GM Trucks Recalled, Then Sued: What Owners Should Know
Published: May 27th, 2025.
You may want to pay attention if you drive a recent full-size GM truck or SUV. What started as a voluntary recall involving hundreds of thousands of vehicles has now escalated into a full-blown legal battle. And for drivers caught in the middle, the story isn’t just about faulty engines; it’s about trust, safety, and what happens when your vehicle fails you too soon.
In April, General Motors announced a recall of around 721,000 vehicles worldwide, including 598,000 in the U.S., after reports of engine problems in cars equipped with the 6.2-liter V-8 L87 engine. The issue? Faulty internal components, like crankshafts and connecting rods, could lead to severe engine damage or total failure.
The recall includes some of GM’s most popular models from 2021 to 2024, such as the Chevy Silverado 1500, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade. These aren’t niche models—they’re some of the best-selling vehicles in America.
According to GM, the defects stem from damaged engine parts during manufacturing. Left unchecked, they could cause drivers to lose power on the road. To address the issue, GM dealers have been instructed to inspect engines and either replace oil filters and switch to a thicker 0W-40 oil or, in more severe cases, replace or repair the engine entirely.
The company also issued a stop-sale order for affected new vehicles on dealer lots.
But for some owners, a recall and a service appointment weren’t enough. On May 19, a group of plaintiffs from Washington and California filed a class-action lawsuit against GM in federal court, accusing the automaker of knowingly selling defective vehicles.
The lawsuit, led by the Hagens Berman law firm, claims that GM was aware of the manufacturing defects — including sediment buildup in the oil system and out-of-spec crankshafts — and sold the vehicles anyway. According to the complaint, these flaws can lead to catastrophic engine failure, even in lightly used cars.
More troubling for owners: the plaintiffs argue that even when GM replaces the engine with a new one, the underlying issues aren’t necessarily fixed. In other words, they’re saying some of these trucks might still be rolling time bombs.
They also point out that these problems are hurting more than reliability —they’re dragging down resale value and causing financial strain on owners who expected better from high-end trucks and SUVs.
GM says the problem only impacts vehicles built between March 1, 2021, and May 31, 2024, and that 2025 models have been corrected. But the lawsuit widens the scope to include 2019-and-newer Silverado and Sierra 1500s, suggesting the issue may be more widespread than GM admits.
If you own one of these models, the best thing to do is to check your VIN on the NHTSA recall website or contact your dealership directly. If your vehicle is affected, don’t delay — schedule a service appointment and hang onto any repair documentation if the lawsuit gains momentum.
For GM, this is about more than just one engine; it’s about accountability. And for drivers, it’s a reminder that even the biggest automakers can fall short of the standards we rely on when we hit the road.
These trucks and SUVs are marketed for strength, reliability, and durability. But when an engine fails before your first set of tires even wears out, it doesn’t feel like a hiccup — it feels like a broken promise.