A class-action lawsuit seeks restitution for an allegedly faulty transmission in some recent models of the Nissan Pathfinder.
Gerardo Torres and Angela Matlin filed a class action lawsuit March 30 in California Superior Court Los Angeles County against Nissan North America Inc, Nissan Motor Co. and 10 unnamed individuals.
This lawsuit seeks to recover damages for Californians who bought a 2013 or 2014 Nissan Pathfinder, with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The lawsuit states the defendants portrayed CVT as a way to satisfy buyers' desire for more efficiency while maintaining the horsepower from previous models and having an engine that could achieve "the ideal rpm for the conditions
at hand, offering responsive power for passing or towing when needed and quiet efficient running at cruising speeds or around town."
However, those who bought Pathfinders probably were disappointed when they learned the company's CEO said Nissan was having complaints and performance issues with the CVT transmission, blaming the issues on Jatco, the company that supplied the CVTs, the suit says. Ultimately, the lawsuit states, the class action was brought because the transmissions had flaws that caused shaking, "shuddering, jerking, delayed acceleration and, eventually, transmission failure."
In April 2014, Nissan issued a recall of the vehicles, focused on problems with the internal oil cooler hose, but the problems allegedly persisted, although Nissan continued to pump up hype for the CVT, according to the lawsuit. The suit alleges Nissan hid a "transmission defect" in these engines.
The plaintiffs cite violations of the state Consumer Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, as well as breaches of implied and express warranty.
Torres and Matlin seek a jury trial for the recognition of the class to: demand Nissan obey all pertaining laws; and award unspecified compensatory, exemplary and statutory damages, restitution, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees and court costs. They
are represented by attorneys Jordan L. Lurie, Robert Friedl, Tarek H. Zobdy and Cody R. Padgett of Capsione Law in Los Angeles.
California Superior Court Los Angeles County case number: BC577204.