The Chevy Silverado transmission lawsuit, formally Speerly v. General Motors LLC, alleges that GM knowingly sold 2015–2019 Silverados equipped with defective 8-speed automatic transmissions that shudder, jerk, hesitate, and shift harshly. The case covers roughly 800,000 GM vehicles across 26 states, and as of mid-2025 it remains active after the full Sixth Circuit vacated class certification in a 9-7 vote and sent the case back to the district court for a stricter analysis.
What Owners Are Reporting
The complaints center on two related GM transmissions: the Hydra-Matic 8L90, used in full-size trucks like the Silverado, and the smaller 8L45 found in other GM cars. Silverado owners describe a shudder during light acceleration that feels like driving over rumble strips. Others report violent shifts that feel like being rear-ended, hesitation before gear changes, sudden surging, and delayed deceleration that makes the truck harder to slow or stop.
The lawsuit traces those symptoms to several components. One is the torque converter clutch, which GM itself addressed in Technical Service Bulletin 18-NA-355. That bulletin blamed shuddering on moisture in the transmission fluid and told dealers to flush the system with a newer synthetic fluid, then replace the torque converter if the flush didn’t work because it could become “glazed” from the defect. GM started using the updated fluid in production on July 8, 2019, and ordered dealers to flush affected vehicles still on their lots.
The plaintiffs say the problem runs deeper than the torque converter. They point to excessive internal friction that generates metal shavings circulating through the transmission, valve body malfunctions, and hydraulic problems that together can lead to complete transmission failure and a full replacement.
Which Silverados Are Covered
The class action covers 2015–2019 Chevrolet Silverados equipped with the 8L90 8-speed automatic. The broader litigation sweeps in other GM vehicles from the same model years that used the 8L90 or 8L45, including the GMC Sierra, Yukon lineup, and several Cadillac and Corvette models, but for Silverado owners the relevant window is 2015 through 2019.
In total, the litigation covers roughly 800,000 vehicles. About 514,000 were included in the classes that had been certified before the appellate court intervened.
What GM Knew and When
A central allegation is that GM has known about the transmission problems since at least 2015 and failed to disclose them to buyers. According to the complaint, GM issued thirteen versions of a technical service bulletin addressing shifting issues in the 8L90 and 8L45. Those bulletins walked dealers through a range of fixes: a “clutch drive learn procedure,” flushing the transmission fluid and cooler lines, replacing filters, replacing the valve body, and in some cases replacing the entire transmission.
The most recent revision of GM’s primary shifting bulletin, 16-NA-019, was updated in February 2025 and now covers vehicles through the 2025 model year. It acknowledges that vehicles may shift in a way that feels “too firm, slips, or flares” and recommends a “Transmission Service Fast Learn” procedure run through GM’s diagnostic tool. The plaintiffs say none of these incremental fixes have solved the underlying design flaw, and that GM instructed dealers to tell complaining customers that harsh shifting was “normal.”
Where the Case Stands After the Sixth Circuit Ruling
The lead case was filed in August 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and consolidated with related actions before Judge David M. Lawson. GM moved to dismiss all 104 claims, and on November 30, 2020, Judge Lawson granted the motion in part and denied it in part, letting a substantial portion of the case proceed. On March 20, 2023, he certified the class.
GM also argued that many owners were bound by arbitration clauses in their purchase contracts and had to arbitrate individually. Both the district court and the Sixth Circuit rejected that argument, finding GM had waived its right to compel arbitration after more than two years of litigation.
The turning point came on June 27, 2025. Sitting en banc, the Sixth Circuit voted 9-7 to vacate class certification. Chief Judge Sutton, writing for the majority, held that the district court had failed to conduct the rigorous analysis Rule 23 requires. The majority’s core criticism: the lower court had defined the alleged “defect” too broadly and abstractly, lumping 59 different state-law claims from 26 states under a single umbrella without examining whether common questions actually predominated for each specific cause of action. The majority told the district court to do an “element-by-element” analysis, walking through each legal claim and explaining how a common question could yield a yes-or-no answer for the whole class.
Judge Moore dissented, joined by six colleagues, arguing that two universal defects, shudder and harsh shifting, across all affected vehicles were enough to satisfy commonality and let the case proceed as a class.
The Sixth Circuit did not dismiss the case or rule that it could never move forward as a class action. It sent the case back to Judge Lawson to do more work, and left open the possibility of smaller, state-specific subclasses. A related case, Ulrich v. General Motors, covering consumers in ten states not included in the original action, was consolidated with Speerly in December 2025. Discovery in the consolidated action runs through July 15, 2026, with a dispositive motion cutoff of August 6, 2026.
What Silverado Owners Can Do Now
The class action is not the only avenue. Owners who have experienced repeated, unresolved transmission problems can pursue state lemon law claims or individual lawsuits under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Those remedies can result in a vehicle buyback, replacement, or cash settlement, and Magnuson-Moss typically requires the manufacturer to cover attorney fees if the owner prevails. They operate independently of the class action and remain available whether or not any class is eventually recertified.
If your 2015–2019 Silverado has been in for repeated transmission work, keep every repair order, invoice, and TSB reference the dealer gave you. Those records document the number of repair attempts, which is the threshold most lemon laws turn on, and they also tie your truck to the specific bulletins at the heart of the Speerly allegations.