GM is being sued in two class action complaints alleging that more than 60 recalls affecting 27 million 1997-2014 vehicles sold in the U.S. have caused consumers to lose value in their cars and light trucks. The notorious ignition switches are only part of the charges. Hagens Berman and co-lead counsel Lieff Cabraser filed the cases in New York this week. The law firms are looking to collect hefty, critics say obscene, legal fees if the conclude in their favor.
The complaints seek money for violations of state consumer protection laws, breach of implied warranties, fraud by concealment, unjust enrichment and violation of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. A similar attempt to sue Ford over the loss of value on Explorer models because of defective Firestone ATX tires failed.
The first consolidated complaint, filed this week in the U.S. Southern District of New York, where hundreds of class actions against GM have been consolidated before Judge Furmam, covers all GM-branded vehicles sold after GM’s bankruptcy proceedings. It accuses the automaker of misrepresentation, concealment and non-disclosure of many serious safety defects.
Damages are sought on the grounds, allegedly, that GM concealed facts about its safety defects to consumers and did so to assure falsely purchasers and lessors of GM’s commitment to building safe and reliable vehicles. The suit claims this resulted in many people to purchase or lease vehicles without knowledge of the defects. The suit seeks damages for a class of consumers and used-car dealers, including anyone who owns, has owned, or leased a new or used GM-branded vehicle sold between July 11, 2009 and July 3, 2014. If certified as a class, big if, GM’s exposure in the litigation could top $10 billion.
A second consolidated complaint also filed this week against GM wants money (with an healthy cut for the lawyers) for millions of owners of GM vehicles with ignition-related safety defects that can cause ignition switches to inadvertently move from the “run” position to the “accessory” or “off” position during ordinary driving conditions. As is well known this causes a loss of power, vehicle speed control and braking, as well as a failure of the vehicle’s airbags to deploy. These vehicles were bought or leased prior to GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, and the suit covers the following GM vehicle models and model years:
2003-2009 Saturn Ion; 2005-2009 Chevrolet Cobalt; 2007-2009 Pontiac G5; 2006-2009 Chevrolet HHR; 2006-2009 Pontiac Solstice; 2007-2009 Saturn Sky; 2004-2005 Buick Regal LS & GS; 2005-2009 Buick Lacrosse; 2006-2009 Buick Lucerne; 2000-2009 Cadillac Deville; 2007-2009 Cadillac DTS; 2006-2009 Chevrolet Impala; 2006-2009 Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS; 2004-2006 Cadillac SRX; 1997-2005 Chevrolet Malibu; 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala; 2000-2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo; 2000-2005 Pontiac Grand Am; 2004-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix; 1998-2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue; 1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero; or 2008-2009 Pontiac G8.
The second consolidated complaint alleges that GM knew about the defects, and that despite the life-threatening nature of the defects in the ignition switches, including how it affected critical safety systems, GM concealed the existence of the defects and failed to fix the problems.
The complaints allege specific examples of how GM-branded vehicles have lost value starting in February 2014 and continuing today. Some vehicles have seen diminution in the thousands of dollars, including 2010 and 2011 Chevy Camaros, which have lost $2,000 in value, and the 2009 Pontiac Solstice, which has lost $2,900 in value, according to the complaints.
