Details about the General Motors Recall (see our blog post here for more information) are still being discovered as an expose this week reveals that these GM vehicles are still being sold to unsuspecting car customers all across the United States. That’s right: used car dealerships like CarMax are selling these vehicles to anyone who wants to buy them.
These GM Models Are Still Being Sold
See, “Buyer Beware: Recalled Cars Still on the Sales Floor,” where reporter Jeff Flock details investigatory web searches where “literally thousands” of these GM models are available for purchase despite the recall.
Here’s the bigger news: it’s not illegal for these used car dealerships to do this. Used car dealerships operate under different regulations than new car dealerships. When you buy a car that is “pre-owned,” even if it is “certified,” you are undertaking risk that you would not be doing if you bought the car brand-new from the manufacturer.
When you consider this scary information — that these cars may be on the roads you drive everyday and they haven’t been fixed for the recalled defect — along with the revelation that General Motors is alleged to have known about these serious dangers to the public, as well as GM drivers, from faulty ignition switches since 2005, the seriousness of the GM Recall becomes even more serious.
Only now has GM voluntarily recalled these products, letting everyone know that these ignition switches can cause traffic accidents and even kill people in crashes caused by the GM ignitions going bad.
Suffice to say that General Motors has a lot of explaining to do — and much of that explanation is going to be to juries in courtrooms across the country.
Lawsuits Being Filed Against General Motors for Injuries in GM Car Accidents
Lawsuits are being filed by injury victims of car accidents involving these GM model cars all over the nation. Yesterday in Texas, two GM customers filed a emergency motion in federal court asking a federal judge to order all owners of these GM models to STOP DRIVING THEM IMMEDIATELY because of the dangers that exist.
Additionally, a lawsuit has been filed in California against General Motors, alleging that the car company was also aware that this ignition switch problem was even more risky because the ignition switch in these models is placed in a spot where it is easy to bump, but GM hasn’t acknowledged that problem. If this is true, the California suit argues, then the current recall isn’t going to fix the GM ignition switch danger because the current recall fix doesn’t address blocking the switch from being hit or bumped by the driver of these cars and inadvertently turning on the car engine.
GM Bankruptcy in 2009 Bars Pre-2009 Claims: Push for GM to Recognize These Injury Crash Claims
However, remember GM going into bankruptcy a few years back? Well, part of that bankruptcy deal was a legal bar to any personal injury or wrongful death claims for crashes and accidents that happened before 2009.
Which means that unless General Motors waives that bar (which it can), then someone who discovers now that the wreck in which he (or she) was seriously injured or that killed a loved one was caused by a GM ignition switch malfunction cannot file a lawsuit for damages because they will have that claim denied by the GM Bankruptcy Bar.
Will GM waive that 2009 bar to claims? It hasn’t yet. However, many are pushing for GM to do deal with the pre-2009 claim issue, including the Center for Auto Safety, which is suggesting that GM create a victims’ fund in the amount of $1 billion to address these claims.
Do You Own or Operate One of these GM Model Cars?
Once again, here is a list of the GM Cars Under Recall:
- 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 and Pontiac Pursuit (sold in Canada only)
- 2003-2007 Saturn Ion
- 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHR
- 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice
- 2007 Saturn Sky
If you or a loved one own or operate one of these General Motors vehicles, then please know they are under recall and are considered dangerous to drive.
If you or a loved one have been injured or killed in an accident where one of the General Motors vehicles was involved in the past few years, then you may want to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer to learn whether or not you have a personal injury claim or wrongful death case against General Motors.
