Chevrolet Malibu Defective Brake Vacuum Pump Class Action

Braking problems are some of the most unnerving of all vehicle problems. This class action sues General Motors, LLC over braking problems in its Chevrolet Malibu vehicles equipped with 1.5L, 1.8L, 2.0L, and 2.5L engines. The complaint alleges that these vehicles have defective and dangerous cam-driven brake vacuum pumps.

Two classes have been proposed for this action:

• The Nationwide Class is all persons or entities who bought or leased a 2013-2022 Chevrolet Malibu equipped with 1.5L, 1.8L, 2.0L, and 2.5L engine.
• The Virginia Class is all persons or entities who bought or leased a 2013-2022 Chevrolet Malibu equipped with 1.5L, 1.8L, 2.0L, and 2.5L engine in Virginia.

In the vehicles at issue, when the driver presses the brake pedal, the braking systems sends hydraulic fluid to the vehicle’s four wheels. This compresses the brake calibers to the rotors and makes the vehicle stop. These particular vehicles have a brake booster to increase the effect of the brake pedal. These boosters, the complaint alleges, “require a steady vacuum supply to increase the forces that the driver applies to the brake pedal.”

The complaint claims that the vehicles “are equipped with a camshaft-driven vacuum pump that supplies the brake booster with the requisite vacuum. The mechanical vacuum pumps in [the vehicles at issue] are mounted to, and driven by, the overhead exhaust camshaft.”

But the complaint alleges that the vacuum pump in the vehicles is defective and can fail. This then causes the driver to make a hard application of the brake pedal, reduces the ability of the vehicle to brake, and causes the vehicle to travel a longer distance before it can stop.

“Moreover,” the complaint alleges, “because the vacuum pump is mounted on the camshaft, when the vacuum pump fails, unintended mechanical resistance forms, affecting the timing of and/or damaging the camshaft and other engine components.”

According to the complaint, GM knew or should have known about the problem from testing, consumer complaints, warranty claims, communications from dealers, and reports at the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

However, the complaint says, GM has not fixed the causes of the problem, recalled the vehicles at issue, extended its warranties on them, given customers free repairs or replacements, or otherwise dealt effectively with the problem. Instead, it has continued to sell the vehicles without warning potential purchasers, owners, or lessees of the existence of a safety problem.

The complaint includes multiple photos of the vacuum pumps and related parts. It also reproduces a large number of reports of the problem from the NHTSA website.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Brakes, Defective Automobile