A Sacramento Equinox owner has taken General Motors to federal court over the continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) in four of its most common family haulers. The case is Williams v. General Motors LLC, No. 1:26-cv-01162, filed September 15, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, according to the complaint itself.
It seeks a nationwide class of everyone who bought or leased a CVT-equipped:
- 2019–2025 Chevrolet Malibu
- 2021–2025 Chevrolet Trailblazer
- 2024-and-later Chevrolet Equinox
- 2024-and-later GMC Terrain
It also proposes California subclasses for the state-law claims.
These are allegations, not findings. GM hasn’t answered, no judge has ruled on anything, and a proposed class is only a proposal. But the complaint leans on GM’s own service documents, and those are worth understanding whether or not the lawsuit goes anywhere.
The part everyone skips: how this CVT actually loses “Drive”
A CVT doesn’t have gears in the usual sense. A steel chain or belt runs between two pulleys whose widths change to vary the drive ratio. Everything depends on hydraulic pressure, which is managed by a valve body full of solenoids and spool valves, according to the complaint’s description.
What many owners don’t realize is that the pulleys alone can’t get the car moving from a stop. There’s still a conventional clutch pack that engages to send power forward. If the valve controlling that clutch sticks, the engine revs, the tach climbs, and the car goes nowhere.
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That’s the failure described in GM Service Bulletin 24-NA-009, as quoted in the filing. The bulletin covers 2019–2025 Malibu and 2021–2025 front-drive Trailblazer models with GM’s VT40 CVT (option code MRG). According to the complaint, the bulletin:
- Identifies the root cause of lost forward gear or slipping as a clutch regulator valve sticking in the valve body.
- Links the condition to trouble code P2714.
- Warns that the stuck valve can damage the forward clutch piston, the primary pulley bearing bore, and the transmission case.
- Acknowledges the problem may be intermittent and may not show up when a dealer tries to reproduce it.
That last point is the heart of the owner frustration. An intermittent fault that doesn’t set a code on the service drive is the easiest kind for a dealer to write off with “could not duplicate.”
The complaint cites two more GM documents:
- Service Bulletin 16-151-24R, which provides diagnostic guidance for chain slip, judder, and hesitation on the TR690 CVT family. It covers the Equinox, Terrain, Trailblazer, and Malibu and was revised through at least July 2025.
- Preliminary Information bulletin PIP6033, dated December 11, 2024, which lists a damaged drive chain, damaged pulleys, or bearing damage as possible causes of noise, slipping, or complete loss of motion. The complaint says it covers 2022–2024 Buick Encore GX, 2025 Equinox, and 2022–2024 Malibu and Trailblazer, and that it acknowledges the problem can occur without a check-engine light.
The mechanical chain of events matters for your repair bill. A slipping clutch or a slipping drive chain creates heat and metal debris. Debris circulates through the fluid and into bearings and the valve body. A problem that starts as a sticky valve can end as a new transmission, which is why ignoring early symptoms is expensive.
What the plaintiff says happened
Plaintiff John Williams bought a new 2025 Equinox RS for $36,587.12 in October 2024, according to the filing. He says:
- Rough and delayed shifting started around 7,000 miles.
- At about 14,000 miles, still under warranty, the dealer replaced the front axles and said the transmission fluid had been “topped off.”
- He still hasn’t received a permanent fix.
Notice what isn’t in his story: a catastrophic failure. His truck (well, crossover) hasn’t stranded him on a highway. The scarier scenarios in the complaint come from owner reports filed with NHTSA, not from the named plaintiff’s own car. That’s a gap GM’s lawyers will almost certainly exploit.
The numbers, and why to read them carefully
The complaint says a query of NHTSA’s complaint database found 358 CVT- or powertrain-related complaints out of 1,494 total across the four models, according to its tally.
NHTSA complaints are unverified owner submissions, and “powertrain-related” is a broad category that can include engine problems. Still, the quoted complaints repeat the same symptoms again and again: code P2714, no forward engagement, and valve bodies replaced more than once without solving the problem.
Where the case looks strong, and where it looks thin
The strongest ammunition is GM’s own paperwork. A bulletin that names a root cause and warns about secondary damage makes it hard to argue these complaints describe “normal operation.” GM also had a reason to see the reports: federal early-warning rules require automakers to report certain defect data to NHTSA, which the complaint cites in its TREAD Act argument.
The weak spot is that the complaint describes two transmission families, the VT40 and the TR690. It argues they share the “same or substantially similar” architecture, but the most specific bulletin, 24-NA-009, covers only the VT40 cars: the Malibu and Trailblazer. The named plaintiff drives a 2025 Equinox, which isn’t covered by that bulletin.
Class certification lives or dies on whether a defect is common to everyone in the class. GM will argue that a Malibu valve body and an Equinox chain-judder complaint are different problems. Meanwhile, the Buick Encore GX shows up in PIP6033 but isn’t in the proposed class at all.
The complaint’s claims include:
- Violations of California’s consumer protection and warranty laws
- Breach of express and implied warranty, including under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act
- Negligence, unjust enrichment, and fraudulent concealment
It asks for damages and for a court order compelling GM to issue a voluntary safety recall under federal vehicle safety law, according to the prayer for relief. The class excludes anyone who was injured, so personal injury claims would have to proceed separately.
About the 2027 Equinox. The complaint says GM has confirmed it will drop the CVT in favor of a conventional eight-speed automatic. GM hasn’t publicly explained that decision in any document I could find. Automakers change transmissions for cost, packaging, and customer perception all the time, so read the switch as a data point, not an admission.
GM has fought transmission class actions before, and won ground
This isn’t GM’s first transmission lawsuit. In its most recent quarterly SEC filing, GM disclosed pending litigation over its 8-speed automatics in various 2015–2022 models. In June 2025, a federal appeals court decertified all 26 state subclasses that a lower court had approved in the 2015–2019 case, according to GM’s 10-Q.
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The takeaway: getting a class certified is hard, and GM knows how to fight it. Anyone expecting a settlement check soon should adjust expectations. These cases usually take years.
What owners should do now
- Know your warranty. The complaint says these vehicles came with a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty and a 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, per its warranty summary. If your car is getting close to 60,000 miles and you’ve noticed hesitation, flares, or delayed engagement, get it documented at a dealer before you cross the line.
- Get the codes read. Ask for a scan and make sure any P2714 or related transmission codes are written on the repair order. A code stored in the computer is evidence. Your description of the problem alone isn’t.
- Name the bulletins. Ask the service advisor whether 24-NA-009, 16-151-24R, or PIP6033 applies to your VIN. You’re not diagnosing the car yourself. You’re pointing the technician to GM’s own guidance.
- Keep every repair order, including the ones that say “no problem found.” In most states, repeated repair attempts for the same problem are the foundation of a lemon law claim, and California’s Song-Beverly Act is already part of this lawsuit.
- Don’t accept “topped off” as a fix. A CVT that’s low on fluid at 14,000 miles either has a leak or was underfilled at the factory. Both are problems worth writing down.
- Check for recalls anyway. Run your VIN through NHTSA’s recall lookup. As of this complaint’s filing, the lawsuit is asking a court to force a recall, which tells you one hasn’t been issued for this problem.
- Understand your insurance. Standard auto insurance covers crashes, not worn-out transmissions. If a CVT failure causes a collision, that crash is an insurance claim, but the transmission itself isn’t. If you’re shopping for an extended warranty on one of these models, read the fine print on how it handles pre-existing conditions and bulletins that already apply to your car.
If you’re buying used, a CVT-equipped Malibu, Trailblazer, Equinox, or Terrain with service records showing valve body work, repeated “could not duplicate” visits, or a replacement transmission deserves a hard look and a lower offer. A car that’s already had the fix may be fine. A car with a stack of unresolved complaints is someone else’s problem you’d be buying.
Images Via: Wikipedia