Nissan Floorboard Class Action Lawsuit Faces Car Maker’s Motion to Dismiss

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Update: 

• Nissan agreed to pay an estimated $18.3 million to settle claims it sold certain Altimas and Maximas with defective floorboards. 
• Nissan drivers claim the allegedly defective floorboards prematurely rust.
• Nissan will inspect the front floor plans for its 2002-2006 Altimas and 2004-2008 Maximas and repair any defective vehicle for free, per the agreement.
• Nissan will provide free rental vehicles to drivers whose cars require at most five days to fix, per the agreement. 
• Nissan will reimburse drivers who have already paid out-of-pocket to have their vehicles fixed, with stipulations, per the agreement. 
• Around 60,000 drivers could possibly benefit from the settlement agreement.
  

(12/19/2018)

The Nissan floorboard class action lawsuit alleging a defect causes leaks is facing a motion by the car maker to toss the claims.

Lead plaintiff Laura Frances Hays alleged in the Nissan floorboard class action lawsuit that 2002 through 2006 Altimas contained a defect that left passengers’ feet wet and, more critically, allowed the cars to rust out. The plaintiff claimed that she purchased a 2003 model of the car, but the Nissan floorboard became corroded and required repair.

The car maker recently argued in a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit that the Nissan floorboards in the allegedly defective Altimas are long past the expiration dates of their warranties.

“Nissan had no reason to expect corrosion would develop on the Altima floor pans,” contends the motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit. “The Altima underwent extensive design validation that included complete accelerated testing, which gave no grounds for Nissan to be concerned that use of a butyl patch would allow corrosion of the floor pan under operating conditions.”

The car company points out that the Nissan floorboards in Hays’s Altima performed fine for five years and that they were repaired in 2008.

“Plaintiff’s Altima was covered by Nissan’s new vehicle limited warranty that lasted three years or 36,000 miles, whichever came first. Nissan’s Warranty,” pointed out the car maker. “Plaintiff’s coverage expired in April 2006. The warranty covered only ‘defects in materials and workmanship.’”

Further, Nissan contends that Hays sold her vehicle in 2016, listing it in “good condition.”

“Plaintiff drove her Altima for nearly twelve years with minimal upkeep, incurring only routine maintenance expenses, and considered her Altima reliable this entire time,” asserts the motion to dismiss. “In March 2016, Plaintiff traded in her Altima, at which time she considered her vehicle (which had 104,000 miles on it) to be in ‘good’ condition.”

In its motion to dismiss, the car maker argues that Hays has failed to establish that it was aware of any Nissan floorboard defect when the cars were initially manufactured. Nissan also argues that the class action lawsuit allegations are far past the statutory deadlines set for such claims by about five years.

According to the Nissan floorboard class action lawsuit, the plaintiff had a technician look into rust in the floorboards of her Altima after hearing about the problem on her local news. The plaintiff says the technician discovered rusting, and the plaintiff paid nearly $500 to fix it.

The class action lawsuit seeks to represent owners of 2002-2006 Nissan Altimas.

Lead plaintiff Laura Francis Hays and the proposed Class are represented by Matthew L. Dameron and Amy R. Jackson of Williams Dirks Dameron LLC, Norman E. Siegel and J. Toji Calabro of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP and Tim E. Dollar and J.J. Burns of Dollar Burns & Becker.

The Nissan Floorboard Class Action Lawsuit is Hays v. Nissan North America Inc., et al., Case No. 4:17­cv­00353, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.