and to find out now that there’s been issues with this transmission from the get go. I’m 62 and don’t know if I’ll ever get another GM I’ve always been GM all my life.
I had the shudder on my ’18 Camaro that was permanently fixed under warranty with the flush outlined in 18-NA-355.
The transmission though, is calibrated for economy, i.e. shifts too soon, so I shift if manually, which works very nicely with the Borla Atak axle-backs.
Kind of surprising that the lawsuit ends at 19s.
Issues seem to persist to date.
Been driving and working on cars for almost 50 years. My experience is if you have a good working AT don’t touch it except for fluid level maintenance. If it’s out of warranty and starts feeling strange, add Lucas treatment to it. Then if that doesn’t fix it you need to have it repaired or trade it. I suppose a modern transmission could have a computer issue but that should throw a code so you know it’s not a mechanical issue. Also, I wouldn’t buy a new one today without an extended factory warranty.
I have a 2016 xts cadi, 50k, 6 speed, its acting exacty the same, when took to dealer was sold a bunch of BS as this was normal. Called transmission shops , told them the erratic shifting issues, first question they asked me is if it was an 8 speed!!! This started around 40k still in warranty, never buy ing another gm anything. Also had a 2016 3500. Engine diesel, detonated at 16k. Junk, all of it…yes they replaced it, should never have happened..
My 2022 Colorado 8 spd since new has had cold weather shifting troubles as does my 2023 Cadillac ct4, 8spd . They will jerk through the gears until u get into 5 th or 6 gear slipping or just hold the gear way too high, rpm’s. So they should be including at least up till 2023 vehicles with this crappy transmission.
I have a 2024 Black Panther Edition Camaro and its been at the dealership for two months cause of the transmission went out. No reverse want shift out of first sad
They might as well include the 2023 8 speed Chevy Express in that lawsuit. They claimed it was a TCM problem, but that is a lie. They new all along that Tranny was bad and hauled off and sold it as is. I think the Feds need to get involved in this. It was reckless and shocking behavior on GMs part. I think they owe everyone who unknowingly bought one of these turkeys should get a new vehicle not just some month long fix.
Bring back the stick shift option to the Corvette.Im just getting over the trauma of my personal experience with trans over temp and rear axle warning messages 2023 corvette 2000 miles.
After experiencing severe transmission shuddering issues with 2015 and 2016 Corvettes with the 8 speed automatic and also in a 2016 Camaro, I’m done with GM. And I’m another (previously) life-long GM customer.
2015 L83 GMC Sierra @ 176,000.
No AFM DOD issues, yet.
No 6L80E issues, yet.
I do all my drivetrain fluid changes myself with AMSOIL.
What will be my problems in the future?
I have 2017 Corvette Grand Sport with 18,000 miles and last week the engine started making a loud metal sound! Had dealer check it out and found out the engine was blown!!!! Chevy will only cover 30% and my 70% is $15,600!!! very unhappy Vette owner!!
What is with GM engines and transmissions and all the class action suits.
This lawsuit should include newer 2019 and newer trucks as well equipped with their 8spd auto. They have the same problem as their previous models.