Merchant Law Group filed a Saturn Vti Class Action on behalf of Canadian owners and leasers

Nov. 26, 2008 - PRLog -- In Regina, Saskatchewan, the Merchant Law Group filed the proposed Saturn Vti  Multi-jurisdictional Class Action on behalf of  owners or leasers of a Saturn car with a Vti Transmission, against GM which is General Motors Corporation and General Motors of Canada Limited on  November 24, 2008,





The proposed grounds for the  class action  in the Statement of Claim include  alleged acts, omissions, wrong doings, and breaches of legal duties and obligations  which were unfair and unconscionable business and trade practices and breached statutory warranties of fitness, acceptable quality, merchantability, and durability.






Between 2002 and 2005, GM manufactured, sold and distributed Saturns, including the 2000-2003 Saturn L-Series, 2002-2005 Saturn VUE, and 2003-2004 Saturn Ion (“Saturns”) containing Vti Transmissions.






The Vti Transmissions used a “continuously variable” transmission (“CVT”). Unlike conventional automatic transmissions, which use traditional gears to shift at a few fixed points, CVT’s shift through the use of a belt or chain that runs through pulleys that move closer together or farther apart.






Merchant Law Group alleges that the problem with Saturn Vti transmissions is that they use a weak belt and are prone to failure and therefore inherently defective.





The plaintiffs allege that the Vti Transmissions were defective due to GM’s defective design and negligent manufacture. Consequently they prematurely fail, making the vehicles inoperable, unsafe, and  necessitating costly repairs.





GM publicly acknowledged an unusually high failure rate on vehicles with the Vti Transmission. But it has not recalled the transmissions and replaced them with a strong chain to solve the problem.






In order to generate error codes, GM returns to customers   cars with transmissions that have repeatedly stopped operating properly on highways at high-speed without warning, causing sudden and massive deceleration.






These Vti failures have necessitated evasive manoeuvres to prevent rear end collisions, chain reaction accidents and loss of life. It is unconscionable that GM has neglected its responsibility to properly remedy the problem and instead has knowingly put the owners and their families back into defective vehicles needlessly endangering their lives..







The Saturn vehicles lose power at random in town at intersections and elsewhere on public roads. The transmission failures create an enormous risk to human life, wherever Saturns having Vti transmissions are driven.







GM  refuses to honour the new car power train warranty and extended warranty and fails to properly diagnose, repair and replace the defective vti transmissions with safe transmissions.







The plaintiffs allege that GM   neglects the rights of the consumer to be warned about this allegedly defective and dangerous transmission. Withholding this important information prevents informed consent before the consumer enters into a new  vehicle contract with GM Canada.






Owners and leasers have suffered economic loss because of these multiple breakdowns and repairs. In addition many of them have suffered financial loss after trading in or selling Saturns with  Vti transmissions. The filed Saturn Vti Class Action asks the Court  to compensate them for this financial loss.






If you presently own, lease or in the past have owned or leased a Saturn vehicle with a Vti transmission contact Merchant Law Group to determine your legal rights.



MERCHANT LAW GROUP LLP,

2401 Saskatchewan Drive
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 4H8


E. F. Anthony Merchant, Q.C.
Telephone: (306) 359-7777

1-888-567-7777

                 
Facsimile: (306) 522-3299,
Chief Counsel for the Plaintiffs.