GM Equinox and Terrain Fuel Pump Lawsuit: Recall, Class, and Claims

The class action lawsuit against GM over Equinox and Terrain fuel pumps is Kerr et al. v. General Motors LLC, filed in May 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. It alleges that 2020–2024 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain SUVs were sold with defective ACDelco fuel pump modules that can lose pressure and stall the engine, sometimes at highway speed. In July 2025 a judge allowed several of the plaintiffs’ claims to move forward and refused to strike the nationwide class allegations. GM has appealed, and the case is currently paused.¹

What Owners Are Reporting

The complaint centers on the ACDelco fuel pump module inside the gas tank, which the plaintiffs say fails to maintain adequate fuel pressure and starves the engine while the vehicle is running. Reported symptoms include hesitation and sputtering, sudden loss of power, stalling at speeds as high as 70 mph, no-start conditions, and check-engine lights tied to diagnostic codes for low or erratic fuel pressure.²

The lawsuit attributes the failures to a design flaw in the pump and its control module, sub-standard materials that don’t hold pressure, and weak manufacturing quality control. It says the pumps fail before 100,000 miles — roughly half the lifespan owners should expect — and that repairs typically run $1,200 to $2,000 out of pocket.³

No confirmed crashes, injuries, or deaths have been publicly tied to the issue. GM’s own recall notice, however, acknowledged that an engine stall “could result in a crash,” and NHTSA complaints describe drivers losing power on freeways and busy multi-lane roads.⁴

Why the 2023 Recall Didn’t End the Problem

In early 2023, GM issued a safety recall (NHTSA Campaign 23V013) covering roughly 23,323 model-year 2021–2022 Chevrolet Equinox and 2022 GMC Terrain vehicles. GM traced the problem to an unauthorized manufacturing change by a tier-two supplier, Coavis USA, that reduced pump clearances and restricted fuel flow. The automaker had counted 710 stall events but zero crashes, and dealers were told to replace the fuel pump module free of charge.⁵

The lawsuit says that recall was too narrow in two ways. First, it excluded thousands of 2020, 2023, and 2024 vehicles that use the same pump design and show the same symptoms.⁶ Second, and more importantly for owners who already had the recall repair done, the plaintiffs allege the replacement pumps carry the same design flaws as the originals, producing what the complaint calls an “endless loop of failures.”³

NHTSA complaints match that account. One 2022 Equinox owner reported the fuel module failed five times, with a repeat failure just 9,000 miles after a previous repair. A 2020 Terrain owner described the engine cutting out again roughly a year after a dealer pump replacement.⁴

In November 2024, GM issued a separate service update (N242450160) for 2023–2024 Equinox and 2023 Terrain vehicles with potentially inoperative high-pressure fuel pumps, telling dealers to replace both the pump and its feed pipe.⁷ The plaintiffs cite bulletins like this as proof GM knew the fuel-system problems stretched well beyond the recall population.

Who the Lawsuit Covers and What It Asks For

The proposed class includes all U.S. owners and lessees of 2020–2024 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles equipped with ACDelco fuel pumps.² Three named plaintiffs brought the case on May 15, 2024: a Florida couple who bought a 2021 Equinox used, and a Texas man who bought a 2023 Terrain new.⁸

The complaint raises claims including fraudulent concealment, unjust enrichment, and violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. It seeks reimbursement of repair costs and an injunction ordering GM to provide a permanent, free fix.⁴ A central allegation is that GM has known about the fuel pump problems since at least 2019 but kept selling the vehicles as reliable without disclosing the defect.⁹

Where the Case Stands

On July 22, 2025, Judge Richard G. Andrews issued a mixed ruling. The court dismissed Counts I through V but let Counts VI through IX proceed. The judge also denied GM’s motion to strike the nationwide class allegations and denied its motion to compel arbitration.¹

GM appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on August 18, 2025, and the district court case is stayed while that appeal is pending. The day after filing the appeal, GM also filed a separate motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ fraudulent-inducement claim, which has not been resolved.¹ For now, no class has been certified and no settlement has been reached.

What GM Is Arguing

In its May 2025 motion to dismiss, GM argued the plaintiffs lacked standing to represent a nationwide class because state consumer-protection and warranty laws differ significantly on issues like the standard of proof for fraud and what a manufacturer must have known.²

On the merits, GM said the reported problems have “different causes” and that a defect defined as anything making the fuel pump “fail or operate intermittently” is too broad to show GM could have known about or fixed the specific issue in each plaintiff’s vehicle. GM also argued the warranty claims fail because none of the plaintiffs sought repairs while their vehicles were within the 3-year/36,000-mile warranty. Responding to the fraud allegations, GM said it never promised the vehicles would be “defect-free” and pointed to the recall and service bulletins as evidence it addressed the issue.¹⁰

Not the Same as the Duramax Truck Settlement

The Equinox and Terrain case is separate from Chapman v. General Motors LLC, a fuel pump class action involving 2011–2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks with 6.6L Duramax diesel engines and Bosch CP4 high-pressure injection pumps. That case reached a roughly $50 million settlement with final approval in May 2025.¹¹ The Chapman settlement covers different vehicles, a different pump, and a different set of class counsel; owners of Equinox and Terrain SUVs are not part of it.

1
Docket Alarm. Greg Kerr et al v. General Motors LLC
2
CarComplaints.com. GM Fuel Pump Lawsuit Nationwide Class Action
3
Yahoo News. GM Being Sued Over Fuel Pump Defect
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ClassAction.org. Chevy Equinox GMC Terrain Fuel Pump Lawsuits
5
NHTSA. Recall Report 23V-013
6
Valero Law. GM Fuel Pump Recall Expands Into Lawsuit Over Defective Replacement Parts
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NHTSA. GM Service Update N242450160
8
GM Authority. GM Claims Chevy Equinox GMC Terrain Fuel Pump Lawsuit Should Be Dismissed
9
ClassAction.org. GM Class Action Lawsuit Says Equinox Terrain SUVs Sold With Fuel Pump Defect
10
CarComplaints.com. GM Fights Fraud Claim in Fuel Pump Class Action Lawsuit
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Valero Law. General Motors Offers Truck Owners Payments in Fuel Pump Settlement