Nissan’s top-selling model has been the Pathfinder, and it was due to this very vehicle that the first class action lawsuit was filed against Nissan. The problem with Nissan’s vehicles in general is that they fail to comply with safety standards required by law. Once again, Nissan was found in violation of local and federal laws, and Nissan quickly learned that it would need millions of dollars in front of it to make good on its defective cars. This is why the company is now being sued for not only failing to produce a safety-rated car but for misleading the public as well. Nissan has denied any wrongdoing in the past, but the real story is about the class action lawsuit itself.
Nissan Pathfinder Transmission Class Action Lawsuit
Class Action Lawsuits A class action lawsuit happens when several people band together to sue one firm or manufacturer over a product defect, like with the Nissan Pathfinder. Under this type of situation, a lawsuit against Nissan was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs were all residents of the State of New York, who all bought and paid for the Nissan Pathfinder vehicle from the Nissan distributor in Kentucky.
Nissan initially refused to grant any warranty or repair for the automobile, stating that it was not a manufactured “product.”
When the car owners brought their vehicles for warranty repairs, they were told by Nissan that there was no such warranty available. As if this was not bad enough news, Nissan further advised them that if they wished to take their vehicle to a local transmission shop, they must bring their vehicle to the shop before the warranty time was up. The owners immediately became suspicious at this point, since they realized that Nissan did not expect their vehicle to break down during its warranty period. Nissan then changed tack, telling the plaintiffs that their vehicle would need a new transmission aftermarket. When confronted with the fact that the new transmission would come at an additional cost, and when they still had not received any payment from Nissan as a result of their warranty dispute, the plaintiffs decided to go to court.
The Nissan Pathfinder is one of the most sought after cars in the country, especially among young males.
However, Nissan’s policy of selling ‘goods only’ created a problem for many car owners, especially those who were purchasing their vehicle “as is” without the expectation of getting a warranty. Due to the illegal actions of Nissan distributors, there were a number of stolen cars, which resulted in the injuries of innocent car owners. The damage that these stolen cars caused to innocent victims brought about millions in damages to the victims, making it one of the largest personal injury lawsuits in history.
The Nissan Pathfinder, like many other “certified” and pre-owned cars, were sold by dealers without taking the proper affirmative steps to ensure that the car was free of manufacturing defects and would therefore be legal to drive.
In the case of the Pathfinder, Nissan had signed a contract with a distributor called Auto Asia, which distributed the cars to Nissan dealers worldwide. When the cars were delivered to Nissan dealers, it is not uncommon for the cars to have been subjected to several factory adjustments and enhancements. The drivers who drove the cars in North America never knew that these enhancements, such as heavy wear and tear on the transmission system, could cause serious and permanent harm to their car’s transmission system. This negligence on the part of Nissan and Auto Asia caused the damages in the form of personal injuries to the owners of the Nissan Pathfinder.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys in this case are asking that the court allow them to award damages based on the car’s actual cash value, which is what the manufacturer recommends for repairing a car. Plaintiffs argue that because Nissan repeatedly recommended that their cars were in good shape and should not be repaired before receiving a warranty, they are entitled to compensation for the repairs they paid for with their hard-earned money. They also claim that Nissan failed to properly warn its consumers of the potential problems with the Pathfinder, which could have easily been discovered during a factory inspection. Nissan has been trying to avoid class action lawsuits in the past, but the company was hit with a class action lawsuit brought by an independent car dealership in California, which has been filing its own lawsuit against Nissan.
In the case of the Honda Civic case, plaintiffs received their compensation much sooner than the Nissan case was denied.
However, the Honda case was denied because plaintiffs did not prove that the car manufacturer was aware of defects and did not take reasonable precautions to repair them prior to selling the cars. In the Nissan case, plaintiffs were able to prove that Nissan knew about the transmission problem long before selling the cars and had access to information about the transmission problems through various internal documents. In addition, plaintiffs proved that Nissan had actual knowledge of the defective cars in its factory inventory and took reasonable precautions to repair the cars that it already sold. Therefore, the judge in the Honda case found that Nissan had actual knowledge of the defect and that the company chose to ignore the problem rather than fix it.
Because the Nissan Pathfinder Class Action Lawsuit is still pending, the plaintiffs in this case are seeking financial damages as well as an order for Nissan to compensate them for past and future medical expenses, suffering, pain and suffering, as well as other compensation. The amount of compensation sought by the plaintiffs is substantial, and plaintiffs are hoping that they will be able to receive as much as nearly six hundred thousand dollars, which would be quite a large recovery for their losses. If you have been or are currently a victim of battery-powered vehicle negligence, you should contact a personal injury attorney who handles such cases to discuss your case. Your attorney can assess your chances of obtaining compensation for your injuries and determine whether you have a strong case for damages.
