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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
I own a 2014 Versa Note. 95,000 miles. Bought it at 79,000. I dont know if the transmission is original, but i think its starting to go out. Well before any transmission ever should. What can i do to partake in this class action lawsuit?
I have a 2011 Nissan roque. Which I experienced problems with the CVT. Symptoms were staying in park, acceleration problem, not shifting in to gear, car remained in limp mode. Contacted Nissan was told my car did not fall under the recall of the 2010 Extended warranty. Yet my research shows that the CVTs are still giving problem, with the same symptoms. When are we going to get justice.
Daughter has a 2012 Quest with the same transmission issues. Like you, I contacted Nissan and got no assistance. We’re you successful in a resolution?
My 2015 Nissan Sinatra automatic transmission gave out on me. I live in Ontario Canada. After 3 weeks at the dealership still waiting for them to get a transmission they are backed order is there any class action law suit in Canada on this model
I have a Nissan Versa 2013 and I’ve been having this issue for months my car only has 75000 I get terrified to get in my car everyday just to go anywhere wondering is this the day I am gonna get into a wreck. When I’m trying to turn or just accelerate a little fast my car kicks and sometimes even stops I want to be involve in the action lawsuit.
How do I get involved? I bought my 2014 Nissan Versa note back in 2015. 2 nights ago during a 2 hour drive home on the highway, my cars cvt transmission started slipping and was not switching gears. It was terrifying trying to get home under the circumstances with two other lives in the car. I did some research only to find out I’m not alone in this and that many others are having the same issue. My car just got to 82,000 miles, still very young in a cars life for something like this to be happening. The biggest smack in the face is that I only owe $4,600 left until the car is paid off. Now I have to dump over $4,000 just to fix this. I always spoke so highly of my car and then this happens as well as so many others. It’s awful, unfair and criminal that Nissan is selling vehicles with a dangerous and expensive defect. I can never trust Nissan after this. I hope something can be done about this for not only myself, but for every single person who’s been affected by this. It’s seriously unbelievable.
How do I get in on lawsuit? 2014 Nissan Versa crap cvt
I have a 2014 nissan versa with the cvt trassmission that just stop moving while inwas traviling uphill cause i live in the mnts in san bernadino Ca and caused a 4 car pile up.Ontop of that insuarnce would not cover my trassmission failure so i mb ended paying about $4000 for a newer which they only gave me 12000 or 12 months warranty on it. So can some 1 give ne more imfo on a class action law sutie plz n thank you
Has this become a class action yet? If so how do I get involved. My car was purchased back in July of 2015 and now has a little over 65000 miles on it.Transmission is starting to go and Nissan will not help.
I have the same issue. I am 18,000 miles over my power-train warranty. What do I need to do to get some re-course?
Any way we could still get Nissan to replace or cover some costs for the cvt transmission? I have a 2014 Nissan Versa S that failed in the beginning of 2017 at just under 72,000 miles. The dealership seems to not want to hear the issue.
I had my repaired at 63,000 miles a little passed warranty. It was put in incorrectly and my car constantly goes into neutral while driving. Dealer that put it in doesn’t want to hear me. Call consumer affairs and trying to work with them…
I had same problem, just take the Nissan corporation to small court claim, its the only way they will pay you some money.