Nissan Class Action Lawsuit Decertified: What it Means for Owners
rve, the radar might mistakenly identify a car in the adjacent lane as an obstacle, and driving uphill in a parking garage could cause the radar to misinterpret a low-hanging overpass as a wall.
To address these issues, Nissan released software updates “S1” in 2018 and “S2” in 2019 to improve target recognition for the affected models.
By August 2022, about 63% of Nissan Rogue, Rogue Sport, Altima, and Kicks owners with ARS 410 radar had upgraded to the S2 software.
The class action lawsuit was filed by Nissan owners claiming that the automatic emergency braking systems activated unexpectedly while driving. The district court judge initially certified the lawsuit for 10 states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
Although plaintiffs argued that a single Nissan radar issue affected all vehicles and posed safety risks, Nissan contended that there were various versions of the products with distinct differences in brake-related warranty claims.
An expert for Nissan testified that owners of newer models were less likely to seek repairs, suggesting that different defects were experienced based on the vehicle model and software version.
Nissan appealed the decision, leading to the Sixth Circuit court decertifying the class action for the 10 states. The court highlighted conflicting evidence regarding a common defect across all owners and the impact of software updates on remedying the alleged flaws.
The case has been remanded back to the district court for further proceedings in light of the appeals court’s opinion.
Notable Nissan owners involved in the lawsuit include Robert Garneau, Nancy Housell, Jeffrey Olkowski, Vaughn Kerkorian, David Turner, Courtney Johnson, Scott Reeves, Lisa Hendrickson, Rhonda Perry, Jane Reeves, and many others.
The lawsuit was filed as In re: Nissan North America Inc Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (Nashville).
