Among the vehicles produced and sold by General Motors, LLC are Chevrolet Malibus, Volts, Traverses, and Blazers. The complaint for this class action alleges that these vehicles in certain model years have a common “shifter defect:” They may not register when they are placed in Park. The driver may then be stuck inside the vehicle, unable to full shut it down.
The class for this action is all persons or entities in California who bought or leased any of the following class vehicles:
- 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu
- 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt
- 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse
- 2019 Chevrolet Blazer
The complaint alleges that the defect is in the transmission shifter. The problem may occur only intermittently, or consistently after a certain point. When the vehicle is placed in Park, it does recognize that it is in Park and instead displays a “Shift to Park” message. Until it recognizes that it is in Park, the driver cannot shut off all systems and lock the vehicle. If the vehicle is left in this state, the still-active systems will drain the battery.
The complaint quotes from online postings complaining about this problem:
- “Shift to park problems. On occasion, the vehicle will not go into [P]ark when the shifter is in park.”
- “If you try to exit the vehicle with the error message, all electronic systems (screen, lights, dash, etc.) will stay on, draining down the car battery, putting me at risk of being stranded…”
- “The strange thing is that the car already knows it is in [P]ark; letting off that gas doesn’t make me roll forward or backward, and the display under the speedometer shows I am very clearly in Park.”
- “The shift gear has previously been replaced by the car dealership. However and unfortunately, it started to do it again. It has under 36,000 miles on it.”
The complaint alleges that GM has known about the problem for a long time, because it issued its first service bulletin about the problem in January 2017. Updates in October of that year and September 2018 added more vehicles. The company issued a second bulletin on the problem in December 2017, a third in December 2018, and a fourth in September 2019.
According to the complaint, however, “[w]hen customers press the issue, GM … refuses to honor its contractual promises to fix the defect, forcing owners and lessees … to pay for the repairs at their own expense or forgo servicing the issue.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Automobile
Most Recent Case Event
Chevrolet Vehicles Don’t Recognize Park California Complaint
December 2, 2021
Among the vehicles produced and sold by General Motors, LLC are Chevrolet Malibus, Volts, Traverses, and Blazers. The complaint for this class action alleges that these vehicles in certain model years have a common “shifter defect:” They may not register when they are placed in Park. The driver may then be stuck inside the vehicle, unable to full shut it down.
Chevrolet Vehicles Don’t Recognize Park California ComplaintCase Event History
Chevrolet Vehicles Don’t Recognize Park California Complaint
December 2, 2021
Among the vehicles produced and sold by General Motors, LLC are Chevrolet Malibus, Volts, Traverses, and Blazers. The complaint for this class action alleges that these vehicles in certain model years have a common “shifter defect:” They may not register when they are placed in Park. The driver may then be stuck inside the vehicle, unable to full shut it down.
Chevrolet Vehicles Don’t Recognize Park California Complaint