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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
2007 Pathfinder…The lawyers need to emphasize and demand a clause for remedy for those that “Bypassed” the tranny cooler (modified nissans design). Simply put, we modified the original design because of the “documented high probability” for engineering FAILURE of the radiator. Ive owned 3 nissans over the last 28 years and never had to modify any part or do a preventative modification for a component like this tranny. I will be watching this closely for my future purchases.
Nissan has the worst customer service ever…. will never buy another one. I started having problems around 82,000 miles but didn’t diagnose it until 92,000. Replaced the radiator and had the transmission flushed for $500… didn’t gave $5000 to replace the transmission. It lasted until 102,000 miles and the transmission went out of it in Jan. 2012. It has been sitting since and options are limited because I still owe 3 years on it. I had to get a new car and put in the same loan to be able to get to work. It’s not affordable but the monthly payment is better than coming up with $5000 dollars. I am a single mom and Nissan wouldn’t do anything but say they were sorry and it wasn’t a safety concern. My opinion is that if you are driving down the interstate and your vehicle loses power because it won’t change gears it can easily cause an accident like it almost did for me. When I heard about the copayment I thought I would get Nissans part that they were going to contribute and I could go and get a used transmission for under $2000 but of course they are going to make money because you have to have the work done through them….doesn’t seem like they are out of anything. Nissan is a sorry excuse for a company and I will make sure everyone I know never buys another Nissan. I am a very loyal customer and they could have had a customer for life… But not now.
I have a 2006 pathfinder and in July 2012 the trans went out at 111,850 miles. In Novemeber 2011 I had the trans flushed at 99,623 miles and Nissan did not let me know of any issues of this problem. The total cost of a new trans and radiator was $5,594. Nissan should have recalled this issue and or reimbursed all who own a 2005-2010 Pathfinder, Frontier, and Xterra.
I Just called the service dept at Nissa. The service manager said that there is nothing you can replace so the transmission and radiator do not crack.
Then he said you can flush the radiator every 30,000 miles and change the transmission fluid aslo.
That may help but if it goes out it just goes. I have 120,000 miles now so it would all be on me.
I agree that the settlement only benifits Nissan and the Attorneys. I’ll bet the attorneys don’t drive a Nissan.
But with this settlement they will be driving a new Beemer or MB. The consumer gets screwed again.
I called nissan of north america about my 2005 frontier brand. new worry about this plus the dealer made me purchase extra insurance coverage from them. and they said we dont know of any problems with this truck. i told them i still want a clam # just in case this happens. they put me on hold for wile. then came back to tell to take it to the dealer to check it. well if they didnt know about this when i called them on october 2012 why are they sending me to the dealer!!! O i get it to make more money from my visit because it cost me… It will b my last lemon aid..
I have 2004 Xterra that did the same thing. Does anyone know if I have any recourse?
2005 Pathfinder, 125,00 miles. No problems yet. So, on the class action suit it states “10 years or 100,000, which ever is less”. I take it to mean that if something does occur its on me. Seems to me that the problems are post the 100,000 mark. Obviously the consumer is not being compensated here. These class actions never fare well for the consumer but fare quite well for the laws firms representing the consumer.
my 2006 pathfinder has 112000 mi. onit and manifested about a couple of thousand back me not knowing what happened to it and u r very riight steve jones. nissans the rat and just made the attorneys richher.
I got everyone here beat I think. I had to buy a brand new Nissan. Why? Because I had no money for a down payment let alone a new transmission and they of course refused to pay for a replacement transmission saying that Nissan did not consider the Transmission going out a safety issue. I am still hot about having to buy a new car weekend right before Christmas 2011. Guess what I would have been done with the first one October of 2012. So I had to start all over again. Personally I think they should be paying off my new one, instead of giving me back the $2000 I spent on towing and a new radiator and other things. Nissan should pay off my freakin new vehicle note I was forced to give into.
I also replaced my 2005 transmission and radiator, last year. I had a rental car for 5-6 weeks too!
Have this issue. Went to Nissan and they said I have the 3k option. Looked into it and was told they are using refurbished transmissions not new ones. Went to a local mechanic and was quoted under 3k for the same work using a refurbished transmission. How is Nissan helping with the cost? To me it sounds like they are making money.