… you may be able to be compensated for your rusted-out floor pan. This settlement applies only to 2002-2006 Nissan Altimas, and 2004-2008 Maximas.
It seems like it would be nearly impossible in a state like Missouri, any state w/ salted roads, to design a car where floor pans simply would never rust enough to require repairs or replacement. If I had stayed living in Colorado my now-daily-driver truck would have been in the crusher years ago from rust caused by salted roads. Is new car rust-proofing so good now that other brands just don’t have this problem any more? There’s no rust problems at all on my 30 year old Corolla, but other than the infrequent ski-resort trip, very little salted road use.
You’re probably correct, but that Missouri case makes me wonder about the fate of Nissans from The Northeast, where roads are salted much more often than in Missouri.
In Colorado — 30+ years ago anyway— it would be pretty unusual to keep a daily-driver family car on the road for longer than 10-15 years. Rust from salted roads would just eat away the metal parts. Quite a few years ago I visited a friend in Boston. He had one of the first Accords, probably 7 or 8 years old at the time. As we drove I could see the road surface going by through holes in the floor … lol …
I’ve lived in Missouri since the mid 70’s and I’ve owned some real junkers but the only car that had a rusted floor was a 1993 Chevy Corsica.
Missouri is definitely not the easiest on cars for rust. It seems all my friends who have lived somewhere farther north such as Chicago have some real stories with cars about to fall in half because of rust though so I don’t feel Missouri is the worst state for this.
Also, I don’t see anything saying you must live in Missouri to be part of this class action.
The lawsuit only involves vehicles that currently are, or at the time of repair were, registered in Missouri.
The Court dismissed all claims except the Missouri Merchandising Practice Act, which it certified for class treatment.
To be eligible to receive the benefits of this Settlement, you must either: (1) currently own or lease a Class Vehicle, or (2) previously owned or leased a Class Vehicle and paid for repairs to rust in a front floor pan of a Class Vehicle.
“Class Vehicle” is defined as a Missouri-registered:
• Nissan Altima (limited to model years 2002-2006), and
• Nissan Maxima (limited to model years 2004-2008).
I suppose that someone could reside in another state, as long as their Nissan is/was registered in Missouri.
OK, I guess I missed that. I thought it was for North America. This is definitely a legal limitation as Missouri is by far not the only or the worst state for rusted out cars.
So road salt is known in the State of Missouri to cause rusted out floor pans in 02-06 Nissan Altimas.
Missouri isn’t as bad with road salt as places farther north like Illinois. But trapped moisture combined with salt can destroy things rather quickly. Even if the vehicle was exposed to salt for a short time the salt will stay ther as it doesn’t evaporate when the water does.
They typically last 10 to 20 years with the factory paint before rust starts to set in, depending on the quality of the factory paint. Then it takes another 10 to 20 years for them to rust through from the bottom after the paint fails. On light truck frames they’ve been using a lower quality paint that begins to fail in road salt areas in as little as 6 years, which is why 15 year old trucks are needing frame repairs or replacements.
The floor pans are an important thing to protect because the square unibody frame is welded under them. If that rusts the vehicle loses a lot of its crash structure.
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