The recall that didn’t actually help
General Motors is being hit with a new class action lawsuit that alleges that the company’s fuel pump recall didn’t repair the root cause of the issue, and didn’t include all the defective vehicles it should have covered. In early 2023, GM issued a recall affecting roughly 23,000 model year 2021 and 2022 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers after identifying hundreds of reports of vehicles stalling due to faulty ACDelco fuel pumps. Dealers were to replace the defective components at no charge, addressing a condition where the pump might not supply sufficient fuel to the engine.
Now GM's back in hot water because this class action lawsuit claims the company knows there isn’t a permanent repair for the issue, and simply replaces faulty fuel pumps with identical, equally defective parts, leaving owners just waiting for their recall-fixed cars to break down on them again. The lawsuit also alleges 2020-2024 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain models are affected, a wider scope than GM originally issued the recall for.
Zac Palmer
GM’s being sued by frustrated owners
While the original class action lawsuit has been in court for a year, this new lawsuit has been brought by three GM-customers, including two Florida residents who bought a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox, and a Texas resident who bought a 2023 GMC Terrain. When the Equinox started having problems around 40,000 miles, a GM dealership allegedly told them nothing could be done until the vehicle completely died.
When they contacted another dealer for a replacement pump, they were told the part wasn't in stock, forcing them to buy and install an independent supplier's fuel pump themselves. The 2023 Terrain owner experienced similar problems within three months and 5,500 miles of buying the crossover, when the engine began making noise, hesitating, and stalling. The lawsuit says this Terrain was fixed twice by the dealer for the same issue, and has gone in a third time, with the culprit being the ACDelco fuel pump yet again.
https://youtube.com/shorts/D57pslCk748?si=vY6WzHGaf-BERpdk
Why GM’s fuel pump issues aren’t going away
According to the lawsuit, these fuel pump replacement costs run anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000. When the pump fails, it interrupts fuel flow from the gas tank to the engine, causing hesitation, sputtering, engine misfires, stalling, loss of power, and complete failure to start. Notably, ACDelco is owned by GM.
The lawsuit alleges GM knew about the fuel pump defects before delivering vehicles to customers but concealed the problem. The real kicker? Plaintiffs argue that their vehicles have dropped in resale value because GM has no real repair solution, only replacing defective fuel pumps with equally defective parts. It creates an endless loop of failures and repair costs for owners who thought a recall would actually fix their vehicles.