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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
alguien puede informarme si califica mi pathfinder es 2005 con 109k con el mismo problema
Do what I did,. For $32.00 you can buy an aftermarket trans. cooler, bypass the radiator and get rid of the trans cooler on the vehicle and install the new and better cooler. That is what I did on my 07 Frontier. Problem solved and it did not cost $3,800 and Nissan could do the same thing if they have half a brain .
So that took care of the problem Ricky??
We bought a 2005 Pathfinder brand new from the dealership in 2006. Every single maintenance item has been done at the dealership. This summer (2015) my wife had the vehicle in the shop to change the oil at 76000 miles. The dealership in Staunton, VA said they did a 100 point inspection. On the way home the wife noticed the transmission sort of act funny on the interstate. I took it out and drove it and felt the slip. Brought it back home and went to check the fluid and found the transmission dipstick bolted. So, I did some digging and found out about the radiator issue. Sure enough, pulled the cap off the radiator and it was full of pinkish frothy foam. Long story short, the dealership denied anything wrong when it was there and Nissan North America claimed our vehicle was not among the vehicles that should of been recalled. Fortunately, I replaced the radiator and flushed the coolant 3 times and have drained and flushed the transmission 5 times and the vehicle seams to be operating normally again. I have spent close to $1000 dollars in parts, materials and disposal fees. I still intend on rerouting the transmission coolant through a secondary cooler and bypassing the radiator cooling section.
we have the same issue and way over those miles.. seems if a part is defective they should have to fix it for all vehicles that part is on.. Ours stopped working in the middle of a busy road then left us stranded.. on Christmas.. The frontier we have is an 07 and its had the gas gauge issue and an in cabin air filter issue all way after the supposed miles they fix things at!
I’m certainly interested in your statement and agree… what information can you provide to me regarding this matter.
Curious to know if this radiator leak has happened in any Altimas? We are going through an eerily similar story but the recall doesn’t include Altimas.
tengo una nissan frontier 2008 85000 millas que le paso lo mismo que peudo hacer????
My 2005 Pathfinder is now sitting in the garage, as I am unable to drive because of the transmission slipping dangerously. I have taken it in for diagnosis over three times, and the first two times nothing could be found, as it did not slip when test driven. The service manager told me of the history of this vehicle and advised me to sell it before it got any worse, because it probably was the result of the radiator leaking into the transmission. I have continued to drive it only when necessary..(It just turned over 75K miles)….now the gauges have gone haywire, gas guage shows empty, then full, and service engine lights on and off on a regular basis. Tried to get it registered this month and the emissions test shows possible catalytic converter issues. Will probably end up taking to an auction house to get rid of it. Still looks like new on the inside. Will never purchase Nissan again, and I have had several.
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!!!
Soy de Jalisco, Mexico hace un par de meses compre mi Xterra 2005 y empezo con este problema del radiador pensava llevarlo a revicion pero leeyendo sus esperiencias creo que es mas grave de lo que pensava alguien save si en Mexico se esta aplicandom esta garantia o solo en USA
https://www.change.org/p/nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-please-help-nissan-refused-to-fix-my-armada-2004-because-it-wasn-t-in-the-lawsuit-even-though-it-was-the-same-problem