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:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
28,417 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 engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Nissan Pathfinder Owner Comments (Page 3 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #62

Feb 122016

Pathfinder

  • 21,000 miles

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

Vehicle stalls at various times while driving, will not accelerate while pressing on gas pedal. Has now happened 6 times in 3 months. Stalled also, while on cruise control going downhill and would not engage until on level surface for 15 seconds, lost 35 mph during this incident. Passenger side front airbag light is illuminated indicating that no one is in seat while seat is occupied. I have several photos and dates of this particular problem.

- Covington, LA, USA

problem #61

Jun 012015

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 22,000 miles
While driving, vehicle looses power, acceleration, pressing on gas and nothing happens, shift car to neutral and press on gas and RPM"S go up, shift back to drive, press on gas and RPM's don't move, vehicle does not go. All the times that it has happened we had to coast either to the side of road, or to next light. This is a rear end collision waiting to happen, this is definitely a safety issue!!! took car to Nissan dealer, but since car did not detect any error codes, dealership was unable to find fix, but there is definitely something wrong with car, www.carcomplaints.com went unto this site and found more than 100 complaint similar to mine, about car loosing power. Somebody has to look into this before someone gets seriously hurt or dies. This is my wife's car and I have a 3yr old and a 2yr old that she drives around, please, someone look into this.

- Lakeside, CA, USA

problem #60

May 072015

Pathfinder

  • 32,000 miles
My Pathfinder has already had the transmission replaced once and is still having issues. Since this past Thursday, it has been hesitating or feeling like it is in neutral when it is in drive. I took note of the latest one today. I was stopped (on a major street) waiting for oncoming traffic to pass. It did, and I accelerated to turn left and the car felt like I had put it in neutral. It was slowly rolling but not accelerating as I crossed over the on-coming lane and continued with my left turn. I check to see if it was in drive (it was) and checked the speed (20mph) because I had brought it in last week when it did it the first three times, and they asked me what speed I was going when it happened. The time prior to that I was changing lanes on the highway (infront of a large truck) at about 50 mph and when I went to accelerate, I got the same feeling. I could have been killed! the time prior to that, I had been at a red light. When the light changed, I crossed over the first section of the red light then turned left and attempted to accelerate but it (again) felt like I had thrown it into neutral. I pulled to the side of the road for a second to let other cars pass in case it stalled on me. The first time was just when driving down the road. This has me extremely scared as in two of the situations, I could have been killed if I couldn't accelerate to move and a car plowed into me.

- River Ridge, LA, USA

problem #59

Mar 312015

Pathfinder

  • 18,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving at 40 mph, smoke started to emit from the engine without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 18,000. The VIN was not available.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #58

Mar 242015

Pathfinder

  • 33,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that when driving at an incline or at a stop before accessing a highway, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact also mentioned that the rubber and the roof racks deteriorated causing the rubber to partially detach. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000.

- Madison, AL, USA

problem #57

Feb 272015

Pathfinder

  • 35,800 miles
When the car is full of passengers the transmission starts to miss shift causing a vibration. Feels unsafe when carrying passengers. Also vehicles backup camera is starting to act up. The video is screen has lines through it and sometimes the backup alarms deactivate.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #56

Feb 132015

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 29,056 miles

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

I was pulling out of a parking lot. I drove a few yards and the car would not accelerate over 25mph even though I was pushing on the accelerator. There were no warning lights, but the RPM's would not go up. I stopped and put it in park, revved the engine, and put it in drive again. It worked fine for about a mile until I pulled up to a stop light. As the light turned green, I could not get the car to go over 25 mph. (I was turning left at the intersection, so it was very dangerous that I could not get the car to accelerate as I was facing upcoming traffic.) I pulled onto the shoulder and put it in park again. I was able to make it the additional mile home but thankfully did not have to stop at a light again. The dealership has ran diagnostics on it and can't find anything wrong with it, but I'm scared to drive it again.

- Katy, TX, USA

problem #55

Dec 172014

Pathfinder

  • 13,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving at 40 mph, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate without warning. The failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The VIN was not provided. The failure mileage was 13,000.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

problem #54

Sep 182013

Pathfinder

  • 1,300 miles
2013 Nissan Pathfinder shudders at low speed or accelerating from stop position. Have taken vehicle to dealer several times (12) since Sept 2013. Replaced transmission 3 times, transmission software update performed twice. Each time afterwards I was told some made up story from it's working fine now to you must have been spinning your tires on the wet roads. I took videos of the violent shuddering and loss of acceleration to the service dept and was told there is no fix available for this transmission issue and to drive it as best you can. 55K for a new car to drive the best I can!!!"?" contacted Nissan corporation to file a complaint, after 5 days was denied any relief. Contacted a lemon law attorney and filed a claim. Within 2 days of Nissan being notified by the attorney, they were willing to settle. I received a full buy out and refund of all deposits and monthly payments. God riddance!!!! buyer beware!

- Westampton, NJ, USA

problem #53

Sep 232014

Pathfinder 4WD 6-cyl

  • 12,033 miles
Driving home and going up an inclined hill...I noticed my vehicle(2013 Nissan Pathfinder) suddenly had a hesitation and started to judder abruptly...it happened at low speed of 20-25mph. Nissan is aware of this cvt issue and has not addressed it yet. I read somewhere that they are trying to reprogramming the cvt and seeing if this resolves the issue otherwise folks have had the cvt replaced and still in the same boat....this is a noticeable judder at 20-25 mph on a slight incline. I am the original owner of a 2003 Nissan murano with 88K and the first of its kind with cvt technology and never experienced this type of juddering issue. You would think Nissan would have refined the cvt to a point so these issue would not happen....I like the cvt technology but now I am having my doubts.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #52

Jan 152014

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 8,000 miles

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

Car when slowing down and accelerate again was jerking or hesitating to accelerate. Brought to dealer 3times already and said torque converter is the problem.for the last 2 visits to car dealer they just adjust it. This time they are going to replace the transmission.

- Cathedral City, CA, USA

problem #51

Feb 122014

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 23,000 miles
Fyi...this has happened multiple times at various speeds. The engine will just shut off while driving down the road. Many times before this I have experienced the shuddering that has been reported numerous times but when the car begins to lose power without warning it is extremely dangerous. My family and I have been extremely blessed that each time this has happened I have been able to get to the shoulder of the road. The only thing that works is to restart the car. Two different dealerships have dealt with the issues and both have done everything they know to do. The torque converter was replaced and the computer was replaced also. We purchased the car with approximately 22000 miles so the lemon law does not apply to us. For the 7 months that we have owned the car, it has been at the service departments half of the time. It is very frightening that we purchased a "like new" car and now my family and I do not feel safe in it.

- Valdosta, GA, USA

problem #50

Jan 152014

Pathfinder

  • 600 miles
I filed a complaint yesterday, August 27, 2014, about my 2013 Nissan Pathfinder confirmation number 10628699, and forgot to put on there that this vehicle also hesitates to go at times and when it does, it has a tugging feeling (that is how I explain it). Like it can't find the gear or not enough gas. I would like to add this to my other complaint, please. Very amazed to see that there are others out there with the same problems I have and they are also not being repaired. I feel I am the only one or that is how the service dept. At the dealer makes me feel.

- Garrison, TX, USA

problem #49

Aug 132013

Pathfinder

  • 3,000 miles
Upon acceleration, the transmission seems to stall for a brief moment. This is happening more frequently now and stalls a little longer each time upon acceleration.

- Odessa, TX, USA

problem #48

Apr 022014

Pathfinder

  • 9,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds, the vehicle would sputter and decelerated sporadically without any warnings. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 9,000 and the current mileage was 13,000.

- Exeter, NH, USA

problem #47

Aug 172013

Pathfinder 6-cyl

  • 19,000 miles
Bought my Pathfinder in August 2013 I love it!!! but noticed that the passenger airbag light illuminated when my son (119 pounds) sit's in the seat. This happen often. I pull over all the time turn off the SUV and restart several times until it goes off. Nissan finally did a recall on it but it has not gone away. Also it used to illuminate when I set my diaper bag on it which is supposed to but now after the recall "fix" it does not illuminate when something light weight is set on it. It has a mind of it's own and I am worried that it could possibly fail if we were to get into a collision. I have taken it in several times to check it but it always comes up as working properly. Please find a fix for this issue. The other issue I have found is when accelerating there is some kind of tugging/pulling/lagging feeling as if it does not want to pick up speed. It does however pick up speed but the "tugging" feels as if the SUV is going to stall out. What it this"?"

- Dewey, AZ, USA

problem #46

Sep 112013

Pathfinder

  • 6,000 miles
I was driving the car about 20 to 25 mph but when I tried to brake the brake did not stopped the car and there was an accident my self and my girl friend got injured and we had to go for crayaprator for long time this car is not safe at all North american Nissan is not willing to work with me nor the abc Nissan where I bought the car. Bad customer service.

- Laveen, AZ, USA

problem #45

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 #44

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 #43

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

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