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A federal judge has rejected Nissan’s request to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging Altima vehicles have defective transmissions.
Nissan states that there are no particular misrepresentations named in the Nissan class action lawsuit and that no specific design defects were outlined in the suit.
According to the judge overseeing the Nissan class action lawsuit, the case will proceed as the plaintiffs appeared to have provided specifics about the alleged issues.
Lead plaintiff Krista Costa believes she’s not the only one who experienced transmission issues with a Nissan Altima after purchasing the vehicle.
Costa states that her vehicle randomly shook while she was driving until the vehicle ultimately failed.
She alleges that she spent $3,500 to address the transmission issue in the car, a claim that the judge says is at least plausible enough to continue the case.
The Nissan class action lawsuit was originally filed after Costa bought her Nissan Altima in October 2014. She says that marketing statements used with the car included claims of excellent responsiveness, a smooth drive, and great drivability. The vehicle contained a continuously automatic variable transmission.
However, as argued in the Nissan class action lawsuit, Costa and other drivers with 2013 and 2014 models dealt with the shaking issues and premature transmission failure. The Nissan Altima class action lawsuit alleges that this is due to a known defect in the car.
Nissan is accused of promoting the vehicle by making claims about a smooth ride and other features despite knowing that the transmission was likely to fail early.
The lawsuit was filed based on alleged violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, implied warranty of merchantability under Massachusetts law, and the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.
In response to the filing of the Nissan class action lawsuit, the defendant tried to argue that the perceived vague nature of the plaintiffs’ claims and the fact that the car worked normally for four years should void the suit altogether.
Nissan took issue in particular with the claims brought under the Massachusetts breach of implied warranty statutes.
The judge, however, said that since the breach of implied warranty law in Massachusetts relates to the roadworthy nature of the vehicle that the plaintiffs’ allegations of vehicle shaking and other issues enable the case to proceed for now. If the car breaks down in traffic due to the shaking or stalling, this could be seen as a traffic hazard, the plaintiffs claim.
The plaintiffs are represented by Ben Barnow, Erich P. Schork and Jeffrey D. Blake of Barnow and Associates PC, Timothy G. Blood and Thomas J. O’Reardon of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP, and David Pastor of Pastor Law Office.
The Nissan Altima Transmission Class Action Lawsuit is Krista Costa, et al. v. Nissan North America Inc., Case No. 1:18-11523-LTS, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
UPDATE: The Vehicle Safety Defect Investigation is now open! If you own a vehicle that has a safety defect and you believe it should be covered by the warranty and it’s not, submit your information here.
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392 thoughts onNissan Can’t Escape Altima Transmission Defect Class Action
I have also have a 2012 Nissan Altima. I have already put a rebuilt transmission in last year, now the same thing is happening again. Car was running fine until went on long trip, after a few hours of driving car would not go over 40 mph on a very busy interstate hwy. This is a very dangerous situation for those who are driving the car and for others on road with this car. Nissan needs to include 2012 quickly before someone is killed, . Anyone with aadditional information on how to do a class action suit. Nissan should own up to it now, If lives are it steak, expense would be way more than just transmissions
I too have had my Nissan Altima transmission blow. ON VACATION! Friday, 8/15/2019
I have to have it towed (500$) from TN to Ohio.
I do not have the money to get it repaired. Only had it since June 10, 2018.
I, too, would like to join this class action lawsuit!!
Can anyone tell me how to start that process of joining this lawsuit I’ve had issues since day 1 the dealership I purchased my car from gave me the service bulletin and told me to go to Nissan to fix because it was a defect I thought it would be easy, Nissan is refusing to do anything now my transmission is failing completely. HELP!!
I am in the Same issues they don’t want to help and when we have children in the car it’s scary my car gave out on me with my children in the car and Nissan didn’t want to help I had to pay out of pocket now again my transmission is going out again and I just had a newborn they don’t want to help and don’t care if we get hurt in a car accident if the car fails on us on a highway or freeway anywhere
I had my transmission repaired . I also have my receipt. How do I apply for this class action suit
Transmission went out on my 2014 Nissan Rogue and it’s 13k miles out of warranty. I bought this car brand new off the showroom floor. I need legal representation. Nissan is knowly selling lemon cars and seemingly getting away with it.
I have the 201r nissan altima s 2.5. if this shit goes thru is that a recall and I will get a new transmission. currently I haven’t had issues other than with starting the car. the starter is good as is the battery and alternator
I have a 2013 Altima and I’ve experienced all of those problems plus been hit from behind three freaking times. What the hell
Why is the law suit limited to 2013 and newer Altimas? I have a 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5 S with 88k miles and experienced this exact same problem five times in 2018 and three times so far in 2019.
ONE OF MY EXPERIENCES: I was driving on an LA freeway at 70 MPH and the car suddenly began to slow down on it’s own, almost as if it had been put in neutral and was coasting. I pressed the gas pedal to the floor and the RPMs went from 2500/3000 up to around 4500 but my speed continued to drop at a rate of about 1 MPH every second. This continued until the car was at the 40 MPH mark and then held steady at that speed and the RPMs dropped to 2500/3000 again. I’m sure you can imagine how understanding and sympathetic the other LA freeway drivers were at my situation. Pressing the accelerator half-way kept it at 40 MPH and pressing the accelerator to the floor caused the RPMs to shoot up to around 4000-4500 but the car wouldn’t go above 40 MPH. I was driving 40 MPH on an LA freeway with everyone else 65 MPH to 80 MPH and still had to move across 2 lanes to get to the shoulder. Once off Death’s Raceway and not sure what else to do I turned the car off and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I then started it up, merged back onto the freeway but the car took almost as long to speed up to 35/40 MPH as it did slowing down from 70, but it topped out at 40 MPH wouldn’t go any faster. I pulled over AGAIN, turned it off, sat patiently for about 45 minutes on the side of the freeway with cars darting past at 70 MPH as I baked in the 103 degree mid-day sun with no A/C. I then tried again and it accelerated normally and I was up to 75 MPH in 10-15 seconds. The car drove normally for 3 days and then it did the same thing again.
Over the past 16 months or so my Altima has failed 8 times. All I get from Nissan is a recommendation to get a new transmission at $4,500. My mechanic explained that when the on-board computer gets an error code from the transmission the car is automatically put in “Safe Mode” to prevent further damage. That’s why it slows to around 40 MPH and won’t let you go any faster (presumably because faster speeds puts additional strain on, and could cause additional damage to, a transmission that has already reported an error). According to him, once the car is left off for 30-45 minutes the computer usually resets and removes the “Safe Mode” restriction. I’m not a specialist, but that’s how my guy explained it to me.
But, I ask again…. why is this lawsuit ONLY for 2013 and newer Altima’s?????
Mike Steerman, I have a 2012 and ecperienced the same freaking problem. This is so unfair. How do we file? I saw soomething before and wrote a comment a coul of years ago and never heard anything.
Just ran into transmission trouble with my 2014 Altima. Never had a problem, nothing until it stopped in traffic. Towed to dealership where they said my transmission went bad and it has 78000 miles, so no warranty.
This is a very dangerous car and Nissan doesn’t seem to care.
I had an issue with my 2013 altima. Wouldn’t get past 40 mph up hills. I did research and found it to be a known issue. Was within 5k miles of being out of warranty. Took the info to the dealer and they fixed it for free. My only concern is if it reoccurs. The other issue is resale value. I’m sure it is affected.