Hundreds of Thousands of General Motors Vehicles Suffer from ‘Chevy Shake’ Defect, Class Action Lawsuit Claims [UPDATE]
Last Updated on January 4, 2021
Weiss v. General Motors Llc
Filed: April 23, 2019 ◆§ 1:19cv21552
General Motors faces more potential class action litigation, with a new lawsuit claiming certain model Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC vehicles suffer from the "Chevy Shake," a drive shaft defect.
Case Updates
August 11, 2020 – GM Agrees to Resolve ‘Chevy Shake’ Lawsuit on Individual Basis
General Motors has agreed to settle the proposed class action lawsuit detailed on this page on an individual basis, according to a July 29 mediation update.
According to court documents, the parties involved in the case attended mediation on July 15 and reached an “agreement in principle” to resolve the plaintiff’s claims. Court papers say the parties anticipate finalizing the settlement agreement and filing a notice of dismissal by the end of August.
Last October, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. partially granted GM’s motion to dismiss the suit, ruling the plaintiff did not have standing to pursue claims for drivers outside of Florida.
The three-page mediation report can be found here.
General Motors LLC is on the receiving end of a proposed class action that alleges hundreds of thousands of its vehicles suffer from the “Chevy Shake,” a defect the lawsuit claims stems from faulty drive shafts that cause certain models to shake violently when they hit highway cruising speeds.
The GM vehicles the case says were equipped with defective drive shafts are:
- 2015-present Cadillac Escalade;
- 2014-present Chevrolet Silverado;
- 2015-present Chevrolet Suburban;
- 2015-present Chevrolet Tahoe;
- 2014-present GMC Sierra; and
- 2015-present GMC Yukon/Yukon XL.
According to the complaint, the drive shaft, which is sometimes referred to as a “propeller shaft” or “prop shaft,” in the above GM vehicle models is an aluminum tube that runs the length of a vehicle’s interior and is responsible for transmitting torque and rotation from the engine to the wheels. This essential component must be precisely designed, manufactured, balanced and weighted given that it rotates at high speeds and is integral in a vehicle’s movement.
The so-called “Chevy Shake” came to light after drivers reported their vehicles feeling “unstable” at high speeds, which may result in loss of control, the case states. If unaddressed, the apparent defect can cause the driveshaft to deteriorate, according to the lawsuit, which may eventually cause the component to drop out of the vehicle entirely and render the car undriveable. Owners and lessees of affected GM models, the suit stresses, have effectively overpaid for not just their cars, but for the time and expense required for mechanics to “attempt, and fail, to properly diagnose and repair vehicles.”
As the lawsuit tells it, GM possessed knowledge of the alleged Chevy Shake defect yet failed to disclose such to consumers, and instead continued to sell and lease vehicles while omitting the hazard from buyers and lessees. Further, General Motors, despite the issue’s well-documented status, has failed to issue a recall, the complaint points out, nor has the company notified the public of the existence and nature of the Chevy Shake defect.
The lawsuit, which can be read below, looks to cover all consumers nationwide who bought or leased any of the General Motors vehicle models listed above.
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