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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
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222 thoughts onNissan Radiator Defect Class Action Settlement Reached
My 2001 Xterra is having this same problem! Gonna fix it myself with a new radiator and a flush, install a transmission cooler and flush the fluid in it as well. Isnt the world so unfair sometimes?!!
My problem started when my Pathfinder had 125K miles. I spent over 5K in repairs. We should no be eliminated from the class action because of miles on a vehicle. This is grounds for another class action law suit. How can the courts discriminate against a group of people that have over 100K miles but the problem is the same like the 80K to 100K miles vehicle owners. This is unfair and the lawyers representing our side are selling us out. Why they are not deny the offer and file an appeal on our behalf. Why CBS and NBC is not covering this Unfair Class Action case.
Barry, see my post…
Are you in?
We are SO ALL IN. What can we do? Any word?
I stop every person I can that is driving a Nissan with this known problem and the story is always the same.If they only were informed by Nissan they would have had the problem radiator replaced.Most of them say it was too late and they had to foot a major repair bill.Not Fair Nissan!!!!
I encourage everyone who is having this problem to add to this list. I am hoping that new car owners research before buying and bring up this site. This is not a done deal!. The settlement reached was a joke. The problem does not occur until at least 80000-100000 miles. Eventually you will not see any of these 2005-20010 vehicles on the road because it will not be cost effective to put that much money into repairs for a 5 to 10 year old vehicle. As one Nissan master mechanic mentioned ‘It is not if it happens, it is when it happens’
MJ, see my post below.. Are you in?
maybe this has been answered but are people who have a manual tranny havign the same problem. i am looking at a xterra with a 6speed and was wondering if i should steer clear. i had a 2001 xterra i really like the looks of this suv and would buy one again but and nervous with all the problems with the auto
We just bought a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder. It currently is sitting at a repair shop. It will end up costing us around 6 grand and the auto shop stated to me that they currently have my same pathfinder with the same problems in their shop. The dealership made many promises they did not follow through with. we are broke and frustrated and still owe a good amount of money on our Pathfinder. Please Help… I have been advised to make a noise, but I have noticed many others have done so and not received any recourse. We called Nissan and got a claim number because our mileage is at 119000. We need a recall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sam, See my post below.. are you in?
I am now in the same boat. 2007 Nissan xterra. Does anyone know if it is too late to join this suit or would we have to take to to small claims court? What recourse do current owns have that were not part of the suit.
Mark, See my post below.. Are you in?
na 10 ranek sąsiadującego sobotę rano . To pył byćdzień, jak należący do mnie objęcia Morfeusza lekcyj unosić się w powietrzu stanie sięrzeczywistością , zaś przynajmniej
I’m now in the club. I recently had my 2005 Frontier LE Auto diagnosed with the ‘mixing’ issue while being serviced for another issue that caused me to be stranded in an intersection last week. The proposed repairs offered up by Nissan were exorbitant, obviously designed that way to prompt me to want to trade up to a new vehicle. I am opting to have them fix the electrical issues that are beyond my skillset so that I can get the vehicle home under its own power. Then I will replace the radiator, have the transmission flushed, and pray for the best.
It is ridiculous that Nissan is refusing to take responsibility for this issue for the owner population that is most affected (those with 1k miles or more).
I will never buy Nissan again (have owned 3), and will recommend that all friends & family do the same.
My sister is having this same problem. Without warning her Pathfinder didn’t start. She had it towed to Nissan and they stated she needed a new Transmission and Radiator. She is still paying on this vehicle and it now has over 100,000 miles. Can we start a new lawsuit about this?
SM, see my post below.. are you in?