GM CVT Transmission Lawsuit: Is Your Malibu, Trailblazer, Equinox or Terrain Affected?

Yes, General Motors is facing a new transmission lawsuit. On September 15, 2026, a California Chevrolet Equinox owner filed Williams v. General Motors LLC, a proposed nationwide class action in Delaware federal court. It alleges that GM’s continuously variable transmission (CVT) in four Chevrolet and GMC models can suddenly lose power while driving, and that GM has known about the problem since 2021. GM hasn’t responded yet, no class has been certified and, as of this writing, no recall has been issued.

GM CVT lawsuit at a glance:

• Case: Williams v. General Motors LLC, No. 1:26-cv-01162 (D. Del.)
• Filed: September 15, 2026
• Vehicles named: 2019–2025 Chevrolet Malibu, 2021–2025 Chevrolet Trailblazer, 2024+ Chevrolet Equinox, 2024+ GMC Terrain
• Alleged defect: CVT slipping, shuddering, hesitation and sudden loss of power, sometimes at highway speed
• Status: Early stage. Nothing in the complaint has been proven, and owners face no deadline.
• California owners: You don’t need to wait for the class action. California’s lemon law lets you bring your own claim, and the manufacturer pays your attorney fees when you prevail.

You bought one of these cars because you needed something dependable, for commuting or for getting the kids to school. Then the transmission started to slip. Maybe it shuddered at low speed or hesitated when you pressed the gas to merge. The dealer said that was normal. Now you’re driving a car you don’t fully trust, and this lawsuit suggests you’re far from alone.

We’re The Barry Law Firm, and we’ve handled California lemon law claims against GM and other manufacturers since 2010. Below we cover what the lawsuit says, which vehicles are named, what GM’s own service bulletins say, and what your options are today.

What does the GM CVT lawsuit actually claim?

The case is Williams v. General Motors LLC, No. 1:26-cv-01162, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The Justia docket lists the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the law that covers written warranties, as the main claim, with a jury trial requested. The summons to GM was issued on September 16.

The plaintiff, John Williams of Sacramento, bought a 2025 Chevrolet Equinox in October 2024. According to the complaint and coverage from Yahoo Autos, rough shifting and delayed acceleration started around 7,000 miles. The dealer replaced the front axles rather than diagnosing the transmission. He says he still hasn’t received a permanent fix.

The complaint’s core allegations are:

• Faulty internal CVT parts can cause a sudden, complete loss of power while driving, often at highway speeds, sometimes with no warning light beforehand.
• GM knew about the defect by 2021 and concealed it from buyers.
• Dealers were told to describe symptoms as “normal” or “operating as intended,” and some owners were denied warranty coverage and left paying for repairs themselves.

The legal counts include California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the California Business and Professions Code, breach of express and implied warranty, negligence, and fraud by omission. The relief requested includes class certification, a court-ordered recall, money damages, and attorney fees. The proposed class covers U.S. buyers and lessees of the named vehicles, plus California subclasses, with claimed damages above $5 million.

Which Chevy and GMC models are named?

Four models equipped with GM’s CVT are covered in the complaint:

• Chevrolet Malibu, model years 2019 to 2025
• Chevrolet Trailblazer, model years 2021 to 2025
• Chevrolet Equinox, model year 2024 and newer
• GMC Terrain, model year 2024 and newer

The complaint identifies the transmission by GM’s option code MRG, referring to the VT40 or TR690 CVT units. The complaint cites 1,494 total NHTSA owner complaints across the four models, 358 of them related to the CVT or powertrain. Those are the plaintiff’s counts, not a finding by NHTSA.

Is your vehicle on that list? Then the rest of this article is written for you.

What symptoms are owners reporting?

The pattern described in the complaint and in trade reporting from SlashGear and MotorBiscuit tends to escalate over time:

• Early signs: slipping, shuddering or juddering, hesitation, delayed acceleration, rough shifting.
• Warnings: “reduced engine power” messages, a check engine light, or no light at all.
• Failure: loss of forward gear, or partial or complete loss of motive power while the vehicle is moving.

The parts blamed are the clutch regulator valve (sticking), the valve body, the drive chain (slipping), the pulleys, and the bearings.

If any of this sounds familiar, write down when it started and what it felt like. Dates matter. Mileage matters. You’ll see why in a moment.

What do GM’s own service bulletins say?

This is the part of the lawsuit that carries the most weight, because the documents come from GM.

The complaint leans on a series of technical service bulletins (TSBs) and preliminary information bulletins. These are instructions GM sends to dealers about known conditions. They are not recalls, and owners usually never see them. Three stand out:

• Bulletin 21-NA-004 (January 2021) addressed flares, slipping, gear hunting and harsh shifting in VT40-equipped vehicles.
• PIP5819 (August 2021) documented loss of forward gear, slipping and a check engine light with trouble code P2714 in VT40 Malibu and Trailblazer applications.
• Service Bulletin 24-NA-009 (March 2024) replaced the PIP5819 series. Its title is “Loss of Forward Gear, Slipping, Malfunction Indicator Lamp Illuminated.” It says the condition “may be caused by the clutch regulator valve sticking in the valve body,” along with forward clutch piston damage or wear in the primary pulley bearing bore. It also notes the condition “may be intermittent or not reproduceable.”

That last line is important for you. If a dealer wrote “could not duplicate” on your repair order, GM’s own bulletin acknowledges why. Keep that paperwork. It still counts as a repair attempt under California law.

The repair path in 24-NA-009 starts with a valve body replacement. If the trouble code returns or the transmission slips, the bulletin calls for the transmission to be taken apart and inspected, and if the primary pulley bearing has worn the case, replaced outright. The complaint alleges GM still has no effective, permanent repair. That’s an allegation, not a settled fact. But it matches what we hear from GM owners who’ve been back to the dealer three or four times for the same problem.

Where does the case stand today?

Early. As of the docket’s last update, the only filings are the complaint, a few routine court forms and the summons to GM. GM hasn’t answered. No class has been certified. No settlement exists. No deadline applies to owners.

Just as important: as of this writing, we’re not aware of any NHTSA recall or open NHTSA investigation for the alleged CVT defect in these models. A lawsuit, a recall and an investigation are three different things. We’re not affiliated with GM or NHTSA; we represent consumers against manufacturers.

Class actions like this one can drag on. They can be dismissed, narrowed or settled across the whole group rather than around your car. If you’re a California owner with a transmission that keeps acting up, you have a more direct route.

Why wait on a class action when California gives you your own claim?

California’s lemon law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, gives you an individual claim based on your car, your repair history and your losses. You don’t need to wait for a court in Delaware to decide anything.

Under Song-Beverly, if the manufacturer can’t fix a warranty-covered defect after a reasonable number of attempts, it may be required to buy the vehicle back or replace it. We’ve written about the difference before in our GM brake recall guide: class actions pay out across the group and can drag on, while your own lemon law claim focuses on your outcome.

Three reasons the individual path often makes more sense:

1. Speed. Most lemon law claims settle without a trial. Timelines vary by case, but you’re not waiting on class certification.
2. Scope. Your claim can seek a buyback, replacement or cash settlement, plus out-of-pocket costs like towing, rental cars and repair bills. A class action pays out across the group rather than around your car and your costs.
3. Cost. Under Song-Beverly, the manufacturer pays your attorney fees when you prevail. You don’t pay us, out of pocket or out of your recovery.

Does your Malibu, Trailblazer, Equinox or Terrain qualify?

Run through these questions.

• Did you buy or lease the vehicle in California?
• Did the transmission problems start while the vehicle was under GM’s warranty?
• Have you taken it to a GM dealer at least twice for the same issue without a lasting fix?

If you answered yes to all three, it’s worth a conversation with us. New and pre-owned vehicles both qualify, as long as the defect appeared while a manufacturer warranty was in effect. Your rights may still exist even if that warranty has since expired. Small businesses with five or fewer vehicles qualify too, and so do rideshare drivers who don’t run a fleet.

California law also creates a presumption in your favor if, within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, the dealer made two or more attempts on a serious safety defect, four or more attempts on another substantial defect, or your vehicle spent 30 or more days in the shop. Those are benchmarks, not hard limits. Plenty of cases qualify outside them. Our lemon law requirements page breaks this down in more detail.

A transmission that can drop power on the freeway is a safety defect, not a comfort issue. Two documented attempts may be enough.

What should you do next?

Three things, in order.

1. Keep every repair order. Before you leave the dealer, get a copy showing the date, mileage, your complaint and what the dealer did. An order that says “could not duplicate” still counts as a repair attempt, and an order that calls the problem normal still proves you brought the car in. Don’t let anyone talk you out of taking it.
2. Describe the problem the same way each visit. If it slips and shudders, say “slips and shudders” every time. Consistency across repair orders is what shows a pattern. Photos or short videos of warning lights help too, taken safely.
3. Don’t keep paying for repairs out of pocket. The complaint alleges some owners were denied warranty coverage. If that happened to you, save the invoices. Those costs can be part of your claim.

Our lemon law process guide covers what to expect from first call to resolution.

What could you recover?

Every case is different, and we won’t promise a number. But Song-Beverly allows for three main outcomes:

• Buyback. A refund of what you’ve paid, minus a usage offset for the miles you drove.
• Replacement. A comparable new vehicle in place of the defective one.
• Cash and keep. A settlement payment while you keep the vehicle.

You can also recover incidental costs such as towing, rental cars and repair bills. And when a manufacturer willfully fails to comply with the law, Song-Beverly provides for a civil penalty of up to two times your actual damages. Whether that applies depends on the facts of your case. Our compensation guide explains how the usage offset is calculated.

What does working with us on a GM transmission case look like?

GM is one of the manufacturers we see most. Our General Motors lemon law page already lists the Equinox, Malibu and Terrain, and transmission problems that shudder, hesitate, surge and slip are among the defects we deal with regularly. We’ve also tracked GM’s 6-, 8- and 10-speed transmission issues, the L87 V8 engine recall and the 2026 transfer-case recall.

Here’s what working with us looks like:

• One attorney, your case. We don’t bundle clients into mass settlements by manufacturer. Your case is matched to an attorney who knows GM, and we’re selective about what we take. If we say yes, it’s because we believe in it.
• You’ll always know where you stand. Proactive updates at every stage, in plain language. The most common theme in our 459 Google reviews, where we hold a 4.9-star rating, is that clients were kept informed every step of the way.
• Honest answers. We won’t quote you a payout or a deadline before we’ve seen your repair orders. We’ll tell you what we think, and if your case isn’t a fit, we’ll still answer your questions.

Over the last ten years we’ve recovered approximately $150 million for clients. Past results don’t guarantee future outcomes, but they do reflect how we approach the work.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a GM transmission lawsuit for the Equinox and Terrain?

Yes. Williams v. General Motors LLC, filed September 15, 2026 in Delaware federal court, names the 2024 and newer Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain, along with the 2019 to 2025 Malibu and 2021 to 2025 Trailblazer. It’s a proposed class action, and no class has been certified yet.

Is there a recall for the GM CVT transmission?

No. As of this writing, there is no NHTSA recall for the alleged CVT defect in these four models. The lawsuit asks the court to order one, but that hasn’t happened.

Do I need to join the class action to get help?

No. If you bought or leased in California, you can bring your own lemon law claim based on your repair history. You don’t have to wait for the class case, and an individual claim often moves faster.

My dealer said the shudder is normal. Does that hurt my case?

Not necessarily. GM’s bulletin 24-NA-009 acknowledges the condition can be intermittent or hard to reproduce. A repair order that says “could not duplicate” still documents a repair attempt, so keep it.

What does it cost to hire The Barry Law Firm?

Nothing. Under California’s lemon law, the manufacturer pays attorney fees and costs when you prevail. You don’t pay a retainer, hourly bills or a percentage of your recovery.

How many repair attempts do I need?

It depends on the defect. For a safety issue like loss of power while driving, two or more unsuccessful attempts may be enough. We review each case individually.

Let’s talk about your options

You relied on this car. It let you down. Then the people who were supposed to fix it told you nothing was wrong. That’s exhausting, and you shouldn’t have to sort it out alone.

Send us your repair orders and we’ll give you straight answers about whether you have a case. No pressure, no obligation, no cost. Call 424-688-9088 or request a free case review, and we’ll handle the process, the pressure and the paperwork from there.