LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A class action lawsuit seeks restitution for an apparently faulty transmission in some recent models of the Nissan Pathfinder.
According to a lawsuit filed on March 30 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Gerardo Torres and Angela Matlin are leading a class action complaint against Nissan North America Inc, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and 10 unnamed individuals.
Nissan removed the case to U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on April 30 under the Class Action Fairness Act.
U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles
The 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 that 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,” the lawsuit states.
Ultimately, the lawsuit states, the class action was brought because the transmissions had flaws that were causing “shaking, juddering, 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.
Ultimately, the lawsuit alleges that Nissan hid a “transmission defect” in these engines.
The plaintiffs, citing violations of the state Consumer Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, as well as breaches of implied and express warranty, seek a jury trial for the recognition of the class; to demand that Nissan obey all pertaining laws; and award unspecified compensatory, exemplary and statutory damages, restitution, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Jordan L. Lurie, Robert Friedl, Tarek H. Zobdy and Cody R. Padgett of Capsione Law APC in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:15-cv-03251
