He was threatening some other young guy on the forum, and had some unbelievably arrogant posts. Fredgpowell, I believe. He seems to have calmed some in his later posts. He's a world away from me, but he indicated he was so big he would be scary to meet. I simply stated I'd be happy to be his huckleberry.

Is it worse for a doctor (to be) or a lawyer to threaten physical harm?

How's the Judo going? Still going with your son/daughter (sorry, I forget)? I do pro bono work for the US Judo Association, and they always send me some good videos...one of a 17 y.o. girl training for the Olympics that is about 6' tall and just destroys opponents. Dad don't have to worry about that one!

 

I don't care hoo you are.
If I come at you with a rubber glove....

 

Generally speaking, that's correct. It typically happens when the potential plaintiffs are geographically diverse and sufficient in #. There are a list of requirements for a court to entertain a class action, which, not being a trial attorney, I forget from law school, but # and varied location are on the list.

One plaintiff becomes the lead plaintiff and enters a specific court. The other identified plaintiffs (i.e. other members of the flying roof club) are contacted and usually asked if they want to be a part of the class action or if they want to pursue their own remedy. If they opt in, then whatever outcome of the class action is the remedy they are stuck with. Sometimes, it's the only way to get a case in court...due to attorney fees (I know, stereotype perpetuated). For example, if somebody has a $100 widget that is faulty, it's not worth going to court over due to the fees involved (even court fees, not just attorney fees). However, if 100,000+ people have the same widget, and the individual claims can be aggregated into a single class action, the fees become a non-issue, and of course, you have lawyers ready to take that case because they can get 20-40% of the $10,000,000 as opposed to the $100. Still the same case, same facts, same everything, just on the whole. The good side is that the guy with the $100 widget gets something (without having to actually go through court, other than the lead plaintiff), and the bad side is that which everyone here has pointed out...a couple lawyers get a chunk of the big prize instead of a bunch of lawyers charging individuals $10,000 to fight over their $100 widget. Justice???...ah, the debate shall rage on for years to come.

 

What were we talking about again?



I'm staying out of this one. Except to say I'm proud of the page 1 responses. I agree, a class action suit will do nothing for you poor coupe owners, but it would put GM through tremendous expense and make the attorneys a lot of money, on both sides.

Besides, there's a defective part, it's getting taken care of. What else do you want? Damn. The cars got 1000s of parts, something is bound to go wrong. I'm sure GM didn't do it intentionally.

Bob Lutz "Dave, we need to cut down on some costs here."
Dave "You're right. How about using the cheapest glue we can find on the top. It'll probably be okay."
Bob "You think so?
Dave "What's the worst that can happen, the top falls off? Don't worry, it'll never happen. Don't forget, we've got gravity on our side"
Bob "Yeah, I guess you're right. And we can save lots of money. How about the crank bolt...anyway to make that a little cheaper"
Dave "Well, if we don't tighten it, we can save on labor"
Bob "Really? Ok, go ahead and green light it"

 

Thanks...now I've got that mental image to live with all day!

I'm reminded of a scene in Fletch where Chevy Chase remarks, "Geez, doc, you using the whole fist there?"

You guys drive safe!

 

IMO, people who bring up lawsuits or suing people don't have an inkling of what time and money a lawsuit actually takes. Though I'm not an attorney, I've been working with them for 20-plus years, mostly in litigation. Filing a lawsuit doesn't quickly "cure" anything. Even if you found an attorney who would file this suit on a contingency basis (not likely), you've got to come up with a lot of money for court filing fees, expert witness fees, deposition costs, etc. And if the attorney wants to charge you hourly, you'd better be ready to cough up several thousands of dollars, sometimes tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars if the attorney is worth hiring. This suit could be tangled in the courts for several years. And don't forget the extra time and money it will cost just to certify all these people who own Vettes as a class. Mass mailings galore. Who wants to do that? I certainly don't, because (1) I like GM and don't want to see them go bankrupt because of a bogus lawsuit; and (2) I work on enough lawsuits already and I don't want to be part of one myself!!!!!!

So there. The answer is NO..............

 

Perhaps a little off point in some places.

To your point, I just talked to a GM tech regarding the new Tahoes, of which I wanted to buy, and he warned me to stay away for at least a year. The indication was that a lot of R&D was left on the table in the software department to be ironed out with service calls by GM techs!

Now, was that a specific conversation over cost-benefit analysis...who knows? However, he said that the C6s, on the whole, were the least problematic first year run he had seen in 20 years (barring crank pulleys flying off, etc. from a mechanical perspective...flying tops excluded). So you take the good with the bad. I'd rather have a glue issue I could get fixed (even if it meant blowing $1500 on a transparent top) than a host of mechanical gremlins. Now, I know there are reports of some mechanical mishaps, but again, speaking on the averages. Although, if it were happening to me, I'm not sure I'd be so understanding either.

 

Interesting about old Corvettes and their problems. I wonder if it would have been/felt/sounded different if we had the Internet and similar forums 20 years ago?

p.s. I had a new Tahoe for a weekend, and I'm not impressed with it's gas mileage. Best I did was 17 on level ground and <65MPH.

 

Ok... Seems like you have "issues".

As a lawyer, I tend to not like tort lawyers either. I work for a business and we get our fair share of nuisance cases. All part of doing business in the USA. And on occasion we get sued by someone who actually got harmed. That being said, my good doctor, try to keep a little perspective. I'm not going to spend too much time defending our legal system here, other than to say its the best in the world. Period. Civil rights are defended, people with real damages can seek redress, and people are allowed a jury of their peers. If you can't deal with that, that's your insecurity at work.

I will say, though, that any educated person who resorts to such sweeping over-generalizations as stated in your posts reveals a distinct lack of judgment. Not a trait I would want in a doctor. I can see why you are so afraid of lawsuits.

 

You're right...if all this information was available 20 years ago, Corvette production runs may have been reduced in the 80's.

That's what I heard on the Tahoe mpg. Kind of dissapointing for displacement on demand, although my '02 Z71 Tahoe was a pretty consistent 13mpg in the city and 17 hwy, so I guess it's some improvement. The wife wants an H2, so any gas mileage is an improvement over that thing!

 

Them's fighting words.....

Seriously, I think you're hitting some nerves here, and it would probably be best for everyone if we called this off right here and now.

 

I had the dual roof option so I can still drive without the worry of the delam............. but , I still want to use my painted top .
I don't want it repaired or replaced 3 or 4 times, I want a replacement non-defective quality top I thought I was purchasing.

GM has my money, I should get what I purchased, without no stinkin' lawyers !!

 

paint the glass.

 

"Here come da Judge" GTO

 

They told me my vehicle is not on the recall list. This bs has insulted my intelgence. I have had three repairs under warrenty.

 

As many others have accurately told you already, a class action suit is in no one's interest here except the lawyers who would bring suit. And you can bet they would not angle for a transparent roof as remedy, because they can't SPEND transparent roofs . I have been a member of several class action suits, none of my own chosing, and not a one of them had an outcome that helped me, but each settlement (guess how many class actions actually go to trial, or involve an admission of guilt or wrong doing?) made the lawyers handling the suit a ton of money. A couple were shareholder suits on stocks or mergers supposedly being improperly handled by the company, one was product failure, one was on tax treatment disclosure for some CVOs (trust me, you don't want to know!). Bottom line: It is best if we owners work within the system of complaints to our dealer, then to GM, and then if neccessary, escalating to BBB, state lemon law, or FTC/NHTSA other government agency as appropriate.

I would say that frequent reposting of the newspaper article here on CF regarding the inevitable first fatality that will be associated with either being hit by a panel, or crashing while avoiding a separated roof, will get GM woken up and finally on the fast track to a real solution.

It seems really sad that it will likely take that, but that seems to be the situation.

 

Once again we have beat the livin hell out an issue...... The lawyers got trashed and then the doctors got trashed. It is time for & thank goodness that I'm only an accountant

 

OK...seeing as how I'm also an accountant, I will bash you (and me) with an accountant joke and hopefully complete the hijack of the thread and lighten the mood.

What's the difference between an introverted and an extroverted accountant?

An introverted accountant looks at his shoes when he talks to you, and an extroverted accountant looks at your shoes when he talks to you.

I always liked that one.

 

The latest recall bulletin was just sent to dealers (see post by Fitchner) and the VIN range is greatly expanded.

Insulted your intelgence (sic)? That would be intelligence.

Be glad you got any repairs under warrenty (sic). Usually we want things repaired under warranty.

Suggest you use a spell checker, especially when talking about your intelligence. FYI, the Google toolbar has one that will check anything you enter on a web page (like a post on the forum).

 

I got that wun an figgurd how to beet it!