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:
4 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
103,399 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.
My wife was driving home from picking up our children from school. She was traveling approx 65 mph when the vehicle lost power, became unstable, and would not accelerate. She said that it was like someone put on the emergency brake with five times more. Force than normal almost causing her to loose control of the vehicle. Upon taking the vehicle to a repair shop the problem was found to be that coolant had leaked into the transmission and had destroyed the transmission computer and the transmission.
The radiator leaked fluid into the transmission cause damage to the transmission rendering it useless. This is a known design defect with the 2007 Nissan.
I purchased my 2007 Nissan Pathfinder brand new.. I just paid it off last year.. I've been feeling like something was wrong with the shifting for some time.. but no one could find anything... well as I was driving down the road it just did not want to shift.. starting heating when I went over 60 mph. I took it to a specialist and come to find out the radiator is leaking coolant into my transmission.. im at $3500 in just parts right now.. than I go online and see all these other poor families that have had the same thing happen.. all Nissan had to do was let us know there was a problem with the leakage.. this makes me sick.. I worked hard to pay this vehicle off.. now instead of taking my kids on vacation I will be paying for my vehicle to be repaired.. Nissan totally denies any problem, however when you call the dealership they will try and sell you an updated radiator.. why does it need to be updated if they are saying nothing was wrong with the old one?? something needs to be done. We put our trust in a product and it failed us and now they want more money from us.. this is wrong.. I beg for any assistance and that someone step in and make Nissan pay for what they are doing to people.. families work to hard for their products to have to be treated the way Nissan is treating us.. and no one seems to be listening... I want answers.. if I sold a product and there was a defect I would fix the problem, ... not try and cover it up with making my consumer by another part from me...
The radiator leaked into the transmission causing the transmission to fail at a critical operational point. The vehicle failed to accelerate, bucked sharply and nearly caused a collision. The vehicles was diagnosed with a catastrophic transmission failure. This is the second major drivetrain failure within 8 months. Nissan is aware of substandard deign, parts, and craftsmanship in the 2007 Pathfinder that render the vehicle unsafe to operate on public or private roadways. Please take action before there are serious injuries related to these defective drivetrains.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, all the lights on the dash board illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to a dealer for diagnosis where the contact was informed that the radiator fluid and transmission fluid had mixed and the transmission would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 123,000.
- Dodge City, KS, USA
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Was told that radiator coolant was mixing with my transmission fluid. I noticed first that the heater wasn't getting very hot a few months ago, but since I live in Texas, this wasn't a huge deal for me since it's not that cold and so I was going to have it serviced at my next regular oil change. However, then just a couple of days ago, I noticed that the car would shudder around 45 - 50 mph so I took it in immediately and was told that I was experiencing a known defect of Nissan's built between 2005 - 2010. If I had known about 3 months ago (about the time I started noticing the heater issue) I would've been fully covered under their extended warranty of 80,000 miles for this particular defect. But I'm at 84,000 and therefore have to pay $2500 out of pocket for a new transmission and radiator. I feel that I should still be covered since I started experiencing issues before 80,000 miles but I had no idea that it would be such a huge problem that would require a new transmission and radiator on a car that is only 7 years old...
Transmission began shuttering, not up shifting and limited acceleration and speed on freeway at 55mph. Turns out that the transmission oil cooler lines had been leaking anti-freeze into transmission and destroyed it. Manufacturer has replaced with same cooler and rebuilt (not new) transmission. Issue still exists intermittently. Needs recall enforced. Manufacturer is pricing same cooler and rebuilt transmission at over $7000. Then agreeing to only charge $2500 - $3000 per class action settlement. Outside independent repairs quoted at $350 for cooler and less than $2000 for rebuilt transmission. Gov.'t recall should cover all new and re-designed parts. Failures will and are occurring again. Can result in accident at high speeds.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact was driving 50 mph when the transmission began to jerk without any warning. The vehicle was driven to a safe location and inspected. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who advised that the radiator coolant leaked into the transmission fluid, which contributed to the internal damage of the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure was 110,000.
Left motel at 7am, vehicle seemed to have trouble shifting, high RPM..pulled over to check..would not start..towed to dealership. The consumer stated the radiator failed. Updated IVOQ 01/14/13
Car was giving acceleration problems. Two days later I was in traffic and car wouldn't go past 10 mph. I was able to pull over just out of the way of speeding traffic. I had to turn the car off then back on for it to start and slowly shift gears. Still was only able to go up to 15mph at first, almost got into an accident because of my location. Once I kept going it started to speed up to normal speed. Immediately I called Nissan, but before I was able to get to them my car failed to start. I was sent the recall letter in 2012 for my make/model/year. Not right because by that time I received the letter I had already gone over the mileage. Even if I was within mileage how can you make the buyer pay up to $3000 dollars for a manufacture defect. One problem is starting to lead to another. First bad tcm then relay. I'm fed up with trying to fix a vehicle that I kept maintained with the necessary maintenance checks. I did everything right as an owner, if my vehicle had been installed with good hardware (transmission/relay/etc.) then I would still have a good running vehicle. I will never buy another Nissan again!!!!!
Automatic transmission started to slip after starting a vacation trip. Vehicle will not back up and only moves forward very slowly on level surface, will not climb hills. We had to have the Nissan Pathfinder towed 60 miles, impacted our holiday vacation as we had to return home earlier than planned.
Car was giving acceleration problems. Two days later I was in traffic and car wouldn't go past 10 mph. I was able to pull over just out of the way of speeding traffic. I had to turn the car off then back on for it to start and slowly shift gears. Still was only able to go up to 15mph at first, almost got into an accident because of my location. Once I kept going it started to speed up to normal speed. Immediately I called Nissan, but before I was able to get to them my car failed to start. I was sent the recall letter in 2012 for my make/model/year. Not right because by that time I received the letter I had already gone over the mileage. Even if I was within mileage how can you make the buyer pay up to $3000 dollars for a manufacture defect. One problem is starting to lead to another. First bad tcm then relay. I'm fed up with trying to fix a vehicle that I kept maintained with the necessary maintenance checks. I did everything right as an owner, if my vehicle had been installed with good hardware (transmission/relay/etc.) then I would still have a good running vehicle. I will never buy another Nissan again!!!!!
Transmission failure from radiator fluid leakage into the transmission fluid. The cooling system for the transmission runs through the radiator. When the radiator fails radiator fluid leaks into the tranny fluid and destroys the internal transmission clutch plates and torque converter. Nissan extended the warranty from 36K to 80K miles or 8 years on the radiator, knowing there was a problem, but no notice from them to owners of this problem. When the problem starts, it is too late, resulting in $6800 - $7500 in personal expenses to replace the transmission and radiator. Nissan will not consider fixing after 80K miles. I have 127000 and only 5 years old vehicle. This problem was acknowledged to affect 2005 - 2010 Pathfinders. There are hundreds of complaints on this issue on forums, which I find after I have the problem. Nissan should recall the radiators and fix the problems. It is a defective $300 radiator that damages a $7000 transmission!... this is unfortunate and irresponsible for Nissan and is basically a band-aid on a serious hazard. Now my $30,000 vehicle is worth $3,000 to the dealer for trade in.
Pathfinder started hesitating at 40 mph regardless of city or highway driving, had transmission fluid changed and was advised by my mechanic there is a leak from radiator into transmission line, have since then seen transmission fluid a milky color and I cannot drive vehicle with overdrive on, when it drove with od on at about 40 mph there is no shifting of gears.
While driving I noticed a grinding sound when I reached speeds of 40-45 mph. When I pulled in to park the vehicle there was a loud grind and then the vehicle would not start. After checking the fluid levels I found that the engine coolant and the transmission fluid were mixing.
Traveling on I-95 when transmission started to fail, vehicle dropped suddenly in speed while in very heavy traffic in the far left lane, cars directly behind started swerving into the middle lane and it was a miracle that I or someone else wasn't involved in a accident trying to get my vehicle to the far right lane.
The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle began stalled while the contact was attempting to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician advised that the valve body and radiator needed to be replaced due to a leak in the radiator and the coolant was intermixing with the transmission fluid. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in any recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 101,000 and the current mileage was 104,000.
First issue started while trying to accelerate onto the interstate. The car/engine started shaking between 40 and 50 mph and would not accelerate. I was nearly rear-ended when I had to merge into traffic. Other issues were similar, car shaking at 40 to 50mph, like driving over a washed out road. Unable to accelerate initially, this would last for several seconds, before finally responding, shaking would go away when speed would exceed 50mph. Final safety issue occurred when accelerating after a stop light onto a highway ramp. At 40mph the transmission completely went out, the car would not shift into gear and would not accelerate. I had just started to merge, I had to swerve back onto the ramp lane and stop in the middle of the road. I was nearly hit by the highway traffic and almost rear-ended by a car going back into the ramp lane. Cars were forced to slam there brakes to avoid hitting my dead car, it also made it very difficult for other cars to merge onto the highway, several cars narrowly avoided an accident. Car was taken to shop, transmission and radiator had to be replaced. Radiator defect had caused the transmission to fail.
It was November 2011, I was driving my Nissan 2007 at that time I was 9 months pregnant. My daughter who was 5 years old was with me. I was entering the freeway when my car started to shake, make noises and it started to slowdown on its own. I presses the speeding pedal but it kept loosing power. My daughter was crying because she was scare. I was crying too I did not know what to do I was in a dangerous situation because it happen when traffic was at its pick. I could not stop because cars where behind me and I could not speed because my car was loosing power and it smell like something was burning. I manage to get off the freeway with the emergency lights and stop the car at the moment the car die(no power). A tow truck had to take as home. Nissan would not fix the problem because of the miles/warranty whichever comes first rule that they have. They would fixed for a lot of money anyway I took it to a shop an I was told it was the radiator which damage the transmission. I had it repair and a few days latter all the emergency lights on the car turn on and went crazy and the car stop at ones this time it was the gas tank. It scare me so much that I call my husband and told him, "this car is going to kill me and my children" Nissan Pathfinder is dangerous and something must be done or someone is going to get kill. It is a safety issue please help us. Do something we need help Pathfinders are dangerous Nissan won't fix this factory problem with out getting pay. Please a recall needs to get done. I beg you do something this is the usa or not" I know at list 3 more people that had the same problems with this cars and all the mechanics agree that it is a factory problem. I will never buy a Nissan it is a lemon! first radiator linkage then liquid in transmission then replace transmission than it will be the gas tank what is next"
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gallion, AL, USA