United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART
DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S AMENDED
COMPLAINT [ECF No. 13]
Victoria A. Roberts United States District Judge
I.
INTRODUCTION
This
case arises out of Plaintiff Joao Arlindo Ornelas
DeBarros' (“DeBarros”) purchase of a 2015
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (“Z06”). In his amended
complaint, DeBarros alleges, among other things, that his Z06
is defective and that Defendant General Motors LLC
(“GM”), the manufacturer of the Z06, breached
written and implied warranties by failing to repair or
replace his car which presented with numerous instances of
overheating during normal driving conditions.
Before
the Court is GM's motion to dismiss the amended complaint
pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
GM's
motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED
IN PART.
II.
BACKGROUND
DeBarros
purchased his Z06 in April 2015 from a GM-authorized
dealership in Georgia. The Z06 came with GM's New Vehicle
Limited Warranty (“Warranty”), an express
warranty providing “bumper-to-bumper” coverage
for the first three years or 36, 000 miles, whichever comes
first.
DeBarros
alleges he bought the Z06 based on GM's representations
that the Z06: (1) was a “true world-class supercar,
” “[a] driver's car with no equal, ”
“the most capable model in the iconic car's 62-year
history, ” and GM's most powerful production car
ever; (2) “featured ‘[a]dvanced
technologies,' an ‘optimized powertrain, and a
‘mantra' of ‘precision'”; (3) was
equipped with certain features, including larger front fender
vents, to deliver the most possible airflow to the engine;
and (4) could handle the stresses of everyday driving.
DeBarros further claims that he relied on GM's Warranty,
under which he alleges GM promised to correct “any
vehicle defect.” Despite GM's representations,
DeBarros alleges he began experiencing problems with his car
shortly after purchase. He alleges his Z06 repeatedly
overheated during normal driving conditions, causing the car
to operate at significantly reduced speeds and/or
unexpectedly enter “Limp Mode” - the car would
drastically lose power and speed, greatly increasing the risk
of accident. Moreover, DeBarros claims that GM failed to
correct the defect despite many opportunities to do so.
Specifically,
DeBarros alleges that from June 2015 to August 2018, he
returned his Z06 to GM-authorized dealerships for repairs
related to the cooling system on 11 occasions, for
approximately 99 days of repair work:
1. June 10, 2015: DeBarros presented his Z06 for
service after experiencing engine overheating and drastic
loss of power and speed (i.e., “Limp Mode”); the
high temperature that day was 85°F. The repair order
states that the conditions could not be duplicated; however,
it also indicates that the car was dropped off and returned
with the same mileage - 1, 843 miles.
2. August 5, 2015: DeBarros presented his car with
overheating and Limp Mode issues; the weather was 85°F
that day. The dealership again indicated that it could not
reproduce the overheating and Limp Mode issues.
3. November 9, 2015: Same complaints as previous two
visits. Dealership drove the car for four miles but could not
reproduce overheating and Limp Mode issues. High temperature
that week was 74°F.
4. August 3, 2016: DeBarros reported that his car
was overheating “in stop and go traffic” and the
“hot idle engine” warning would not clear even
after letting the car cool down. The average temperature that
day was 83°F. The GM dealership determined the coolant
pump was leaking and replaced it.
5. August 8, 2016: DeBarros presented his car
complaining of “a weird burning smell coming from the
vehicle when hot” and a “rattle noise.” 6.
November 4, 2016: During scheduled maintenance,
DeBarros complained his car's engine was overheating
while idle. Dealership diagnosed a leak in the coolant pump,
the second such leak, and replaced it. Weekly high of
86°F.
7. December 6, 2016: DeBarros presented his car with
coolant pump issues, and it was replaced for a third time.
The high temperature that week was 64°F.
8. March 8, 2017: DeBarros presented his car with
ongoing overheating issues. Without test driving the car, the
dealership indicated that it could not verify the concern.
High temperature of 76°F that week.
9. June 1, 2017: DeBarros presented his car with
overheating complaints, and the dealership found that the
cooling system boiled over. Weekly high of 86°F.
10. July 5, 2017: DeBarros presented his car with
cooling issues; the dealership replaced the coolant pump for
the fourth time. Weekly high of 82°F.
11. April 6, 2018: DeBarros presented his Z06 for
repairs; the dealership replaced the radiator surge tank upon
concluding that it leaked when the car was hot. Weekly high
of 81°F.
During
one service visit, DeBarros was referred to GM Service
Bulletin PIP5311C, which states that: (1) the Z06 “is
designed to keep engine oil, coolant, transmission and
differential fluids below the hot warning targets when
driving . . . on [an 86°F day] . . . for an indefinite
period of time (effectively the time to burn through a full
tank of fuel)”; and (2) GM's “team validates
the durability of the Z06 cooling systems with a 24hr
accumulated track test to simulate the most aggressive
track-day usage by our customers.” DeBarros alleges
that his Z06 frequently overheated “under the limited
stress and strain of stop-and-go traffic” when the
temperature was at or below 86°F. DeBarros says
“[his] ¶ 06 is defective” “based on
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