- The plaintiffs originally sought a full replacement of all defective automatic transmissions.
- Nissan will reimburse customers for qualifying repairs made outside the warranty period.
- A fairness hearing has been scheduled for July 18 before the settlement is approved.
A class action lawsuit against Nissan claiming defective CVTs in certain models has reached a settlement after more than two years of legal back-and-forth. If you were part of the class, there’s a chance you might get some cash back for out-of-pocket transmission repairs. Meanwhile, the four plaintiffs involved will walk away with a modest $5,000 each for a total $20,000. But that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the $3.5 million payday the attorneys will be celebrating with.
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The lawsuit revolved around the CVTs used in 2015-2018 Nissan Murano and 2016-2018 Maxima models. The four plaintiffs initially pushed for a full recall of all defective transmissions. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t happen.
A New, Yet Limited, Warranty Extension
Instead of issuing a recall, Nissan has agreed to extend the warranty for transmission assemblies and automatic transmission control units to 84 months or 84,000 miles, whichever comes first. That might sound promising, but as Car Complaints points out, for most affected vehicles, this extended warranty has already expired.
For those who’ve already paid for repairs, there’s a silver lining as Nissan has agreed to reimburse costs for transmission or automatic transmission control unit repairs that were done between the expiration of the original powertrain warranty and the new extended coverage period. If the work was performed at a Nissan dealership, the full repair cost will be covered. However, if you had the work done elsewhere, the reimbursement will be capped at $5,000.
Vouchers And Payouts
Nissan will also offer a $1,500 voucher that can be used for the purchase or lease of a new Nissan or Infiniti model. However, not everyone gets the golden ticket. This voucher is available only to those who had two or more transmission replacements or repairs during ownership. And if you’re eligible for both the voucher and the repair reimbursement, you’ll have to choose one, as double-dipping is off the table.
The four plaintiffs may be pocketing $5,000 each, but the real winners here are the attorneys, who will take home a cool $3.5 million. If you were affected, though, there are still steps you can take. You have until July 3 to submit a claim for reimbursement. If you’re unhappy with the settlement, you can object to it before the fairness hearing on July 18.
If nothing else, at least you can say that, after all this time, Nissan has finally acknowledged the CVT issue; just don’t expect any sweeping changes.
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