General Motors, manufacturer of the Chevrolet brand, will pay millions of shekels to thousands of owners of Silverado pickup trucks and Savannah vehicles in Israel due to a malfunction in their urea system.
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In December 2022, seven Chevrolet Silverado owners filed a motion to approve a class action lawsuit with the Lod District Court. The lawsuit was filed against Universal Motors Israel Ltd. (UMI), the Chevrolet importer in Israel, and against the American automaker General Motors (GM).
The lawsuit dealt with the claim of a serial malfunction in the urea system, which is installed in Chevrolet diesel vehicles.
This system, designed to reduce air pollution, has been found to be prone to recurring failures that require costly replacement of the entire urea tank. The plaintiffs claimed that the high cost of repairs and the ongoing impairment of vehicle operation caused some vehicle owners to completely disconnect the urea system, which led to increased air pollution.
This week, the Lod District Court approved a compromise agreement between the parties, in which it was agreed that the Chevrolet importer would grant a significant warranty extension to the urea system in Israel, similar to that granted in the US, for Silverado vehicles from the 2016 model year.
The warranty extension will cover urea system repairs for a period of up to 10 years or up to 193,000 km, whichever comes first.
In addition, the arrangement provides a refund of up to NIS 4,846 to vehicle owners who have already paid out of pocket for these repairs.
The Chevrolet importer undertook to send direct and detailed mail to the owners of the relevant vehicles, to publish the warranty terms on its website, and to instruct all of its service centers to carry out the repairs as part of the arrangement free of charge.
The settlement agreement also stipulated that automotive engineer David Nimri would be appointed as a technical supervisor on behalf of the parties, and his role would be to decide any dispute that may arise regarding the vehicle owners' entitlement to a refund or repair.
In addition, by January 2027, the companies committed to submitting a final report to the court on the actual implementation of the arrangement.
Judge Avi Foreg of the Lod District Court, who approved the arrangement this week and gave it the force of a judgment, ruled that the arrangement reached between the parties is appropriate, fair, and provides an appropriate response to vehicle consumers in Israel.
According to the plaintiffs' estimate, the number of vehicles that will benefit from the extended warranty is in the hundreds in Israel. The total cost of the benefits under the arrangement is estimated at millions of shekels, with each individual repair estimated at approximately 4,800 shekels.
The plaintiffs will be represented in the lawsuit by attorney Amir Israeli.
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