Chevy Silverado 1500 Owner Suffers Legal Setback

Dec. 31, 2020 9:15 AM ET by Jay Traugott Trucks / 36 Comments

A judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit regarding shaking claims.

If you're the owner of a 2015-2019 model year Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, or one of several rear-wheel-drive GM vehicles, you'll want to pay close attention. Last year, we reported about a group of owners who filed a class-action lawsuit against the automaker claiming they experienced violent shakes, jerks, and, in some cases, a "hard shift" during gear changes. GM was aware of the problem, issuing 13 technical service bulletins (TSBs) regarding problems associated with the eight-speed automatic transmission and the aluminum driveshaft found in those vehicles.

One Silverado owner even reached out to his local news station to demonstrate the "constant shudder vibration" on his $52,000 truck.

Chevrolet

Another owner of a 2015 Silverado separately filed his own class-action suit against GM in Florida but Car Complaints reports a judge has just dismissed it. GM successfully argued the owner/plaintiff lacked the standing to bring nationwide class action lawsuit claims. The owner alleged GM was well aware of the "shaking" following its own internal testing, complaints by other owners, as well as media reports.

One of GM's TSBs even stated that the drive shafts could be a source of the problem. Unfortunately, replacing the driveshaft with another one would be pointless because they'd be identical.

GMC

GMC

But it's important to understand this judge didn't dismiss the shake lawsuit because he didn't believe the owner's claims, but rather because the guy lacked legal standing since he claimed a legal injury only in his home state. Therefore, no nationwide legal status. The suit can still continue based on breach of express warranties and a violation of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. With the class action lawsuit limited only to Florida, both parties have since agreed to mediate the claims on a purely individual basis.

Meanwhile, at least one other class-action lawsuit regarding the "Chevy Shake" remains in litigation and it'll be interesting to see how it'll all play out.