— A Chevy Camaro starter lawsuit has been partly dismissed after a federal judge dismissed several claims while allowing others to continue.
According to the starter lawsuit, every Chevy Camaro since model year 2010 has defective heat shields that fail to protect the starters from heat damage. Then every dealer allegedly uses defective starters and heat shields as replacements.
This, according to the Camaro class action, allegedly keeps owners returning for service.
Heat allegedly damages the wires which causes them to melt, damaging the starter fuses and fuse boxes. The Camaro batteries also allegedly fail because the starters are sucking more power from the batteries.
And according to the Chevrolet Camaro starter lawsuit, the solenoids become damaged and the pinions and gears of the starters remain engaged to the flywheels.
The Chevy Camaro lawsuit further says the cars typically fail to start in hot weather or when the cars have been driven due to heat damaging the starters and wiring.
The eight plaintiffs claim since 2010, the Camaro starter heat shields have been defective because of their shape which allegedly fails to protect the starters from heat damage. The class action lawsuit alleges the Camaro starter heat shields don't work because they are flat and don't curve under the starters.
The starter lawsuit also alleges a Camaro owner may be stuck with paying thousands of dollars in repairs to multiple components damaged by the starter, and the plaintiffs claim GM dealers often blame the troubles on bad batteries.
Chevrolet Camaro Starter Lawsuit Partly Dismissed
According to the judge, most of the consumer protection claims survive because the Camaro drivers plausibly plead GM knew about the starter problems and because a car that sometimes fails to start is worth less than one that starts every time.
But the judge also ruled most of the implied warranty and unjust enrichment claims fail, as do some express warranty claims.
Four of the Camaro owners' warranties had expired by the time they tried to get the cars repaired. Additionally, certain claims also fail because some of the Camaro drivers took too long to file the lawsuit.
In a blow to nationwide claims, the judge dismissed all Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims because the Act requires 100 plaintiffs, but the Camaro starter lawsuit includes only eight plaintiffs (owners).
According to the judge, some of the claims are dismissed with prejudice, meaning those claims cannot be refiled.
The Chevy Camaro starter lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware: Talley, et al., v. General Motors LLC.
The plaintiff is represented by Berger Montague PC, Capstone Law APC, and Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
