Red Standard Cab Shortbed 2wd on 2040-cars

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GM faces possible class action lawsuit over 8-speed transmission

General Motors has been hit with a class-action lawsuit from owners who allege the eight-speed automatic transmission found in several rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC models between the 2015 and 2019 model years has a defect that causes the vehicles to hesitate and jerk when accelerating or slowing down. The lawsuit was posted to ClassAction.org and spotted by GM Authority. Problems with GM's Hydra-Matic 8L90 and 8L45 transmissions have been well-documented on Internet forums and via complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with many reporting damage to their vehicles. The lawsuit was first filed in December in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida but appears to have been transferred recently to New York. Autoblog sought comment from Theodore Leopold, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "These transmissions have a common defect," the complaint reads. "Drivers attempting to accelerate or decelerate their cars feel a hesitation, followed by a significant shake, shudder, jerk, clunk, or 'hard shift' when the vehicle's automatic transmission changes gears." The problem also occurs when the vehicles accelerate in a single gear, without shifting, the plaintiffs allege. "Drivers have reported that the shift is sometimes so violent, they feel as though they have been hit by another vehicle." The problem is believed to center on the transmission, torque converter or both. The complaint says it causes undue friction, causing hydraulic systems and gears to function improperly and sometimes leaves metal shavings throughout the transmission, leading to costly repairs and replacement of parts or the entire transmission. It says GM has known about the problems since shortly after it introduced the transmissions, and has issued 13 technical service bulletins, none of which have resolved the problem. GM declined to comment on the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say GM should have warned consumers about the issues and covered repairs under each vehicle's three-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. They're seeking statewide classes in at least six states: California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

Volkswagen's latest ad is not subtle | Autoblog Podcast #509

On this week's podcast, Mike Austin and David Gluckman are joined by special guest James Riswick, who has been driving a lot of new cars lately. All of them are discussed, plus a few more from Mike and David, and Mike rants a bit about a new VW Atlas commercial. The episode wraps up with the traditional doling out of Spend My Money buying advice, during which David briefly goes out into left field. (He's back now, don't worry.) The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #509 Topics and stories we mention GMC Sierra HD Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Mazda CX-5 Honda CR-V vs. Mazda CX-5 Mini Countryman Honda Clarity Fuel Cell Ford F-150 Raptor Lexus RC 200t VW Atlas "Luv Bug" commercial Used cars! Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 02:43 Ad of the week - 41:40 Spend My Money - 49:14 Total Duration: 56:27 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Marketing/Advertising Podcasts Ford GMC Honda Lexus Mazda MINI Volkswagen mazda cx-5 ford f-150 raptor gmc sierra hd volkswagen atlas mazda mx-5 rf lexus rc 200t

GMC Sierra spied with ZR2-style off-road modifications

A few months ago, the 2022 Chevy Silverado ZR2 was revealed with a bunch of off-road goodies to help it achieve a little more parity with trucks like the Ford F-150 Raptor and Ram 1500 TRX. But GM has another full-size truck, the GMC Sierra, and it would seem silly to us if the company didn't share those parts. Based on these spy photos, it seems GM agrees. Though thoroughly camouflaged, we can tell this truck is a GMC Sierra thanks to the sheetmetal on the doors and the distinct shape of the wheel arches. Under the wrappings, we can see that this Sierra features a very different front bumper to the current king of Sierra off-road models, the AT4X. The bottom edge is much higher for better clearance, particularly on the sides in front of the wheels. This is the same type of change applied to the Silverado ZR2's front end. It does appear to be missing the ZR2's skid plate, though we suspect that's a temporarily missing component on this prototype. One other off-road upgrade this Sierra features is a pair of rock rails to protect the rocker panels on the cab. What we can't see are the shocks installed on this truck. If this is a GMC version of the ZR2, it should have the spool-valve shocks from Multimatic. They're some of our favorite suspension components on any vehicle. Other components it should have are locking front and rear differentials, 33-inch tires and a standard 6.2-liter V8. Since the Silverado ZR2 is already revealed and ready for production, we would expect to see the GMC version soon. A good bet would be for a reveal in time for the 2023 model year. As for a name, it's hard to say, since we've already had AT4 and AT4X. It could be named something completely separate from the AT4 line. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.