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.
2.0
hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
78,200 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.
Heating system is not working. Very often while driving the car, it will make a strange noise coming from under the hood followed by a vibrating/shaking movement from the same area. The speedometer has also at one point failed to move, it was stuck on the zero mark.
Radiator leaking into the transmission causing transmission damage, requiring a new radiator and transmission. Nissan knows this is an issue and has not notified customers to fix this prior to the part failing to prevent major damage. They extended the warranty to 85K miles for that part, but it needs to fail for them to cover the repair. I could have replaced the part for around $400 preventing the damage to the transmission, if Nissan would have told its customers. Now I have had to replace the transmission for $4000 and rent a car for one month at $800. The damage occurred when I was driving. Fortunately I was not on a busy highway when the transmission failed. It took so long to fix the transmission because parts are on back order to repair the transmission.
The contact owns 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated while driving, the vehicle was vibrating. He also mentioned that when he applied the accelerator pedal it would not engage immediately. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the controller at the bottom of the radiator malfunctioned causing the transmission and coolant fluids to mix, as a result the radiator and transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance since the warranty had expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 86,000 and the current mileage was 86,992.
A high pitched whining noise from under the hood on a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. Took the car to the dealership in modesto California and my wife was told that it would cost 1,300 to replace the timing chain tensioners or more if the timing chain(s) were bad. The car has 71, 000 miles and I was told that it would not be covered under the warranty. My wife was told the car was safe to drive and was told that there was no risk of further damage to vehicle. I have read several other instances where timing chain components fail just beyond the manufacture's stated warranty. The issue has had a tsb since July of 2007 #07042A. I have had all of my service done at this dealer and I had never been advised about the tsb or the noise. The timing chain nor the tensioners should not fail at 70,000 miles. I also have uneven tire wear with no alignment issues. Vehicle=lemon.
A high pitched humming/whining noise from under the hood on a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. Took to dealership and after performing a diagnostic check, they stated that it was the timing chain and it would be $935 to repair. I asked that since the car was only two years old with maintenance records shouldn't it be under warranty. They stated that since I had 65,000 miles I missed the deadline by 5,000 miles and it was O.K. to keep driving and not to worry about it. I researched and found that they have had a service bulletin (ntb07-042A) out about this issue since April, 17,2009. I have had my vehicle in a few times since the bulletin came out and feel that they should have notified me especially since I have paid for another bulletin issue regarding the fuel gauge(reference service bulletin ntb07-069B) that cost me $395. I feel the dealership is negligent in advising my wife to not worry about the timing chain and to go ahead and deal with it later. It appears that they wanted more mileage to placed on the vehicle so they would have a stronger claim down the road to not pay for the repairs that were mentioned on a bulletin five months prior -which means that issues have existed long before this time frame for a bulletin to be issued. I live in atlanta, ga., a major metropolitan city and I feel that the dealership put my family at risk by advising that the vehicle was safe to drive off the lot because whent he timing chain goes the car looses the capability to function - which is not safe on the busy major interstate system. I have seen a few internet threads that mention similar experiences. Regarding the fuel gauge issue (ntb07-069B), this service bulletin came out August 12th, 2009 I had to have this work done on 04/24/2009 and it cost me the $395. I have also had the vehicle in and repaired at my cost for service bulletin (ntb07-063)...another bulletin I discovered today. The main point is a timing chain should not go out at 65,000 miles...vehicle = lemon.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Bridgewater, NJ, USA