Slipping and Overheating Automatic Transmissions

The Nissan Maxima (2004 / 2005 / 2006) seems to have the worst of the worst, but there are reports of similar problems in the Altima (2005 / 2006) and Quest (2004 / 2005 / 2006 / 2007).

Class-Action Lawsuit ∞

A class action lawsuit was filed on on September 30, 2011 accusing Nissan of premature transmission failure in the 2004-06 Maxima, 2005-06 Altima and 2004-07 Quest vehicles with automatic transmission and the 3.5 liter V6 engine.

As stated in the suit, these vehicles are subject to:

"…transmission slippage, premature clutch wear, overheating, and other problems that ultimately result in serious and expensive damage to the vehicles’ transmission."

So in other words, these transmission are crap. And rather than alerting consumers, Nissan "concealed this problem from its customers at the time of purchase or lease and thereafter" should be held accountable.

Class Dismissed ∞

The case didn't get off to a good start when in September 2012, all claims of "breach of implied warranty of merchantability" were dismissed.

The case still had claims of breach of express warranty, unjust enrichment, and consumer fraud to work with.

However, that all came to a screeching halt in December, 2014 when the class-action was decertified. The presiding NJ federal judge ruled that "all the Class claims brought forth by the suit’s named plaintiffs cannot be supported by evidence and are untimely."

The case was Howard Teba v. Nissan North America, Inc. and Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.

Torque converter image by BerndB under Creative Commons