Nissan Frontier Defective Air Bag Class Action Survives Motion to Dismiss

A Nissan Frontier defective air bag class action lawsuit will continue, following a judge’s tentative denial of Nissan’s motion to dismiss.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman found the plaintiffs’ second amended complaint adequately raised allegations that Nissan failed to disclose the defective air bags in Nissan Frontier trucks.

Over Nissan’s argument to the contrary, the judge found the allegations sufficiently state claims based on theories of fraud, misrepresentation, and violation of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Dismissal at the pleadings state is therefore not warranted, the judge determined.

Plaintiffs Bobette Brantley and Josh Jones claim a defect in Nissan Frontier side curtain air bags causes them to deploy too easily. They accuse Nissan of failing to disclose the defect in a way that could deceive consumers and compromise their safety.

Although Judge Freeman allowed the action to continue overall, he dismissed both plaintiffs’ implied warranty claims.

California warranty law requires the purchaser to have bought their vehicle new and within the state in order to raise a claim for breach of implied warranty. The judge dismissed Brantley’s implied warranty claim with prejudice, since she admitted that she bought her Nissan Frontier used and would not have known about the alleged defect even if Nissan disclosed it.

Jones did not specify in his pleadings where he bought his Nissan Frontier. The judge dismissed his implied warranty claim but will allow him an opportunity to amend his pleadings to cure that defect.

Brantley filed this Nissan Frontier class action lawsuit just over a year ago, and Jones joined her later as a second plaintiff. They allege the side air bag triggers are too sensitive in Nissan Frontier trucks from model years 2007 through 2014.

According to the vehicle owner’s manual, these trucks are designed for use both on- and off-road. Their side curtain air bags are designed to deploy in rollover or near-rollover conditions, the manual says. But because of the alleged defect, the air bags and pretensioners are allegedly prone to deploy spontaneously, even under completely normal conditions.

Plaintiffs say once these safety devices have deployed, the truck is no longer safe to drive. They say restoring the truck to a drivable condition requires thousands of dollars in repair work.

Nissan knew about this defect based on consumer complaints and the company’s own product testing, the plaintiffs claim. Yet the company actively withheld information about the defect instead of properly disclosing it, they allege.

Brantley and Jones say Nissan has refused to repair the defect free of charge or reimburse owners for their out-of-pocket costs of repair, even for trucks that are still under warranty.

Brantley and Jones are represented by attorneys Robert L. Starr of The Law Offices of Robert L. Starr and Stephen M. Harris of the Law Office of Stephen M. Harris.

The Nissan Frontier Defective Air Bag Class Action Lawsuit is Bobette Brantley, et al. v. Nissan North America Inc., et al., Case No. BC609400, in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.