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A Nissan Versa owner says his vehicle’s continuously variable transmission has a defect that Nissan is failing to properly deal with.
Plaintiff Michael Knotts is raising claims over alleged transmission problems in Nissan Versa vehicles from model years 2012 and 2013 equipped with a continuously variable automatic transmission, or CVT.
A CVT is a newer type of automatic transmission that instead of gears uses a belt and dual pulley mechanism to create effective gear ratios along a continuum, in contrast to the discrete ratios provided by traditional geared transmissions. The result is smooth acceleration and deceleration, as well as better fuel economy.
Knotts says the CVTs in Nissan Versa vehicles have a defect that makes them prone to failure. The defect causes the vehicles to lose most and possibly all of their ability to accelerate, he says. The sudden loss of acceleration puts drivers and passengers in danger, he says.
“Nissan knew or should have known that the CVTs were (and are) defective, not fit for their intended purpose, and unsafe when used as intended,” the complaint reads. “Nevertheless, Nissan has failed to disclose the defective CVT to Plaintiff and the Class members, both before and after purchase.”
Knotts says he bought a new, CVT-equipped Nissan Versa from a Minnesota dealership in October 2012. He says the defect caused his vehicle to barely accelerate at all, causing him to block traffic and leaving him barely able to move the vehicle to the side of the road.
Knotts is apparently not alone in his experience of the alleged CVT defect. He quotes several driver complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, all of which describe a similar experience.
According to one owner’s complaint, the transmission failed with only 12,000 miles on the car. Another owner said the transmission went into neutral while the shift indicator still read drive. A third owner said pressing the accelerator pedal caused their vehicle to decelerate instead of accelerate.
Because of complaints like these and dozens of negative product reviews in online forums, Knotts says Nissan is on notice that their CVTs have a defect. Yet the company failed to disclose the defect to him and to other Nissan Versa purchasers, he claims.
Given a proper disclosure, neither Knotts nor his proposed Class Members would have purchased the Nissan Versa, or they would have at least been willing to pay less for their vehicles.
Similar claims led to a Nissan class action settlement benefitting owners of CVT-equpped Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. The plaintiffs in that settlement said their transmissions vibrated or shuddered during acceleration, and that Nissan failed to properly resolve the issue.
Knotts is proposing to represent a nationwide plaintiff Class covering all persons who owned or leased an affected Nissan Versa in the U.S. A proposed subclass would cover Class Members who purchased or leased their Nissan Versa in Minnesota.
He seeks an award of compensatory and statutory damages and a court order barring Nissan from continuing the practices complained of. He also seeks reimbursement of his court costs and attorney fees.
Knotts is represented by attorneys Melissa S. Weiner, Amy E. Boyle and Colin J. Pasterski of Halunen Law, and by James C. Shah and Natalie Finkelman Bennett of Shepherd Finkelman Miller & Shah LLP.
The Nissan Versa Transmission Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Knotts v. Nissan North America Inc., Case No. 0:17-cv-05049, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
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97 thoughts onNissan Class Action Says ‘Next-Generation’ Transmission is Defective
Same problem here. 2014 Versa Note, at 100k miles, transmission heats up and shut down, would not move. Left me stuck in traffic. Nissan refused to cover repair. This happened shortly after a recall to “flash” the transmission control module. Over $5k to replace a CVT, and still owed $10k on the car. Book value under $7k if it was working! I’m in CT though.
2014 Nissan Versa 68,000 miles needs new transmission. Going back and forth with dealer and insurance going on two weeks. Car rental up to $850 so far and probably another 3 weeks to get it fixed.
I have the same issue with my 2013 Nissan Versa. In November of 2017 I took my car in to a Nissan Dealership here in Texas with the issue being that my car “made a clunking sound when put into reverse”, thats how it started for me. They did $1800 in repairs to my car which was still under warranty. The following day after picking my car back up I called and let the mechanic know that he didn’t even fix the original problem that I had brought it in for, he said I could bring it back in and pay my deductible and he would check it out again. However, I was already on my way back to Kansas for the holidays by then and when I returned home, I was over the miles for my warranty and as a stay at home mother of 2 we only have one income and I couldn’t bring it back to the dealership after the warranty had expired, especially for the same issue that I had taken it in for just a few days prior…
Next issue following was my car revving to 5,000-6,000 RPMs when I would go over any type of incline (hill or bridge), then it started to sit at about 4,500 RPMs while driving at one constant speed. Then started the shuddering, I wasn’t able to accelerate quickly or else it would try jumping to 6,000 RPMs, when I would try to go in reverse it would actually move forward 10 or so feet before finally kicking into reverse…
Two days ago I was driving down the 3 lane highway here and my car started to decelerate while I basically had my pedal to the floor trying to stay up with traffic so I didn’t cause an accident, I got to the bridge (which is tall for boats to travel underneath) and as I was trying to get up the bridge my car shuddered and died. I had to be pushed up and over the bridge by a police officer because it was in the middle of morning work rush hour on a 3 lane bridge with no shoulder. I took it to a mechanic and they dropped my CVT transmission and called me a few hours later saying that my Valve Body was broken and I will need to either replace or rebuild my transmission. I have read tons of sites that say the FIRST indicators of a faulty valve body is CLUNKING SOUND WHEN SHIFTING GEARS AND TRAVELING IN REVERSE! That is word for word exactly what I originally took my car into the dealership for while it was under warranty in November of last year, I would absolutely love to be added to this Class Action Lawsuit when it moves forward if I could have information on how to do that. Thank you.
I have a 2014 versa with the same transmission issue. Nissan will only cover half and that was after i contacted their consumer affairs department. They need to be stopped.
How did you get them to at least do half??
I bought a 2015 versa new and I’ve been making high payments and not driving for over a year due to the transmission being defective. It suddenly broke down on the freeway. Then I was able to use 1st and 2nd gear, but now I can’t even move the car now. I hope that the other Nissan representative is correct about them giving up to 100k miles. The factory is saying just 60k miles. Please let me know about anything that can be of help.
Have you heard anything back about the 100k warranty
No they said it’s 60 k I have the same problem Nissan Versa note 2014 with very bad transmission and Nissan said there’s nothing they can do they told me the same thing take it to Nissan dealer and have them diagnose the problem we knew it’s transmission but they want us to pay more money they charge us $150 plus the towing and after that they said it’s transmission and they are not gonna pay to fix it. We screwed.
I have the same issue with my 2013 Nissan Versa and Nissan is not trying to take any responsibility smh. I live in Ga so since this article was for Minnesota would i need to start a claim for consumer in Ga? Or will this case be nationwide?
I just had my transmission replaced. I own a 2014 Nissan versa. Cost me $4000, and $1000 for a rental car. I am very upset with Nissan! How can I add my complaint to this lawsuit?
Add me
Is there a class action for the 2013 Nissan Murano? I am having these same issues. It is dangerous! You cannot be on the highway and lose acceleration!
Please advise on how to join the class action lawsuit for a 2012 Nissan Rogue needing a new transmission. The car was evaluated at the Nissan dealership indicating the transmission needed replacing. I just heard from Nissan Corporate and they will not assist.
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Agreed. 2012 Rogue just died. Same story. 87k Miles.