CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013 has a growing number of transmission complaints at low mileage. The issue is part of a class-action lawsuit that says the transmissions shake violently during acceleration between 15mph and 30mph.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
21,367 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.

2013 Nissan Pathfinder drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2013 Nissan Pathfinder Owner Comments (Page 9 of 18)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #190

Mar 252013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 2,439 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have had this vehicle to the dealer three times because at slow speeds it shudders like a manual transmission when you do not downshift. There is no rhyme or reason as to when it does this. There are times when you accelerate around 50 mph that it does nothing and then decides to just take off. The dealer had it for eight days on one occasion and could not duplicate the problem - again happens at any time and not consistently. The dealer says they can't do anything about it until they can duplicate the problem with the computer on it so Nissan can tell them what to do. This is absurd. They have a problem and admit it but won't tackle the problem head on. I guess they need to have a tragic accident before they are forced to do something. It's time for the government to step in and address the problem. It is my understanding that the dealer had eight transmission issues in the shop when mine was in last week. But they claim their hands are tied. NHTSA time to step in.

- Severna Park, MD, USA

problem #189

Sep 262013

Pathfinder

  • 2,177 miles
My transmission has a shudder anywhere between 10-20 mph and also has a lugging around 50 mph. My transmission has been replaced, reprogrammed and still has the same issues.

- Kalispell, MT, USA

problem #188

Jul 152013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 1,000 miles
Approximately two months after purchase, I began having trouble with my 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, noticing that it "shudders" and loses power when accelerating from a standstill or at low speeds. This typically happens between approximately 20 to 40 miles per hour. The sensation is described as being like "driving over a rumble strip" and the power loss occurs for about three to five seconds. The dealership has tried to correct this issue on three different occasions through a software update, new torque converter and even a new transmission. I dropped the car of this morning for the fourth time because the problem continues to occur and this problem substantially impairs the use of my vehicle and creates a serious safety hazard.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #187

Jun 272014

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 13,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Someone please help! my wife and I own a 2013 Pathfinder and it only has 13000 miles an is already on its second transmission! our car violently shakes and shudders on take off at approximately 15-20 mile per hour! why isn't there a direct investigation for this problem. Why not when the majority of the complaints here are for this particular problem and it's so dangerous with my 6 month old child in the car. Something has to be done. Same problem with Pathfinder's equivalent, infinity equivalent JX35, with same type transmission. Look it up. Something has to be done!

- Upland, CA, USA

problem #186

May 022013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 12,000 miles
Whole family is in the car and I was driving. While we are entering to highway and merging to right line, shudder happens and we loose all engine power, gas pedal becomes useless and only thing I can do was to slow down. In that instant we are almost rear ended by semi truck. Cvt transmission put the car into shudder state. We were not able to speed up while merging to highway for almost 20 seconds.

- Des Plaines, IL, USA

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problem #185

Jun 222014

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 5,524 miles
Just purchased the car used from a dealer on 6/19 with only 5100 miles on it. By 6/22, by noticed that the car will shudder occasionally after accelerating, coasting, and then attempting to accelerate again. While accelerating from a turn to an interchange, the car shook as if going over rumble strips for about 4 seconds and wasn't able to achieve accelerating power until shaking stopped. Has occurred about 7 times over the past day. Very frustrated in the dealer who now says the manufacturer will cover any defects. I feel the dealer knowingly passed the problem on to me.

- Sandy, UT, USA

problem #184

Feb 052012

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 3,433 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Around 20 mph trans jerks.

- Slidell, LA, USA

problem #183

Jul 312013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 3,500 miles
I have the same problem with my Pathfinder that I see several people having. The shuddering is like the transmission is slipping and it has happened in various situations. It is not a sideways shudder like a shake, it is a lack of forward motion (while the engine revs to higher rpms) so severe that it feels like being rear ended and has nearly slammed me into the steering wheel more than once. I have had two different dealerships check it and both said there was no problem because it is not throwing an error code on the computer. Finally, it did it all the way to my work one morning (30+ miles) so I took it to the dealership where I purchased it again. Same results, except they tried to pass it off as a bad wheel bearing and replaced one of my wheel bearings. They called me to tell me it was ready for pick up and I refused to pick it up until the problem is fixed (I now have 40K miles, warranty is getting close to being up). I could go on and on about how this has played out, but long story short, they are now in the process of replacing my coil packs and if that doesn't work, then they are going to try replacing the transmission. It is very disappointing since the first 2 Nissan I owned were great vehicles.

- Grenada, MS, USA

problem #182

Oct 082013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 6,000 miles
I have had about 5 incidents of failure when I hit the gas from a stand still. When I push the gas pedal, I will accelerate a little (enough to get in traffic), then nothing. I lift my foot off the gas and put it back down. Still nothing. It is a good 4 seconds before I get power to go. This has led to a couple near crashes, as 4 seconds is a long time if you are pulling out in traffic.

- Norcross, GA, USA

problem #181

Nov 302013

Pathfinder

  • 1,800 miles
Nissan Pathfinder 2013 platinum premium was purchased by me in the middle of July 2013 from Nissan dealer at rt. 440, jersey city, New Jersey. After driving the vehicle for about 2000 miles in a period of 3 month, the vehicle started shuddering and slowing down (decelerating) of its own. This problem became frequent. The dealer has been contacted and requested for addressing the issue but to no avail. We have made at least three visits to the dealer requesting to find the fault and resolve but to my amazement, they could not diagnose the problem and put the machine right. I am really afraid to use this vehicle for fear of breakdown or accident while in operation. It is almost a year, I possess the vehicle and the mileage I put is less than 4000 till date. I would appreciate if your good office communicate the drawbacks to the Nissan usa corporate office and advise them to take steps to address the issues relating my vehicle. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Jersey City, NJ, USA

problem #180

Mar 312014

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 7,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The first time I experienced this issue I was stopped for a red light. It felt like someone had rear-ended my car. Since there was not a car behind me I ruled that out. Shortly after, the car started to hesitate and lurch. I took the car to a dealer and called Nissan Consumer Affairs. The bottom line was that the transmission was replaced. That, however, did not solve the problem. We continue to have the same kind of occurrences. I understand that I am not the only one with a lurching car. Doesn't Nissan know how to fix this?

- Valparaiso, IN, USA

problem #179

Apr 082014

Pathfinder

  • 21,458 miles
Hello, we bought this Pathfinder in March 2014. I was driving and I slowed down to turn into a parking lot. When I turned and gave it some gas. The engine and transmission was not working correctly. The Pathfinder started sputtering, shaking and loosing power. I have been doing research on the 2013 Nissan Pathfinders. My research has come across that the Nissan motor company know there has been a problem with 2013 Pathfinders. And they have yet to put out a recall to fix the problem. I continue to drive with the shuddering, shaking and looking power. On 5/28/2014 I was coming home from work and slowed down and I thought the transmission fell out. I also lost power. It scared me. So I believe that some one needs to look into this problem. Because I think Nissan is not concern.

- Summerville, SC, USA

problem #178

Apr 262013

Pathfinder

  • 60 miles
********basically we traded in our 2012 Pathfinder for the 2013 Pathfinder on April 2013.************* we immediately noticed some flaws with the vehicle. My experience with the vehicle began to shudder at low speed every once in a while. Also the hood will shake while driving over 40mph., as if it wanted to fly off. I called Nissan dealerships, spoke with service managers and they stated that Nissan is aware of the issue and working on issuing a recall. Their advice was to continue driving vehicle as normal, shouldn't result any damage. Oh, were they wrong! it's been about a year with this vehicle and the problem not only continues but, has become worse. I can't drive 5 mph without the vehicle shuddering recklessly, as if part of the engine wants to fall off. Well, now I have a new issue, on startup my vehicle throws white/gray smoke as if a bomb blew up. This is so embarrassing. I immediately took the vehicle to the dealer, they came back to say they found "sludge" in the engine, that it has to be replaced! ok, but according to Nissan they are not going to cover this, since they assume we are liable. We have maintained this vehicle properly and if this engine failed and covered in sludge, that has to be a recall. At, this point in time Nissan has communicated with me one time in a week. I spoke to the service manager, he's not very helpful in trying to resolve this issue. He just advised that we sell the vehicle back to Nissan. Unbelievable, this has become a total nightmare, I overheard some workers at the dealers discussing issues about the 2013 Pathfinder, they are aware of the issues this vehicles has, but their main goal is to sell. Not inform the consumers about this piece of crap!!!

- Arlington, TX, USA

problem #177

May 172014

Pathfinder

  • 8,000 miles
While stopped at a 4-way stop intersection, our Pathfinder did not move when the gas pedal was pressed. The transmission was replaced at 4,000 miles because of shuttering/shook like it was going to fall apart.

- Windham, OH, USA

problem #176

Sep 102013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 6,666 miles
When I start to accelerate my 2013 Pathfinder, it acts like I have run out of gas. My husband thinks it has something to do with the transmission. This has happened several times, twice yesterday (5-19-14).

- Sulphur, OK, USA

problem #175

May 182014

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 6,900 miles
Vehicle at 5400 RPM on level road would only achieve a speed of 41 mph, this was on a highway paused with a posted speed limit of 65 mph. Vehicle paused, shuttered and engine seemed to be working but transmission would not engage completely. We felt that we could have been rear ended and killed. This was three days after Nissan had replaced the transmission for shuttering at 19 mph over a six month period. After stopping several times the vehicle reacted as close to normal as we would expect, just in time to get home. We have brought this vehicle to the dealer ship for passenger side airbag light showing it was off, when it should have been on, for back up sensor acting as though off but actually off, the smell of antifreeze and no leaks and last the brakes delaying. Nissan continued until recently stated that it was normal. There are numerous sites stating these same issues. We could have been killed, this is serious, no power on the expressway.

- Loganville, GA, USA

problem #174

Sep 182013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 3,100 miles
Vehicle shutters at 19 mph, loss of power.

- Loganville, GA, USA

problem #173

Sep 142013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 500 miles
June 4, 2013 I purchased a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder platinum model. Around September 2013, while ascending a small hill I noticed a shudder shake that lasts about 4 to 6 seconds. The situation happens while driving around 25 miles per hour when accelerating from low speeds. It occurs intermittently so I thought it could be the pavement however within the past year it has been more frequent. I have experienced the shaking during slow turns and upon hills the transmission feels stuck and you finally feel the gear kick in and after making it uphill or stopping vehicle drives smooth again.. it seems as if the car loses acceleration power and I have to release the gas pedal in order for it to stop shaking and then return to normal. Nissan needs to carefully investigate and fix this serious safety issue and issue a mass vehicle recall.

- Alexandria, VA, USA

problem #172

Jun 052013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 800 miles
Shortly after purchasing my new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder in may of 2013, I started to experience the vehicle violently shuttering at lower speeds. It seemed as if the car would lose power and I would have to release the gas pedal in order for it to stop. I have called multiple Nissan service dealerships and have spoken with service managers about the issue but, they all say the same thing, "Nissan is aware of the issue and they are working on issuing a recall. Continue to drive the vehicle. It will not cause damage to the vehicle itself". I am reaching my one year anniversary with this vehicle and the problem continues and is becoming noticeably worse. While at first the shuttering occurred only in low speeds, it seems to be occurring while at high speeds as well. I have contacted Nissan and was told that there was not an existing recall for this issue and that my VIN was not a match for any transmission recalls. I was also told that a regional manager would get in contact with me and I was given a case number.

- Saint Cloud , FL, USA

problem #171

Jan 022014

Pathfinder

  • 6,000 miles
While driving at a slower speed on the parking lots, around my neighborhood streets and on turns when the vehicle speed in less than 25 mph and when the RPM is between 600 and 1200, the vehicle slows down, shudders and shakes as if the transmission was going out. This happens for 4-5 seconds. I have seen this happen more often when I slow down on the parking lots or on the neighborhood streets. At that time the vehicle acts as if the it is having issue shifting down and just shakes/shudders. I have taken the vehicle to a Nissan dealer multiple times but still the problem has not been corrected. The first time I took it, the dealership told me that there was a bulletin out from Nissan and they knew what to fix and they claimed they fixed it but the issue resurfaced after few hours. The second time I took the vehicle to the dealership, they told me they could not reproduce the issue! Nissan needs to carefully investigate and fix this serious safety issue.

- Omaha, NE, USA

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