Plaintiffs from 22 States Allege GM Concealing Safety Risks from GMT900 Dashboard Cracking Defect

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Thirty-two plaintiffs from across the country have put their names on a proposed class action lawsuit that aims to take General Motors Company, LLC to task for installing in vehicles allegedly defective single-panel dashboards that the complaint claims are prone to cracking and present an unreasonable safety hazard. The 223-page lawsuit alleges 2007-2014 Chevy Silverado, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Sierra, GMC Yukon Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Suburban and Chevy Avalanche models all come with dashboards that can crack no matter the environment the vehicle is stored in. Worse, the case says, GM has allegedly not been entirely forthcoming with consumers with regard to true damage that can be caused by the supposed defect.

“The cracks occur in GM Vehicles stored in all environments and in substantially uniform locations and presentations on the instrument panel. GM knew all this when it marketed and sold the GM vehicles. To this day, GM is engaged in a systematic campaign to conceal the defective dashboards and the related safety risks—falsely representing to customers that the cracks are merely cosmetic.”

The complaint notes that with the absence of any remedy from GM, consumers may end up paying more than $2000 to address the potentially defective dashboards, even for vehicles under warranty. 

Most disturbingly, the case asserts that the alleged dashboard defect can interfere with the deployment of driver’s- and passenger’s-side airbags, calling GM’s reported inaction toward the problem as “particularly callous” following the Takata airbag inflator saga. From the complaint:

“When the airbag deploys, the defective dashboard in the GM vehicles is more likely to splinter in unplanned and dangerous directions sending shrapnel into the passengers and/or lacerating the airbag and preventing it from deploying properly. In short, the defective dashboard creates a clear and present risk for potential for bodily harm.”