Nissan Agrees to Settle Pathfinder Transmission Defect Class Action

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Nissan North America Inc. has reached a settlement with a group of consumers accusing the company of producing vehicles with defective transmissions and concealing the information from drivers.

Under the terms of the settlement, Nissan agreed to pay for repair costs for potentially tens of thousands of vehicles.

Specifically, the settlement resolves three putative class action lawsuits alleging that certain Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti vehicles contain a defect in the continuously variable transmission (CVT) which can lead to transmission judder.

Under the settlement, for which the plaintiffs are seeking approval from a Florida federal court, all current or former owners or lessees of 2013-2014 model year Nissan Pathfinder and and Infiniti JX35/QX60 vehicles equipped with the FK0*k2 CVT will benefit from time and mileage durational limits for powertrain coverage under the applicable New Vehicle Limited Warranty to the extent it applies to the transmission assembly by 24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

It is important to note that this warranty extension does not apply to the Automatic Transmission Control Unit (ATCU) and related software, nor does it apply to any other powertrain components.

Nissan has also agreed to notify current owners and lessees of the Class vehicles of an ATCU software update that can set diagnostic trouble codes for detection of transmission judder.

Additionally, the Nissan settlement provides former owners of 2013-2014 model year Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti JX35/QX60 vehicles VPP pricing for either a purchase or lease of a single eligible Nissan or Infiniti vehicle as long as the authorized VPP participant makes the purchase or lease before Mar. 15, 2018.

In order to qualify for VPP pricing, a settlement Class Member must have warranty records that reflect they owned a 2013-2014 model year Nissan Pathfinder or Infiniti JX35/QX60 vehicles equipped with the FK0*k2 CVT and had two or more CVT replacements or repairs to the transmission assembly, torque converter and/or valve body.

The settlement also stipulates that Nissan will cover plaintiffs’ counsel fees and expenses up to $3.75 million and incentive awards of $5,000 to each of the five Class representatives.

Pathfinder and Infiniti owners Kenai Batista, Andy Chance, Gerardo Torres, Angela Matlin, Boyong Park and Tung Nguyen filed the three putative class action lawsuits against Nissan, alleging that their vehicles were equipped with defective transmissions, causing sudden, unexpected shaking and violent jerking, commonly referred to as “juddering” or “shuddering” when a driver attempts to accelerate the vehicle.

“This transmission defect creates an unreasonably dangerous situation and increases the risk of crash; it is inevitable that an individual will be injured or killed due to a collision caused by this safety defect,” Batista’s lawsuit stated.

According to the plaintiffs, Nissan was at fault for not recalling the affected Pathfinder and Infiniti models, offering to repair the alleged transmission defect free of charge or offering to reimburse Nissan owners, despite the company’s knowledge of the problem.

The complaint also claimed that Nissan chose financial gain over the safety of their consumers by concealing knowledge of the alleged transmission defect and continuing to market the Pathfinder and Infiniti vehicles to customers.

The class action sought more than $5 million in damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, and punitive damages for its alleged deceptive and unfair trade practices, as well as alleged breach of express and implied warranties, violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Florida common law.

Nissan strongly denied and continues to deny all of the plaintiffs claims related to the alleged transmission defect in 2013-2014 model year Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti JX35/QX60 vehicles, denies all allegations of wrongdoing, fault, liability, or damage of any kind to the settlement Class.

However, the automaker has concluded that the settlement is desirable to end further litigation.

The Class is represented by Cory Watson PC, Berger & Montague PC, Newsome Melton LLP, Weil Quaranta PA, and Capstone Law APC.

The Nissan Transmission Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Batista, et al. v. Nissan North America Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-24728-CIV-SCOLA/OTAZO-REYEZ, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.

UPDATE: The Nissan transmission defect class action settlement is now open! Click here to see if you qualify.