— A GM class action lawsuit over Vortec engines will continue for Oregon consumers who allege the Generation IV 5.3-liter V8 Vortec 5300 LC9 engines guzzle oil.
The Oregon plaintiff who sued, William Martell, purchased a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado in 2011, but in 2015 the truck allegedly suffered from Vortec engine problems caused by excessive oil consumption.
The plaintiff says he took the truck to a dealership several times in 2015 and 2016 but the dealer said the oil consumption level was normal.
The Silverado owner then filed his class action lawsuit in February 2020.
According to the GM class action lawsuit, the alleged oil consumption problem is caused by the piston rings which fail to keep oil in the crankcase.
The class action also alleges multiple systems are defective in the following vehicles, including the active fuel management system, the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system, the oil life monitoring system and the oil pressure gauge indicator.
- 2010–2014 Chevrolet Avalanche
- 2010–2013 Chevrolet Silverado
- 2010–2014 Chevrolet Suburban
- 2010–2014 Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2010–2013 GMC Sierra
- 2010–2014 GMC Yukon
- 2010–2014 GMC Yukon XL
GM Class Action Lawsuit Continues For Oregon Customers
General Motors filed a motion to dismiss the Oregon GM class action lawsuit by alleging the plaintiff failed in his claims, but Judge Michael H. Simon denied GM's motion.
A large part of the dismissal order concerns GM's argument the plaintiff does not allege a design defect covered under the express warranty.
GM argues the breach of express warranty claim cannot proceed because GM’s five-year warranty applies only to manufacturing defects, not the design defect alleged by the plaintiff.
GM references the class action where it says “the design flaws caus[ed] excessive oil consumption in the Class Vehicles,” and the "Oil Consumption Defect is a uniform design defect that is related to materials.”
But the meaning of the warranty is scrutinized for about 10 pages in the order from the judge, all due to a comma and hyphen included in the text of the warranty.
By the end of the debate the judge denied GM’s motion to dismiss the breach of warranty claim.
GM also lost its bid to dismiss a claim of fraudulent concealment and a claim under the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act.
The GM class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division: Martell, et al., v. General Motors LLC.
The plaintiff is represented by Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC, DiCello Levitt Gutzler, and Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.
