CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005-2007 Pathfinder appears to have a widespread defect where coolant leaks into the transmission, causing transmission failure around 90,000 miles. Repair costs are typically upwards of $3,500.
According to the New York Times & a class action lawsuit, the defect actually extends through 2010 model year. More info here.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
106,074 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Our radiator in our vehicle began mixing fluid with the transmission fluid. This caused erratic driving while on the highway and poor and very shaky acceleration. We were lucky to not have had the transmission seize on the highway causing a major accident. We brought the vehicle to the dealer where this was diagnosed and they told us the entire radiator and transmission had to be replaced. We filed a claim with Nissan usa, but it was denied. The time frame for the warranty was covered, but we had slightly exceeded the mileage warranty. This has happened with multiple vehicles of the same type and a class action lawsuit is currently pending. I would like to make aware that this should be a recall by Nissan for the problem as this is an extreme safety hazard.
There's a transmission fluid line that run in the radiator to cool the fluid. The transmission fluid line cracked inside the radiator causing radiator fluid to leak inside my transmission. It destroyed my transmission causing a $5,000 repair bill.
Memorial day weekend we were in heavy traffic due to being a Saturday and also a holiday weekend. Mph was 40 and our SUV suddenly lurched violently forward. Thankfully my husband has fast reflexes and is a very good driver and managed to get control of the car or there would have certainly been bad consequences due to where we were. We also realized there were other signs that something was very wrong and had it taken to a Nissan service shop. This is from their notes: "they found internal transmission failure due to auto trans cooler which is internal part of the radiator let go, remove radiator and perform engine/coolant flush twice flush out trans lines twice and replace auto trans with factory reman unit and radiator." They took the SUV June 6th and we did not get it back until Aug 6th due to Nissan having trouble filling all the transmission replacements because of so many of the same transmission/radiator failures and we were told this by the Nissan service technician. Paying the almost $6000. And losing our second vehicle for 2 months was frustrating but that we could have been very seriously injured or worse, on top of the many surrounding vehicles and drivers who would have been affected when the SUV went out of control lurching forward as it did it is shocking to us that Nissan has done nothing about this for years. We can live without the money. We are grateful we came out of it safe. From so many others reporting the same dangerous symptoms of the well known problems to us is scary.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that when driving at any speed the vehicle would shake abnormally. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed but the contact believed that the transmission was defective. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 117,000 and the current mileage was 118,000.
On 9/5/2008 I took my Pathfinder to giles Nissan in lafayette, la because I experienced several occasions where the vehicle would accelerate by itself. There were also occasions where the vehicle would not accelerate at all when the gas petal was pushed, essentially the engine would "rev" up but the car wouldn't move. Giles Nissan kept the vehicle for six days and I was told they could not find anything wrong with it. At the time, mileage was at 51,425, which would have still been covered under the 60,000 mile warranty. Nissan was aware of the radiator coolant leaking into the transmission problem at this point, and if it would have been fixed when I first noticed the problem all of this could have been resolved right then. However, it was not and several months later, in April of 2009, the problems continued, and I no longer felt it was safe to drive the vehicle, as it would stop accelerating altogether, sometimes while driving on the interstate. I took the car to leblanc Nissan in baton rouge, where they informed me I would need to replace the transmission & radiator, and by this time I was over the 60,000/5 year warranty. The estimate was approximately $7,000, and we were told by the service manager that Nissan would not be paying for any of the repairs. There was no way I could afford to pay this much money, so I took my Pathfinder to an independent mechanic specializing in transmission work. He suggested that he could rebuild the transmission and flush the radiator although he warned I may still have problems in the future (which was true). The mechanic also advised that I would need to get a complete radiator flush two or three months later to make sure there was no more leakage. Since then, I have had transmission work done two more times, and to this day the transmission continues to sip. Nissan refuses to reimburse any money whatsoever.
- Baton Rouge, LA, USA
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I was traveling on interstate I-95-N near exit 7 at a high rate of speed, my transmission failed due to a crack(fault )in the radiator assembly unit. As I attempted to exit the interstate while losing speed, I was almost rear ended by a tractor trailer and hit by another car. Eventually, after coasting down hill to an intersection of center of new england/ new london turnpike, had to get out and push the vehicle with help from other persons to nearest service station. Nissan extended warranty on radiator assembly unit to 8yr/80,000. I have 6yrs+/92000, took extremely good care of this vehicle and am now being told I need to pay $6,500 to fix vehicle (while I still owe $12,000). Should have been a recall before someone gets killed (if not already) and /or the warranty should be offered for at least 120,000 miles. What a poor attempt to cover up an obvious design flaw, while trying to hide from their obvious liabilities for this situation.
I was driving on the freeway when my transmission went out. I was headed on the 15 North up a small hill and was barely able to get it pulled over without causing an accident. When I had it taken to the shop to check what happened, the coolant had mixed with the transmission fluid and that killed it. This is a known problem from Nissan and the only thing they did was extend the warranty to only 80,000 miles. Mine had 84,000 when it happened and I am out of luck. Nissan gave me a quote of around $6000 to repair something that was a design flaw!!! they would not even work with me to give me a discount as im so close to their extended warranty. Sometimes a company should do whats right... Nissan is not one of those companies.
While driving a normal hwy speeds, the car suddenly lost all forward speed and began to slow. Engine continued to run, although, there was no propulsion to the rear wheels. Had Pathfinder towed to Nissan dealer ( bankston lewisville, tx) where is was determined that this was a radiator/transmission contamination failure. Opened case number with Nissan requesting assistance with repair. Awaiting a response, however, was told that "it did not look good" as we do not have a lot of service history with the dealership. I've owned 8 Nissan over the past 20 years and obviously loyal to the brand. This is a dangerous failure, occurs without warning and could potentially be deadly.
2005 Nissan Pathfinder faulty radiator leaked coolant into transmission, destroying the transmission.causes the vehicle to not accelerate. Nissan is aware of this problem and has not issued a recall. I am just glad this did not happen in the middle of an intersection with my wife and daughter. Terrible engineering, terrible vehicle, my last Nissan.
Complete transmission failure. Radiator and transmission fluid mixed together destroying the transmission. Vehicle will now not even start because of inline computer inside transmission.
Radiator coolant leaked into my transmission, with cross contamination into the radiator at 96,000 miles. There is a known defect of radiators failing from the inside, leaking coolant, thus ruining the transmission. Nissan extended radiator warranty to 80,000 miles but most failure is between 80K-120K. I had radiator replaced and a transmission flush for $900. I fear the transmission is ruined. Nissan should have notified all owners of this potential problem rather than ignoring it.
I began to have trouble when attempting to accelerate, the car appeared to stay in low gear. Took it to Nissan they recommended to replace the radiator and transmission for $5,000! I bought this car on good faith knowing Nissan is a quality product and this is now happening. Nissan apparently knows about the issues with a leak starting in the radiator, and leaking fluids into the transmission, which causes the transmission to go out. Nissan extended the warranty on the radiator till 80,000 miles knowing about this problem, but after doing research everyone having the problem is over 80,000 miles! Nissan will not do a recall! this is unbelievable. I paid very good money for this car, and now have to spend another $5,000 to repair, with a known problem that Nissan will not cover. I will never purchase another Nissan vehicle, since they do not apparently care about their customers.
The check engine light came on in the vehicle and the car stalled or wouldn't accelerate after the gas pedal was pushed. We took the vehicle to the Nissan dealership and were told that there was a crack in the radiator and were advised to have it replaced and also flush the transmission to remove any radiator fluid. Paid over $1000 for the replacement. Picked up the vehicle on 4/11/12. On the evening of 4/12/12 the car stalled and wouldn't accelerate again while in drive, check engine light came back on. We had the car towed to the dealership and now we have been advised to replace the transmission ($4700 repair). Have not moved forward with the repair but found that other owners have experienced the same problem. Hoping to participate in a lawsuit to avoid this issue for other owners in the future. On March 26 approx. We took the car to the dealership to address an issue we were having when we started the car. Sometimes the car would jump at the start as if it were in drive. The issue couldn't be found by he service tech so they advised us to get a tune up. We paid over $500 that week for a tune up. The car was inspected at that service visit but nothing was mentioned or noticed about the radiator. We wondered how this catastrophic breakdown could appear out of nowhere. The problem happened a few days after the car was serviced and inspected.
My wife noticed acceleration decreasing and then when she change the gear to drive the car didn't move. Then, it finally went into drive. We took it to dealership and they stated the radiator and transmission will have to be replaced due to radiator fluid leaking into the transmission. We heard about this issue happening frequently with other Nissan Pathfinders. Therefore, we contacted 1-800-nissan1 to see if we could get some kind of help. I talked to a representative named [xxx] from a company that creates a case with the hope that Nissan will cover the costs. After two and half weeks a decision was made not to cover the cost of repair due to the car was bought used and it is over the 80,000 mile extended warranty. If it is a defect, isn't the manufacturer responsible. This is not caused by the consumer and is not wear and tear. I have a Nissan Altima with over 230,000 miles and the transmission is still producing. I loved Nissan cars up until this very moment. I have been researching to purchase another Nissan, but after this my mind has changed. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that when driving 40 mph or above, the engine would flood, causing the vehicle to hesitate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was advised to the contact that radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission and causing the transmission to fail. The dealer stated this is a known problem, but the manufacturer was not going to cover the cost of the repair unless the vehicle had been serviced by a dealer for all maintenance issues in the past. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 110,000.
Transmission gave out on me while traveling with family on highway. The problem was due to faulty parts Nissan has placed on the Pathfinder. My finding to the problems not only included transmissions problems not covered under warranty but also other defects in which they are unwilling to pay for. I hope it doesn't take for someone to die for them to get this is a serious problem. Americans are in danger due to this company and it's cars!
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the vehicle vibrated abnormally while driving various speeds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the transmission fluid was replaced and the vibration was corrected temporarily. The vehicle was taken back to the local transmission mechanic and a diagnostic was performed which located the failure as the radiator fluid leaking into the transmission. As a result, the transmission failed and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 79,000 and the current mileage was 84,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Albertville, MN, USA