Owners of the 2022 Nissan Sentra and other model have complained of electrical problems. In a recent case, the New Jersey Court determined that the group of problems would meet lemon law criteria.
The Nissan Sentra owner “testified that when the television screen unit went blank (i.e., blacked-out) it affected several of the subject vehicle’s features: the ability to use the phone in a hands-free manner, the ability to plug-in or otherwise use the USB port; the ability to listen to the radio and to view the time clock, the ability to use the navigation feature, and the ability to use the back-up camera. He claimed that when the screen went blank there was a consequent loss of the aforementioned features which, he alleges, constitute nonconformities because they are substantial impairments affecting the vehicle’s use, value or safety.
1. Typical Problems with the Nissan Sentra
Garcia testified about how the loss of each of the aforementioned features affects the use, value or safety of the car. Garcia opined at length about how the loss of the back-up camera constituted a nonconformity. He characterized the loss of the back-up camera as particularity dangerous because the back-up camera is a safety feature designed to warn the operator of the presence of people, animals or things that lay in the car’s path as it travels in reverse gear. He added that the loss of such a feature substantially impairs the car’s re-sale value since most people want the safety that a back-up camera gives them. He added that without a back-up camera, the vehicle is less usable than a vehicle equipped with a working back-up camera. He also noted that he purchased the subject vehicle primarily for his son’s use. His son is a newly-licensed driver, who used a back-up camera throughout his driver training and noted that when license seekers take their road tests they use the back-up camera during the road test.
Garcia testified that on March 9, 2022, March 23, 2022, April 15, 2022 and May 2, 2022 he took the subject vehicle to Route 10 Nissan (‘the dealership”) complaining about the intermittent blackout of the television screen. By “blackout”, he meant that the screen would intermittently go blank. He testified that he told the dealership that when the screen went blank he would lose the ability: to use his phone in a hands-free manner; to connect to the USB port; to listen to the car’s radio; to view the time clock; to use the car’s navigation system; and to use the car’s backup camera.
2. Lemon law
The Court found the problems sufficiently significant to meet the lemon law requirement of a substantial defect.
“I FIND that there is sufficient proof of a continuing problem with the television screen unit, namely the continuing intermittent blackout of the screen, even after the repair attempts performed by the dealership on March 9, 2022; on March 23, 2022; on April 15, 2022; and on May 2, 2022. I FIND that the dealership has not remediated the intermittent television screen unit blackout problem, which has resulted in the intermittent loss of Garcia’s ability to use his phone in a hands-free manner, to use the USB port, to listen to his radio, to view his time clock, to use the car’s on-screen navigation system, and to use the car’s backup camera. However, I also FIND that the repair attempts in the record were made by the dealership, not by the manufacturer.
The Court found the problems with the back-up- camera to meet lemon law criteria
“Garcia claimed that the intermittent loss of his backup camera would pose a serious safety risk for anyone operating the subject vehicle, but especially for new drivers like his son, due to unseen people, animals or objects located to the rear of the backing vehicle or lurking in the blind spots of the vehicle. He claimed that he bought the subject vehicle primarily for his son’ use and that his son was a new driver. He noted that nowadays when new drivers learn to drive, they learn to drive using vehicles that are, for the most part, equipped with backup cameras. He noted that license seekers use backup cameras while actually taking their road tests. Garcia maintained and argued that the intermittent loss of a backup camera is a nonconformity that affects the subject vehicle’s use, value and safety. Garcia emphasized the point that new (or young) drivers depend on the equipment they were trained to use while learning to drive. Thus, when a new driver does not have a backup camera available, it affects his ability to safely drive his vehicle more that it would affect a driver who learned to drive before such cameras became available. It goes without saying that all drivers must, at all times and under all circumstances, exercise vigilance and be prepared to look out for people, animals and objects that might be in the vicinity of their vehicles – whether their backup cameras are operational or not. In years past vehicles lacked safety equipment, which today are recognized as important and which have become standard (even mandated) equipment in new automobiles. The trend today is to recognize backup cameras, like seat belts, as essential safety equipment, even though they have not necessarily become mandatory. See, Pohl v. Ford Motor Company, CMA02461-17. I, therefore CONCLUDE, that the backup camera in the subject vehicle, if indeed operating only intermittently, is a nonconformity that affects the safety of the subject vehicle.”
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