April 27, 2006

General Motors responds to class action lawsuits on intake manifold gaskets

Oshawa, Ontario - General Motors of Canada has responded to a report that a Toronto law firm is suing GM in Canada and the U.S. over allegedly defective intake manifold gaskets. The action claims that gaskets in various Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac engines from 1995 to 2003 degrade prematurely and allow coolant to leak into the engine; the suit may cover 400,000 cars in Canada.

In its statement, General Motors said that all vehicles are covered by a minimum warranty of three years or 60,000 km and some may have more standard coverage. "Beyond the warranty period, our dealers and retailers review out-of-warranty concerns on a case-by-case basis. If the customer is not satisfied with the dealer's decision, where is a process detailed in the owner assistance information booklet to help customers resolve concerns they may have. An intake manifold gasket concern can arise from a variety of causes. It is for this reason that any concern a customer may have beyond the warranty period is handled on a case-by-case basis," the statement reads.

GM encourages customers to contact its Customer Communications Centre at 1-800-263-3777 (English) or 1-800-263-7854 (French) if they have questions regarding their vehicles.

"The recent motion to certify a class action is unfortunate and we believe brought on by a spillover of an overly litigious U.S. legal system into Canada," says Stew Low, Director of Communications, GM of Canada. "Lawyers have grossly exaggerated the situation with our customers through unsubstantiated allegations in statements which have not been proven in court and will be vigorously defended."

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