General Motors Class Action Lawsuit "Chevy Shake"

Hexa Fox · January 2, 2020

Hey guys so I recently posted to this forum in regards to my truck shaking when getting around 70+ MPH. I did some research and know that many others are suffering from this issue. I already posting some of my findings in my other forum. However, it looks like just yesterday a class action lawsuit was opened against General Motors. It is a bittersweet moment for me personally and I will explain, but first.

General Motors Lawsuit:

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2019/chevy-shake-class-action-driveshaft-problem.shtml

More Information:

https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/03/the-mysterious-chevy-shake-is-affecting-pickup-trucks-now-too.html

I hope this helps a lot of you guys that are experiencing issues pursue resolution. So I am now between a rock and a hard place on what to do. I bought my 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 on 11/26/2019, so I am just past thirty days. I think the dealer told me that I had more than that to return it if I am not satisfied. I am certain that they will probably try to prevent me from returning the truck, but I should be able to.

1.) If you guys were me, and you had an option to return the truck to the dealer, is that what you would do?

2.) Do you guys think I should try to work something out with the dealer? Like having an after market drive shaft installed at their cost and see if it resolves my issue?

I really do love the truck, it is just I travel a lot of highway miles with my truck and will be doing more in the future. Therefore, this truck vibrating at highway speeds is not something I am going to be able to live with. According to the lawsuit, GM is aware that the aluminum driveshafts are the cause and are replacing them. However, they are replacing them with the same aluminum driveshaft. I read somewhere that the shaking starts getting bad at around 15,000 miles. It makes a hell of a lot of sense because I bought the truck at just under 15,000 miles. It might have been why the previous owner traded it. It would really suck to have them offer to replace it with another aluminum driveshaft and me start experiencing issues again 10,000-15,000 miles down the road from now. I would obviously be well beyond capable of taking the truck back to the dealer.

As always any advice is greatly appreciated. For the record, I have always been a fan of General Motors, the entire reason I bought my previous 2007 Chevrolet Silverado is because it rides just like a modern sedan. So I am in no way trying to bash General Motors, but I am counting on them to make this right.

wforrest08 · January 2, 2020

RETURN THE TRUCK & WALK AWAY

1. for every one GM K2 truck that shakes there’s HUNDREDS that don’t, haven’t, & won’t ever.

2. you bought it used you/your truck are as low as it gets on the totem pole as far as them (GM corporate or any stealership) repairing your truck. you could be months out before your in-line for a new shaft or any other fix/compensation they come up with.

3. absolutely no guarantee it’s the shaft if you read the 100+ pages on the this on the multiple threads you’ll see that many owners found other “fixes” from replacement axles, pinion shims, leaf spring replacement, rebalancing the one piece shaft, custom sourced two piece shafts, etc. that fixed (or didn’t fix) their problem.

Edited January 2, 2020 by wforrest08

Hexa Fox · January 2, 2020

5 minutes ago, wforrest08 said:

RETURN THE TRUCK & WALK AWAY

1. for every one GM K2 truck that shakes there’s HUNDREDS that don’t, haven’t, & won’t ever.

2. you bought it used you/your truck are as low as it gets on the totem pole as far as them (GM corporate or any stealership) repairing your truck. you could be months out before your in-line for a new shaft or any other fix/compensation they come up with.

3. absolutely no guarantee it’s the shaft if you read the 100+ pages on the this on the multiple threads you’ll see that many owners found other “fixes” from replacement axles, pinion shims, leaf spring replacement, rebalancing the one piece shaft, custom sourced two piece shafts, etc. that fixed (or didn’t fix) their problem.

Thanks for the advice, I am starting to see that now. I was just literally watching where a guy replaced the drive shaft and rear axles. He said the drive shaft did not do much and the axles only helped.

Colossus · January 2, 2020

You can return the truck, but you'll still be paying for it. Or on the hook for it. Just leaving it at the dealership and saying you are done with it doesn't get you out of your obligations legally. Even if it is not safe to drive.

Hexa Fox · January 2, 2020

11 minutes ago, Colossus said:

You can return the truck, but you'll still be paying for it. Or on the hook for it. Just leaving it at the dealership and saying you are done with it doesn't get you out of your obligations legally. Even if it is not safe to drive.

I don't know where you got that I was just going to drop the truck off and leave. In my opinion I think you would have to be a moron to do something like that. Notice that is why I said "if I have the option".

I am looking through the documentation now and it looks like you only have three days to return a certified pre-owned vehicle. All I can do is wait and see what they say tomorrow.

rbrjr1 · January 2, 2020

interesting.

I've heard about the issues but not (knock, knock) had the issue yet on my 2018 (but I've just got about 10K miles on it under my ownership - less than 20K total)..

Hexa Fox · January 3, 2020

On 1/2/2020 at 9:46 AM, rbrjr1 said:

interesting.

I've heard about the issues but not (knock, knock) had the issue yet on my 2018 (but I've just got about 10K miles on it under my ownership - less than 20K total)..

Apparently all you can do is keep your fingers crossed. I have heard that most of them have started at 20,000 miles or below, with most being lower. Mine has almost 16,000 miles on it and no way of knowing when it started. So it sounds like you are on your way to being 'out of the woods' I guess?

Hexa Fox · January 3, 2020

So they told me that there is nothing they can do as far as returning the truck. They told me however, that they would make it right. I talked to their head mechanic which said he is a "Master GM mechanic" that has been working on them for more than 30 years. He sounds confident that he is going to figure out what is wrong with it and resolve it. So I am going to take it down one day next week and leave it there for a few days and hopefully it will get resolved. He said he has worked on a lot of these "vibrating" trucks with luck.

If that does not work I am going to try to talk them into taking the truck back when I go to pick it up. If that fails I will see if the lemon laws favor me. I do not mind hiring an attorney which unfortunately I have had to do with vehicles in the past (incident not relating to GM). Usually after they hear from an attorney and know you are serious they give in and will work with you. We will see though.

To be completely honest, I am in love with the truck. It is just I drive a lot of highway miles and that is likely to increase in the future. So it would be really nice if this truck had a comfortable ride like my previous one did. So hopefully they will make it right.

Anymore advice? Like when I get to the dealership should I ask to speak to this gentleman that is going to be in charge of resolving this issue with my truck? Then maybe go test drive it with him and make sure he feels the same thing I do?

mikeyk101 · January 4, 2020

Before assuming the worst, try the simple stuff first. I do realize that there can be all kinds of reasons for the shake. On mine, the dealer insisted on doing a road force balance first to see what he could find out. 3 of the tires checked out fine but one was off quite a bit. This was on the front left. They were able to improve the balance buy could not get it completely back into spec. They swapped out the right rear and put that on front left and the problem tire on the right rear. This was a dramatic improvement. They had offered to sell me new tires and also road force balance them but I still have a lot if useful tread left so I declined. I will probably need new tires anyway in the next year or so and just wanted to hold off for now...

Hexa Fox · January 5, 2020

14 hours ago, mikeyk101 said:

Before assuming the worst, try the simple stuff first. I do realize that there can be all kinds of reasons for the shake. On mine, the dealer insisted on doing a road force balance first to see what he could find out.

Thanks for the encouragement. I had another forum where we already talked about this. I decided to start a new one because of the class action lawsuit that just began. I figured it might be able to help more people. I already took the truck to a local GMC dealer and had the road force balance done. However, they are a pretty crappy and I am fairly certain they never even did the road force balance.

I have an appointment coming this Monday to take the truck back to the dealer that I bought it from and have them look at it. I am going to leave it there for a couple days and hopefully they will figure out what is going on. They have all been really great so far. The only thing that I did not like is the head mechanic told me "GM has an acceptable level of vibration in their vehicles". So I am hoping that if they do not screw me and say the "vibration is acceptable".

I would highly recommend Good Wrangler tires or Michelin Defender LTX tires. I honestly believe the Good Year Wranglers ride noticeably better than the Michelins. It makes sense because they are a softer tire. However, I think the Michelin's are the better overall tire for durability and traction. Just my two cents.

rbrjr1 · January 6, 2020

it's amazing how filing a class action lawsuit will spurn "renewed effort" to resolve a problem..

good luck.

Hexa Fox · January 7, 2020

On 1/6/2020 at 10:02 AM, rbrjr1 said:

it's amazing how filing a class action lawsuit will spurn "renewed effort" to resolve a problem..

good luck.

I hope that is the case. I do not think these dealers really care about all this. Because they are not the ones being held responsible, General Motors is. I was told by the head mechanic there that there is an "acceptable level of vibration" in their vehicles. So I am hoping in light of the class action and that I just purchased the truck, that something will be done. Basically, if General Motors says the shake is acceptable, they have two choices, pass that information onto me and say "see you" or try to resolve it at their cost.

I took the truck in yesterday and have not heard back from them yet. They have had it almost exactly 26 hours. So we will see what happens. I am hoping that the class action will encourage them to resolve my issue with the truck.

Rad64 · January 7, 2020

Return it. I have a 2018 that vibrates above 60 mph and it has been in for service 4 times. The last time I took it in, they kept it and it has been there for over 8 weeks now. Dump the damn thing, they don't know how to fix the problem.

Hexa Fox · January 8, 2020

2 hours ago, Rad64 said:

Return it. I have a 2018 that vibrates above 60 mph and it has been in for service 4 times. The last time I took it in, they kept it and it has been there for over 8 weeks now. Dump the damn thing, they don't know how to fix the problem.

You might want to look into lemon laws for your state my friend. I have been researching the ones from Maryland because that is where I bought the truck. Most of them are similar too, saying things like "If your vehicle is this old and has these many miles, you may have a lemon". I know that in Maryland if the shop keeps your vehicle for more than thirty days as a cumulative total you have a claim. Also the shop has only three chances to resolve your issue and if they cannot you have a claim. Most attorneys will sit down with you for an initial consultation, give you some advice and let you know if you have a case or not free of charge.

I do not think mine vibrates as badly as some of the others, but is only has 16,000 miles on it right now so it could get worse. Hopefully they will have some kind of answer for me tomorrow. It really sucks being in this situation. I am still in the process of selling my old truck, which is still a very nice truck given the age. I might try to push this shop to return the new truck and go back and put some more money into my old one.

Colossus · January 8, 2020

5 hours ago, Rad64 said:

Return it. I have a 2018 that vibrates above 60 mph and it has been in for service 4 times. The last time I took it in, they kept it and it has been there for over 8 weeks now. Dump the damn thing, they don't know how to fix the problem.

You're still on the hook for paying for it. Just leaving it there saying you don't want it it's their problem doesn't get you out of having to make your payments on it.