DETROIT – A lawsuit claims General Motors Co. treated the police better than it did average citizens when taking care of a defective part in 2007 and 2008 Chevrolet Impalas.
The lawsuit alleges that Impalas from the two model years have defective spindle rods, which connect the suspension to the rear wheels. The defect causes the wheels to misalign, which makes the tires wear out faster. The tires could also wear out unevenly, increasing the risk of a blowout.
GM fixed the part on police versions of the Impala three years ago but didn't correct the same problem in hundreds of thousands of other Impalas, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Detroit.
Donna Trusky of Blakely, Pa., who bought a new Impala with Goodyear tires in February 2008, claims that before she reached 6,000 miles, the tread on her rear tires was so worn she had to replace them. Typically, tires should last for 30,000 miles or more. Her lawyers are asking the judge to certify her lawsuit as a class action.
According to the lawsuit, GM sent a bulletin to dealers in June 2008 telling them to replace the spindle rods and tires on affected police vehicles. It also authorized dealers to reimburse police who had purchased replacement tires as long as the reimbursement request was made before July 31, 2009.
There should be a class action lawsuit against FORD for all the automatic transmision failures on the Escape what a piece of junk!!!
ReplyDeleteThe part number for the spindle rods in the Impala were the same for the police version and the others. GM choose not to fix the passenger cars to save money.
ReplyDeleteI hope this case wins big for the consumers