General Motors has quietly repurchased dozens of full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, its most profitable models, after customers complained about knocking noises from the engines, lawyers for the owners told the Reuters news agency.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
GM confirmed to Reuters that it has received a small number of complaints of engine noise when starting the vehicles, which include the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs from the 1999 to 2002 model years with 4.8 litre, 5.3 litre and 6.0 litre V8 engines and the 2002 Cadillac Escalade SUV.
GM spokeswoman Debbie Frakes told the news agency that only a small percentage of the millions of GM pickups and SUVs sold over those years had engines that made a knocking noise during the first few seconds after starting, especially during cold weather.
“The only known effect of this condition is an audible sound that typically occurs during the first five to 30 seconds of start-up,” Frakes reportedly said, adding: “The condition does not create any degradation of durability, performance or safety.”
She told Reuters that GM has encouraged consumers who have knocking engines to take their vehicles to a dealership and said GM is handling consumer complaints on a case-by-case basis, though she declined to say whether GM has bought back any vehicles.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataHowever, two lawyers who specialise in so-called state lemon laws, which give consumers legal recourse for faulty vehicles, told Reuters that GM has bought back many of the pickups and SUVs when they couldn’t repair the problem.
“Numerous people have had these things bought back, because of the engine problems,” Brian Parker, a lawyer based in Bingham Farms, Michigan, who represented some of the GM vehicle owners, told Reuters, adding: “They’ve got a lot of problems with their engines, for whatever reason.”
Adam Krohn, a partner of the Chicago-based law firm Krohn & Moss, which handles “lemon law” cases in nine states, told Reuters that GM has bought back more than 100 of the Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks from his clients alone, most for the engine-knock problem.
“I would say from ’99 to present, these two models, I can safely say we’ve had probably over 100 repurchased,” Krohn told Reuters.
Reuters said that Parker’s law firm filed a class action lawsuit against GM on Friday, seeking $1 billion in damages, in Detroit federal court.
John Lott, named as one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told the news agency that GM told him that the knocking noise in his 2001 Silverado pickup truck can’t be fixed.
“It’s very annoying, it’s embarrassing,” Lott told Reuters. “My neighbours ask me, hey, what’s wrong with your vehicle?”
Lott, a 27-year who works at a GM car dealership south of Detroit, told the news agency he would still buy another Chevrolet truck. “I stand behind Chevy,” he reportedly said, adding: “I just don’t want to pay for a brand new engine down the road,” after the warranty expires.
Frakes told Reuters that GM has fixed the problem with the faulty engines, which was first reported by The Detroit Free Press on Friday and was caused by carbon build-up.
Frakes reportedly said that the engine knocking noise did not warrant a recall by the US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration because it did not cause any safety problems.
Buying back faulty trucks is sometimes cheaper than a recall, Krohn told Reuters, adding: “They could easily put me out of business but it’s cheaper for them to pay me and not do the right thing.”
