GM pickup owners to get settlement notices

LOS ANGELES TIMES
Ending years of legal stalemate, General Motors Corp. said it will begin mailing notices today to current and former owners of 5.8 million older pickups who qualify for discounts of $250 to $1,000 on new GM vehicles as part of a massive class-action settlement.
The coupon offer is the centerpiece of a long-delayed settlement of suits filed in 1992 that claimed defective fuel systems made millions of GM trucks more prone to catching fire or exploding in collisions.
Instructions on ordering discount coupons are being sent to owners of GM C/K pickups, model years 1973-86, and R and V model pickups built from 1987-91. Only those who owned the trucks in July 1996, when the agreement was completed, are eligible.
The settlement, approved by a Louisiana state court, is believed to be the largest in an automotive case in terms of the number of class-action members.
The agreement allows class-action members to claim a discount of $1,000 on a new GM car or truck on top of other rebates or incentives. However, if the coupon is transferred to a third party, its value will drop to $250, or to $500 when no other discount is offered on a vehicle.