Started out driving from Ontario to Florida via I 75. Near the end of the first day driving, the car suddenly went into fail safe mode and stopped while on the interstate in Tennessee. Pulled onto the shoulder. Service Engine Soon light on. Car would not start immediately.

After a few minutes car would start but had minimum power. Limped onto next exit and stayed the night.

Next day it started and problem reoccurred in the morning after a couple of hours. Since we were near Chattanooga and a Nissan dealership, we decided to stay over to the following day. Took the car directly to Nissan and was told that there was extra fluid in the CVT transmission, which they fixed. Within 10 minutes back on I 75 the car shuddered to a halt again.

This scenario continued all the way down I 75 through Atlanta and eventually Florida. Must have had to pull off onto the shoulder about 20 times. Luckily there was a shoulder every time. In Florida, I took the Cube to Nissan and was told the error was the Catalytic Converter. To fix would be $1700. I decided to forego that and continued to drive the car around town. The car performed well as long as we didn't drive more than about 40 minutes or so where upon it would happen from time to time. I grew to anticipate the shuddering and stepped on the gas a bit and sometimes that was enough to keep the car running.

I subsequently emailed Nissan customer service, but I have never heard back. We have since returned but not feeling that the car could make a return trip, we left it in Florida.

I spoke to a mechanic back in Ontario and he suspects it could be the fuel pump overheating. He recommends keeping the fuel level above the halfway mark to prevent the problem. I will try out his theory the next time we return to Florida.

car goes into fail safe mode for no reason

About a year ago I was drive cross country. After a couple of days the car went into fail safe mode for no reason. There were no lights or warnings on the car. After this happened, I managed to limp it back to the dealer, Surf City Nissan, and the service manager, Mike, was very nice. After checking things for a couple of days he said he could not find any specific problem but had heard that this had been happening. He said he wasn't sure what to do but replaced the transmission. I was afraid to take it on another long trip. But, after a about year, I decided to drive to Vegas. After a couple of hours driving, the car started shutting down again. It took me two days to limp back to L.A. I went directly to the dealer and saw the same service manager Mike. He was not so nice this time and he said that he had seen this problem quite often since the last time I had brought the car in. He also said that he had been in contact with Nissan and they were very aware of the problem. He told me that they were working on a fix and that I should be getting a letter soon saying that I had to bring the car in and they would apply the fix. In the meantime, he told me not to drive the car for an extended period of time because the problem was likely to keep happening. My problem is I have to get to Florida to see my father who is very ill and have to drive because I will need a car there and cannot afford to fly and rent. I am totally at a loss as to what to do. I have now been stranded twice because of this problem. The first time, I was near major cities and could pull over. The last time though I was stuck in the desert and it was late at night and I really feared for my life. I was very disappointed that the dealer was very unsympathetic and told me there was nothing he could do and didn't really care that I got stuck. He actually said I probably should not be going to Vegas, anyway. I would advise against buying a Cube or dealing with Surf City Nissan.