NHTSA Complaint #11438654 — 2018 NISSAN VERSA

I have a 5 speed manual transmission that has a defective throwout bearing clutch assembly that 'sticks' and does not engage or release in a smooth manner. Each shift is 'jerky' when the clutch pedal is released and the power transfer from gear to gear is is a sudden jerk instead of a smooth continuation of acceleration. Downshifting is not as jerky as up thru the gears shifting. My assumption is the folks who assembled the transmission and connected it to the engine did not line all parts in a straight line, so that the throwout bearing clutch plate mechanism is not perfectly balanced, along with the hydraulically controlled throw out bearing clutch plate mechanism forcing these items to over ride the off centered spinning mass to re-connect with a sudden jerk to complete the up shifted gear power transmission. I get the sensation of the clutch being 'ridden' even tho' the clutch pedal has been completely released back to its start position. Quite often when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, the clutch gets released but the gear is still in 2nd and not in 3rd, I have to resort to pushing the clutch pedal down again and releasing it so that 3rd gear engages. Getting into reverse is not easy, either. It takes 2 or 3 attempts from neutral to get the gear shift lever to get into position to allow the reverse gear to get engaged. It was like this from day 1. Nissan mechanics tell me the car is so new, it will take time for this stiffness to ease off. Well, 3 years later that never happened. The transmission/clutch/throwout bearing assembly was mounted in a defective manner at the factory, Nissan refuses to acknowledge this mistake. A recall is mandatory so that these defective transmission/clutch/throwout bearing have to be replaced and installed to original factory specs, with the engine out of the car to ensure the alignment/balancing required can be done properly. In the Army the expression...MAKE IT HAPPEN ... applies here.