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A Nissan transmission lawsuit settlement has been reached because four vehicle owners claim the continuously variable transmissions are defective.
The Nissan CVT class action lawsuit, filed in October 2022, alleges 2015-2018 Nissan Murano and 2016-2018 Nissan Maxima vehicles are equipped with defective transmissions.
Although Nissan agreed to the settlement, the automaker “denies all allegations of wrongdoing, fault, liability or damage of any kind to Plaintiffs or the Settlement Class, denies that it acted improperly or wrongfully in any way, and believes that this litigation is without merit.”
The plaintiffs told the court they wanted Nissan to replace all the defective CVTs in every vehicle with non-defective transmissions. The plaintiffs also said Nissan should immediately stop selling and leasing all the vehicles at dealerships nationwide and to tell purchasers the transmissions are defective.
However, those plaintiffs settled for much less.
Nissan CVT Lawsuit Settlement — Warranty Extension
Pay close attention to these terms because the extended transmission warranty has likely already expired for certain owners before the settlement is even final.
According to the CVT settlement, Nissan will extend the warranty for the transmission assembly (including the valve body and torque converter) and automatic transmission control unit (ATCU) to 84 months (7 years) or 84,000 miles, whichever occurs first, as measured from the vehicle’s original start date and mileage.
However, the vehicles included in the transmission lawsuit settlement are 2015-2018 Nissan Muranos and 2016-2018 Nissan Maximas. This necessarily means the seven year extended warranty, which begins from the in-service date of the vehicle, has already expired for many if not most Nissan customers.
Nissan CVT Lawsuit Settlement — Reimbursement
This only applies if you paid your own money for “qualifying” transmission repairs.
According to the CVT settlement, Nissan will reimburse a customer who previously paid for qualifying repairs involving the replacement of or repair to the transmission assembly or ATCU if the work was done after the expiration of the powertrain coverage under the original new vehicle limited warranty but within the mileage and time limits of the warranty extension.
If the replacement or repair was performed by a Nissan dealer, the full amount paid will be reimbursed. If the repair or replacement was performed by a non-Nissan facility, Nissan will reimburse up to $5,000 for that repair or replacement.
NOTE: In both cases, the replacement or repair must have occurred on or within the mileage and time limits of the warranty extension.
If you paid for repairs on more than one occasion, you can be reimbursed for all qualifying repairs.
Nissan CVT Lawsuit Settlement — New Vehicle Voucher
Common sense dictates if a vehicle owner is so upset with an automaker as to be part of a lawsuit, that consumer likely wouldn’t be interested in doing more business with that automaker.
But the Nissan CVT settlement says a benefit of the settlement is a voucher toward the purchase or lease of a new Nissan or Infiniti vehicle.
“Current and former owners of Class Vehicles who had two (2) or more replacements or repairs to the transmission assembly (including the valve body and torque converter) or ATCU during their ownership experience (as reflected by NNA warranty records) are eligible for a Voucher in the amount of $1,500 for either a purchase or lease of a single new Nissan or Infiniti vehicle.” — Nissan CVT lawsuit settlement agreement
The settlement says prior software updates and/or reprogramming do not count as a prior repair. And to use the voucher, it must be done within nine months of the effective date of the CVT settlement.
On top of that, any Nissan customer eligible for a voucher but also eligible for reimbursement must choose to receive the voucher or reimbursement, but not both.
According to the Nissan settlement agreement, these four Nissan owners who filed the lawsuit will receive $5,000 each: Travis Beaver, Luz Pineda, Susanne Hanes and Carl Kirksey.
The settlement says the lawyers representing Nissan owners will receive $3,450,000 for fees and expenses.
Nothing is official until a final fairness hearing is held July 18, 2025.
The Nissan CVT class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee: Travis Beaver, et al., v. Nissan of North America, Inc., et al., number 3:22-cv-00785.
The plaintiffs are represented by Pearson Warshaw, LLP, Miller Shah LLP, Capstone Law APC, Greenstone Law APC, Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC, Maddox & Cisneros, LLP, and Berger Montague P.C.