Nissan Reaches Brake Defect Class Action Settlement

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A class action settlement between Nissan North America Inc. and some Nissan truck and SUV owners was reached in which the automaker was charged with selling vehicles with defective brakes that could cause the vehicles to fail.

Owners of 2004-2008 Nissan Titans, Armadas and Infiniti QX56 trucks and SUVs could receive up to $800 if their vehicle had less than 48,000 miles when the faulty brake system was repaired and $20 at a minimum, if their vehicle had more than 120,000 miles at the time of the repair.

This Nissan class action settlement could affect about 350,000 current and former owners of the named Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. The owners will be able to file claims to be reimbursed for money they spent to have the defective brake system repaired, which could lead the vehicles to sudden failure.

“There can be little doubt that the proposed settlement is ‘within the range of possible approval,'” the plaintiffs said in their unopposed motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement.

“The settlement addresses the safety defect that was alleged in this lawsuit and provides a fair mechanism for reimbursement of the cost of repairing or replacing [delta stroke] parts that have failed,” they added.

Even though the Nissan class action settlement was reached, the automaker denies any wrongdoing in the matter and claims that it was not aware that there the brake system in the vehicles was defective and there was no intention to deceive the vehicle owners about the defect.

Nissan had also said that if the matter had gone to trial it would “vigorously” contest the allegations.

The Nissan defective brake system class action lawsuit was first filed in April 2011 by plaintiffs Erin and Brandon Banks and David Soloway. Arkansas Plaintiff Tom West, who is now one of the proposed class representatives, filed a similar class action lawsuit in November 2011.

They claimed in their Nissan class action lawsuit that the [delta stroke sensor] “was defectively designed such that it would fail suddenly and without warning, causing the brakes to lose significant and substantial braking ability and stopping distance.

“All plaintiffs suffered a sudden and frightening loss of braking power attributable to the alleged [brake defect] defect, which can be confirmed by diagnostic error code,” the plaintiffs explained in their motion.

The Nissan defective brake class action lawsuit received class certification in December 2013 for “all California former and current owners of all 2004-2008 Nissan Armada, Nissan Titan (with VDC) and Infiniti QX56 vehicles.”

The plaintiffs are now asking that the class include Nissan owners of the applicable vehicles in all 50 states, which allows West to be included in the class.

“The proposed settlement class is expanded to a national class that includes the owners of affected vehicles in all states of the United States, including California,” the proposed settlement explains.

This Nissan class action settlement is not for those who claim the brake defect caused a personal injury.

The plaintiffs are represented by Clifford L. Carter and Kirk J. Wolden of Carter Wolden Curtis LLP; Michael F. Ram and Karl Olson of Ram Olson Cereghino & Kopczynski LLP; and F. Jerome Tapley and Hirlye R. “Ryan” Lutz III or Cory Watson Crowder & Degaris PC.

Nissan is represented by Timothy W. Loose and G. Charles Nierlich of Gibson Dunn.

The Nissan Brake Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Banks et al v. Nissan North America, Inc. et al, Case No. 4:11-cv-02022, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: The Nissan brake defect class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim!