Outside of a car engine, no other automotive part means more to vehicle owners than the performance delivered by the transmission. Nissan has discovered that designing and manufacturing faulty transmissions can lead to costly litigation.
The Nissan, Infiniti class action settlement ends three different class action lawsuits filed by a combined six plaintiffs. At the heart of each class action lawsuit is the allegation that Nissan’s FK-*k2 continuously variable transmission (CVT) delivers subpar performance that includes vibrations during vehicle acceleration.
Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit assert the transmission defect places drivers at risk for injury or death. The class action lawsuit includes language that forces Nissan to admit the company knew about the transmission defects, especially for the Infiniti model. However, the class action settlement contains no language that even infers Nissan knew about the transmission defects. The court that approved the preliminary class action settlement has not found Nissan liable for knowingly selling models that included defective transmissions.
What You Need to Know
The settlement in the Nissan and Infiniti class action lawsuit received preliminary approval in the fall of 2016. According to the class action settlement website for the case, www.NissanCVTLitigation.com, “The settlement Class includes all persons who within the U.S. or its territories, including Puerto Rico, purchased or leased a Nissan Pathfinder from model years 2013 to 2014 or an Infiniti JX35/QX60 from model years 2013 to 2014 that was equipped with an FK-*k2 continuously variable transmission.” Class members automatically benefit from the settlement, unless they opt out of class membership. You have until May 17, 2017 to opt out of the settlement.
The potential award varies depending on the severity of the transmission defects. Class counsel expects most of the class members to receive cash compensation, with a small segment of class members qualifying for warranty extensions. “Former owners of a Class vehicle who had at least two repairs or replacements of the transmission assembly, valve body or torque converter while they owned the vehicle may qualify for special pricing on the purchase or lease of a new Nissan or Infiniti vehicle under the Vehicle Purchase Program, also known as VPP Pricing,” according to the class action settlement website.
Kenai Batista, et al. v. Nissan North America Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-24728, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida conducts the case’s final hearing on June 21, 2017. Class counsel attorneys F. Jerome Tapley, Hirlye R. “Ryan” Lutz, III, and Adam W. Pittman represent the law firm Cory Watson PC. Attorneys from Weil Quaranta PA, Newsome Melton LLP, Berger & Montague, and Capstone Law APC also have attorneys litigating the class action settlement for the plaintiffs.
