GM, Buyers Settle Dispute

General Motors Corp. and car owners have reached tentative agreement to settle claims that the auto maker put defective transmissions in cars from 1976 through 1980, an attorney said today.

Under the agreement, which requires approval by U.S. District Court in Chicago, GM would put $17 million in a fund to provide partial reimbursement to owners whose transmissions failed within 50,000 miles, said Beverly Moore Jr., a lawyer who filed the original lawsuit.