General Motors Accused for Thousands of Faulty Impalas

General Motors Co. has been thrown in a lawsuit that claims the company treated the police better than it did the average citizens when taking care of a defective parts in 2007 and 2008 Chevrolet Impalas.The lawsuit points out that Impalas from the two model years have defective spindle rods,which connect the suspension to the rear wheels. This causes the wheels to misalign, which makes the tires wear out faster .There is also a risk that the tires could also wear out unevenly, increasing the chances to a potential blowout.

According to the lawsuit  filed last week in Detroit, GM fixed the part on police versions of the Impala three years ago but didn’t correct the problem on hundreds of thousands of civil Impalas. An Impala owner who is involved in the lawsuit bought a new impala with Goodyear tires in February 2008. Before she reached 6,000 miles,the tread on the rear tires was so worn she had to replace them .Typically normal tires should last for 30.000 miles or more. Her lawyers are asking the judge to certify her lawsuit as a class action.

GM sent a bulletin to dealers in June 2008 according to the lawsuit, telling them to replace the spindle rods and tires on affected police vehicles. It also authorized dealers to reimburse police divisions who had purchased replacement tires as long as the reimbursement request was made before July 31th, 2009.

At least 30 other drivers have sent complaints about the issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA hasn’t opened an investigation into the Impala’s suspension system,which is usually the first step in the process that can lead to a safety recall.