GM faces class-action lawsuit over defective truck, SUV paint

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The suit is being filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and represents owners from Florida and Tennessee who say they have witnessed the paint or clearcoat on their GM vehicles deteriorate at an unreasonable rate over recent years. 

Vehicles named in the suit include the 2015 through 2019 Chevy Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe; and GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, and Sierra. Owners allege that the paint and clear coat “delaminates, bubbles, flakes, erodes and blisters,” according to some example complaints cited in the suit that were pulled from Carcomplaints.com.

“GM should properly repair all of the Class Vehicles, immediately, offer rescission to the Class by repurchasing their Class Vehicles for their full cost, reimburse the lessees of the Class Vehicles the monies they have paid toward their leases, recall all defective vehicles that are equipped with the defective paint, and cease and desist from marketing, advertising, selling, and leasing the Class Vehicles,” the lawsuit reads. 

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​​”The coups de gras, which was the final straw is when the top coat on the hood and top of Tahoe started to fade/grey and crack on the black undercoat,” wrote one owner of a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe. “To fix the top coat, the dealership wanted $2,300; of which they were going to pick up 10% of after my pushing for warranty. The Tahoe is 3 years old. The paint should last well into a decade, and I kept the car washed weekly and detailed every 6 months.”

Adding insult to injury is the likelihood that even if the plaintiffs’ vehicles are repaired by GM, they may lose out on resale value if the hand-done paint repairs don’t match the consistent finish of the machine-applied factory paint on unaffected surfaces. 

The suit also claims that GM further duped its customers by failing to “provide truthful information about the defects of the paint.”

General Motors Canada said it had no comment yet on the lawsuit at this stage of the case.