Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Nissan Radiator Defect Class Action Settlement Reached
By Kimberly Mirando
Nissan North America has reached a class action lawsuit settlement that will resolve claims the company produced vehicles with defective radiators and concealed this defect from consumers. If approved, the proposed Nissan radiator settlement will pay the repair costs for potentially tens of thousands of Nissan Pathfinder, Xterra and Frontier vehicles.
Nissan Pathfinder owner William Szymczak filed the Nissan radiator class action lawsuit in 2010, alleging the vehicles leaked coolant into the transmissions, causing damage and making the vehicles unreasonably dangerous. Szymczak accused Nissan of failing to issue a recall and failing to offer to repair the alleged defect for free or to reimburse Nissan owners for repair costs, despite the company’s knowledge of the radiator defect.
Under the proposed Nissan radiator class action settlement, Nissan will fully reimburse all current and former owners or lessees of a 2005-2010 Nissan Pathfinder, Xterra or Frontier vehicle that paid to fix the radiator or other damages caused by the defect within eight years or 80,000 miles.
Nissan also agreed to pay for future repairs caused by the radiator defect and partially reimburse prior repair costs up to a maximum of 10 years or 100,000 miles. Owners who had the repairs done before nine years or 90,000 miles can receive relief after paying a $2,500 deductible, while reimbursement for repairs done between then and 10 years or 10,000 miles can come after a $3,000 co-payment. This is still a significant savings for Class Members because repair costs caused by the radiator defect can cost $5,000 or more, according to the motion for preliminary approval of the Nissan settlement.
“The use of deductibles effectively caps any class member’s out-of-pocket expense for repairs and relieves the class members of the burden of shopping for the least costly repair,” the motion said. “While the acceptance of the deductibles covers some but not all of the cost of a repair, such a compromise is reasonable since the strength of any class member’s claim is reduced the more trouble-free miles the vehicle has been driven prior to the defect manifesting.”
The Nissan Radiator Defect Class Action Lawsuit Settlement case is In re: Nissan Radiator/Transmission Cooler Litigation, Case No. 10-cv-07493, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The Plaintiffs are represented by Gary S. Graifman and Michael L. Braunstein of Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman PC; Howard T. Longman and Mark Levine of Stull, Stull & Brody; Matthew Mendelsohn and David A. Mazie of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC; Alan Harris and Abigail Treanor of Harris & Ruble; and Jason P. Scofield and Danny M. Sheena of The Sheena Law Firm.
Updated January 10th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
222 thoughts onNissan Radiator Defect Class Action Settlement Reached
I bought a 2006 Pathfinder and had to replace radiator and transmission due to the coolant leaking into the transmission. I had to pay over 5,500 to fix this!! This is ridiculous and we shouldnt have to pay anything for this kind of problem. I still owed on the car and had to take out another loan just to get it fixed!!
My 2007 Xterra with 149,000 miles had to have the transmission replaced due to a faulty radiator leaking collant into the transmission. Cost was $5500.to repair. That was my second estimate. The first transmission shop said the car wasn’t worth repairing! Before the Xterra purchase, I drove a 1997 Quest which had over 300,000 miles when someone hit me and totaled it out. I never spent anywhere near this amount in all my years of owning the Quest and would still be driving it today had it not been wrecked. I will NEVER, EVER purchase another Nissan and will let everyone I know they should be aware of all the problems I have had and all the others that I have read about!
I totally agree with you, I will also NEVER EVER PURCHASE ANOTHER NISSAN AGAIN!
I had to replace the transmission and radiator on a 2006 as the coolant leaked in the the Transmission with no warning one year ago. My mileage was at 95K miles, they tried to take advantage of me because I was a woman and they assumed that I was not knowledgable of the mechanics of vechicle. I had my attorney contact them and sent letters to their Corporate offices. I also, took out a article in the NYT all of which cost me time but is was worth the fight. They replaced my tranny and radiator, given me and additional warranty on the replacments. The downside is that I do not have the same power in the drive that I use too have and now my brake system is a mess. I can only say that the “Truck Era” for this women is coming to an end, I will be going back to BMW when my “Nissan Charriot” decides that he wants to retire. I will never buy another Nissan nor will I accept one as a gift.
I own a 05′ Pathfinder with 107K miles and just flushed a contaminated radiator with ATF mixed in the coolant. I am also experiencing early symptoms of transmission problems with vibration at 40 – 60 mph cruising. I bypassed the transmission lines into the radiator and am taking the car to the dealership today for inspection/diagnosis. I am afraid damage may have begun but plan to document and save all receipts to get my name on the class action lawsuit against Nissan for faulty radiators causing transmission failure.
We own a 2006 XTerra and had the transmission go out due to the defect in the radiator as have many others. I was not aware of any type of lawsuit and see the lawsuit filed by the State of New York has been settled. How do I go about either joining a class-action or gettin my vehicle included in the last settled lawsuit ? Anyone know. ? Please advise if you do. This is so wrong on so many levels. Never another Nissan in my family. Ever !
Anonymous,
See my post below… Kris
Nissan diagnosed this problem in my 2007 pathfinder in Dec 2011 when my truck had 75,000 miles. I brought my truck in for an oil change and the service dept called me and said I need a new transmission and radiator for $6,500. I had a different mechanic fush the transmission, give me a new radiator. The damage couldnt be undone to the tranny but it wouldnt get worse. I drive with OD off so i have no slippage. Now my heat doesnt work as a direct result of these issues. I just recieved word of the class action suit from Nissan with the extended warranty to 100k miles. Now, it was diagnmosed in DEC 2011 by Nissan when i had 75k miles. Now, I have 108,000 miles and they said they cant do anything for me. I bought this car brand new. So mad. Do not yet know my next steps. Any advice?
I just bought a used 2005 Frontier and after about 4 months the same thing happened to me. I took it to the Nissan dealer thinking they knew more about how to fix it and they said they did. they told me the valve body was bad and needed to be replaced and possibly the turbine sensor, so I let them repair it and after the repair it does the same thing? They told me that I might have other problems but they don’t do tranny overhauls but they failed to tell me that up front before I told them to go ahead with the repair. Now I am stuck with having them either send it out or take it back and get it repaired myself? I know this much I will never ever purchase another Nissan at all.
I just paid $2200 last month for a defective drive chain issue in my pathfinder and now I’m showing symptoms of this!!!! I’m not sure what to do. The other repair already caused me so much stress!!! So frustrated I want to just cry.
I’m one of the ‘lucky’ ones who had this happen at 97,000 miles. thank you for filing the class action. this is nonsense to even have to pay a co-pay however. and to make matters worse a new issue with the fuel sending unit on the 2006 frontier which also had the warranty extended instead of replacing the defect has just occured TODAY! now i get to go through all this bull again. Nissan is terrible with service and I will never buy another one. greedy friggin people.
I ended up replacing the transmission at 83,000 miles on our 2007 for cross contamination…..another victim. I’m filing a small claims at the local court against the Nissan of Clovis in California and also Nissan Corporate(manufacturer) for negligence and trying to pass the financial burden to consumers. I was so disappointed with their worthless vehicles and service levels that I sold mine and purchased a newer Toyota SUV.
If they had only notified us about this radiator issue……we could have saved $2000 to $3000. I was charged a total of $3200 for repairs….the $2500 copay and the “other” so called “unassociated issues”. I expected this expensive SUV to last us over 10 years or over 150,000 miles with no major issues but I was wrong……
These are not fair practices for consumers and the class suit/court system in 2012 did not represent us fairly…..they should have ordered a complete RECALL OF THESE WORTHLESS VEHICLES AT FULL COST TO NISSAN & ITS DEALERSHIPS.
I think I am going the small claims rout. 102,000 miles and Nissan will do nothing!
i own a 2007 nissan frontier the radiator failed letting antifreeze into the transmission now i have to repair it for 3200 dollars out of my pocket thank you nissan
Hello.I have a nissan frontier 2008 with 92000 miles and the radiator transmission problem occurred.It is in the shop and is going to cost me $3000.00 deductable.I also do not think this settlement is fair and would like to take Nissan north america to small claims court in New York.Could you please give me some suggestions and also let me know how you proceeded with your claim and what the outcome was.Thanks
have you had any luck with this approach? I am about to file my own small claims suit.
I have a pathfinder with over 120k miles and ran into the same problem. I just submitted a complaint on the safecar.gov website. The more complaints the more attention we get. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, right.
I’m now having this issue as well how did the court process work??
I have a 2007 pathfinder with 170,000 miles on it. It has just now presented the problem. I still owe on it. If they knew it was a problem why do t they make it right for all vehicles!!! It’s not right!!!
What about those vehicles that the problem occurred after $100,000 miles!!! That seems to be when the most of the problems occurred!!! If Nissan took responsibility and had a recall for this problem, all they would have paid for was radiators. Not having consumers come out of pocket for a new or used transmission with a deductible!!!!
I have the same problem. I just bought one 2007 two months ago and I am stuck with the repairs. Please if anyone has any advise!!
my 2006 pathfinder has 112000 mi. onit and manifested about a couple of thousand back me not knowing what happened to it
Have you filed a complaint with the US Dept of Transportation, the number is 888-327-4236 and the website is safercar.gov, according to the representative I spoke to the issue of the ATF fluid contamination is still under investigation but more complaints and data are needed to issue a safety recall involving the radiator assembly and transmission contamination. If you have not done so please file a complaint. Nissan needs to take responsibility for the defect rather than passing the repair cost to the consumer and dodging the issue!!!
I have an 07 and it has 120k and my issue just happened.. Thank God it only left my broke down in my neighborhood and not in the middle of the street somewhere. I think they should have to pay for my issue. My car is sitting in the yard while I gather my $5000 to pay for the fix. My repair man said the radiator and transmission since it leaked into it.
I too have this problem. My car is over 120k miles. How do I submit a complaint?
¿Ha presentado una denuncia ante los EE.UU. Departamento de Transporte, el número es 888-327-4236 y el sitio web es safercar.gov , según el representante hablé con el tema de la contaminación del fluido ATF está todavía bajo investigación , pero más quejas y se necesitan datos para emitir un retiro de seguridad que implica el montaje del radiador y la contaminación de la transmisión. Si no lo ha hecho así que por favor presentar una queja . Nissan tiene que asumir la responsabilidad por el defecto en lugar de pasar el costo de reparación para el consumidor y esquivando el tema !!!
Te go el mismo problema. AAMCO me va a repara la transmision por $3700.00 dolares. Yo acabo de comprar esta Nissan Frontier 2006 de un dealer y la Nissan no quiere pagar la reparacion. No es justo
I’m one those owners with a2005 Pathfinder who no idea about the Radiator/Transmission problem ,I bought
this Pathfinder in 2/5/2011 and it just reached ,100,600 miles and I could get any help. I’m now having it repaired
for 3,500 Dollars .You can not believe what I when though to get an exemption.AT 78 years old monies are
difficult.IS there any way I could get some help I’d really grateful THANK YOU
.
I’m having the same problem but they refused to help me because I’m over 100,000 miles and I serviced my transmission twice at the dealership it wasn’t diagnosed until it broke down on me and I was over 100,000. It’s so unfair!
I just had the same exact thing happen to me. I take my Xterra to the Nissan Dealership to have the oil changed EVERY SINGLE TIME and even asked them if I should be concerned and was told “not unless you start having issues”. My transmission just blew this weekend and when I called Younker Nissan, I was told that because I have over 100,000 miles, the recall doesn’t cover it. When I asked why it wouldn’t have been caught at the many oil changes i have had with them, I was told “it doesn’t happen over night” so there is no way they would have noticed but…its possible it could have been missed but it doesn’t matter becuase Nissan won’t cover it.
Have you filed a complaint with the US Dept of Transportation, the number is 888-327-4236 and the website is safercar.gov, according to the representative I spoke to the issue of the ATF fluid contamination is still under investigation but more complaints and data are needed to issue a safety recall involving the radiator assembly and transmission contamination. If you have not done so please file a complaint. Nissan needs to take responsibility for the defect rather than passing the repair cost to the consumer and dodging the issue!!!
I agree. I am in the predicament of my 2005 Pathfinder transmission failing. I have over 100K on it and have owned it less than the 10 years. The shop is telling me it is a $5,000 fix. I don’t understand why it wasn’t recalled and why Nissan shouldn’t be liable for all repairs if they knew it was an issue.
does this include the1993 nissan it has the same problem and is in my garage undrivable.
thank you