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Nissan Settles GT-R Class Action

Suit alleged defects in supercar led to transmission failure

By Jon Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 23, 2009
Nissan has agreed to replace the so-called launch control on its high-end GT-R sports coupe, bringing to an end a saga that started with one owner's truly horrifying story.

In October 2008, Autoblog reported that a GT-R owner took his car to the dealership after hearing loud noises in the rear end. The verdict? His transmission was finished, which Nissan said was the direct result of turning off the car's “vehicle dynamic control,” or VDC.

The owner had apparently disengaged the system several times in order to activate the Nissan's “launch control,” which allows the car to shoot from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds (versus a flat 4.0 with launch control turned off).

Nissan informed the owner he was out of luck, as GT-R's owner's manuals warn consumers to never turn off VDC unless trying to extract their car from the snow or mud. He would have to pay the repair costs himself, at a grand total of $20,000.

Much was made of launch control when the GT-R debuted in the States last year, and for good reason. Sixty miles an hour in four seconds would be more than satisfactory for most people, but the GT-R is an enthusiast's car; 3.3 seconds puts it ahead of the Tiptronic version of Porsche's 911 Turbo (which reaches 60 in 3.4 seconds) and even a good number of motorcycles.

In spite of the new system's improved technology, however, consumers whose transmissions fail as a direct result of VDC being turned off will still not be covered.

If a consumer turns VDC off, then back on, and subsequently experiences a failure, the burden is on Nissan to prove that the VDC's disengagement was the cause of the problem. And it's not necessarily easy to game the system; Nissan has previously used “black box” data to determine whether problems were caused by the owner turning VDC off. 2009 GT-R owners will also get a service coupon worth $75.

The GT-R was launched in Japan in late 2007 and burst onto the American scene the following year. While Nissan has had some hits with enthusiasts before – including its 350Z coupe – the GT-R was the company's first American offering designed to compete with European supercars.

At a starting price of $80,790, the GT-R is not cheap by conventional standards, but pitted against, say, a Maserati GranTurino – at $117,500 – it's a downright steal. It also competes favorably with the 911 Carrera, which starts at a similar $76,300, and, in base form, is nearly a full second slower to 60 miles per hour. Time is money, after all.

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