Nissan GT-R Class Action Lawsuit (and video of GT-R Outrunning a Police Officer)
Well, the public details on the first class-action lawsuit against Nissan for their GT-R Launch Control warranty voiding feature came out this week, and they're fairly interesting. I'm sure all of you know about the feature already, and how it could potentially blow up your valuable transmission, void your warranty, and cost you a ton of money. Well, Nissan's doing their best to save some face with all of this and handle to the best of their (Still financially sound) ability. Can't say I totally agree with it, but it's something at least. Larry over at AutomotiveAddicts wrote a pretty good write-up on the events of the lawsuit, so I'll repost that info here for you to digest:
"Just about every car enthusiast knows a little bit about the Nissan GT-R and the infamous ‘launch control feature’ that will void your warranty if it is used (to obtain the claimed 3.4second 0-60mph times). The fact of the matter is we can argue back and forth about how Nissan handled the situation. Mr. Torres’ recent class action lawsuit was settled last year and now the details have been made public with Nissan now taking certain actions.
In the settlement, Nissan denies all fault saying, “Nissan denies all the allegations in the lawsuit. More specifically, Nissan denies that there was a design or manufacturing defect, denies misrepresenting the performance capabilities of the 2009 GT-R, and denies that it refused to honor customer warranties for resulting damage without disclosure.”
Because of the settlement Nissan is now offering any 2009 Nissan GT-R owner a transmission software upgrade which we clarified some time ago when Nissan first said they would reprogram transmissions to lessen the likelihood of failure. Nissan will not deny warranty coverage for those who used their GT-R with the VDC (vehicle dynamic control – a form of traction control) off prior to receiving the notice from Nissan. Remember using the vehicle with VDC off in the ‘launch mode’ would void your warranty before? The kicker is, some owners who have grenaded trannys may still have to dish out some serious bucks or take it up in the courts like Torres did. To top off the whole situation, Nissan is pimp-slapping everyone by offering a $75 coupon for owners who sign the paperwork to get the transmission upgrade."
Side note: Here's a pretty fantastic video of a person using their GT-R to do what every GT-R owner dreams of doing: run away from the police. It's definitely helpful when said police are chasing you in a van. A cool video, with a bit of audio cut out to protect those involved, shows just how impressive the GT-R can be over a standard, every-day, vehicle (like a van) even when it's pushing itself to the limit. I guess if I had to run from the police, GT-R would be my first choice of vehicle to do with.
All of that being said, I do not recommend anyone out there ever do this as it's even more illegal and dangerous than it is cool. Which is impressive, as it is super cool.