GMC Hit With Lawsuit Over Sierra's Headlights
A lawsuit filed in Southern California said that GMC’s headlights in their 2013 and 2014 pickups are too dim and that the automaker knowingly expanded the use of its headlights to other trucks and SUVs, despite customers’ complaints that the cars were unsafe to drive at night.
The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 19, was first reported by Law 360.
According to court documents, the trucks were fitted with a single bulb for low and high beams, rather than three bulbs normally used for fog lights, low- and high-beam lights. According to the lawsuit, the truck owner paid for aftermarket lights to make the truck safe to drive.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit aren’t alone either.
In the lawsuit, the complaint details many other complaints made by truck owners who reported similar low lights.
“The stock projector headlights on my new $60,000 GMC Denali 2500HD really SUCK! Could not see a damn thing 100 feet in front.”
“This truck is very dangerous to drive after dark. I wish that I would have read the complaints about the 2014 trucks. My dealer seems to have no fix.”
“My 1989 Toyota Pickup has better headlights then this $50,000 truck. Just spent over $150 to upgrade to LED lights and still not good enough. GM should take action now before someone gets hurt!!”
Complaints registered on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website mirror those in the lawsuit:
HEADLIGHTS ON MY 2014 GMC SIERRA 1500 SLT ARE TOTALLY INADEQUATE ON HIGH OR LOW BEAM. THE LIGHTING DISTANCE IS INADEQUATE AND IS SO DIRECTIONAL THAT THERE IS NO SIDE FLAIR LIGHTING FOR TURNING LIKE YOU HAVE WITH CONVENTIONAL HEADLIGHTS. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY BY THE NHTSA. I HAVE HAD THIS VEHICLE FOR 1 1/2 YEARS AND THE PROBLEM IS ONGOING SINCE I BOUGHT IT. THE DEALER HAS NO SOLUTION.
(NHTSA’s complaints are filed in all caps in case you want to hurt your eyes too.)
A spokeswoman from GMC didn’t immediately comment on the lawsuit.
More by Aaron Cole
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I think there is something to this beyond the fact that the headlights on these trucks are too high off the ground. It has been my experience that GM vehicles of just about all makes have crap headlights, as evidenced by the fact that a good 50% of them seem to have their bright lights on continuously after dark. GMC and Chevy trucks, Buicks and Chevy cars seem to be the worst offenders, regardless of age of the vehicle. Nissan drivers do this a lot, as well, but are a distant second. Everyone else is just noise. To me, it doesn't matter whether or not their lights are DOT certified and meet all applicable guidelines, if the users of these vehicles are going to run their brights all the time and blind all oncoming traffic, there IS an issue that needs to be resolved. Why the police don't stop and harass these people on a regular basis is beyond me; they *never* respond to a headlight flash by dimming their own lights. It's "f-you, I gotta see." Where I come from, people who tend to drive with the brights on are more likely to be drunk drivers, yet I doubt drunk drivers only drive GM product. And while we're examining the safety and efficacy of headlights in cars, can we please convince the automakers to spend the tenth of a penny per lens to coat them in something protective so they don't turn yellow and fog up after three years' exposure to sunlight? Fords of a certain vintage are the worst in this regard, although my VW lights are damn near as bad. And they can't be fixed with a polish because the fogging is on the INSIDE of the plastic lens as much as it is the outside.
Having had all the updates done the lights in my 2500HD are still poor at best. The lights cast patterns and shadows and the peripheral lighting is poor. I owned a 2014 2500HD and the the lights were far better than these as they were a standard 2 bulb system. For $65,000 you would think GM could have done a better job. Chevrolet still uses a 2 bulb system which imho is the only way to make decent light on a tall vehicle like a truck. For now I'll wait and see because unlike some folks I don't think it's my job to fix their problem. I'm not buying into he aftermarket HID or LED kits because GM should fix this. GM also has an issue with the turn signal marker lights on the drivers side mirror which will blind you at night. They came up with a fix for that as well which is better but shouldn't have ever been an issue to begin with. It is quite dangerous imho.