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:
5 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
106,216 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.
While driving on a local street in my neighborhood at 35 mph on my way to pick up my son from school, the Pathfinder began to lose power. I press on the gas and the Pathfinder would not go any faster, it was hesitating and seemed like it was going to stop. I made to the mechanic and was told the radiator had leaked into the transmission. The mechanic then advised the radiator and transmission would have to be replaced at a cost of $5828. I am upset and completely in shock when he tells Nissan has an extended warranty however it only covers you up to 100,000 miles. Nissan is aware of this issue and if it happened at 100,000 I would have brought it in for servicing. I paid over 30,000 for the Pathfinder brand new and after eight years this is what I am left with, no recourse?
Transmission did not engage when pulling car out of my garage. I put it in park and tried again but the car would still not engage. After a third attempt the car began to move but the transmission was acting very odd and disengaging, almost like I was coasting. This was very scary for me and my three children. My husband inspected the car and found that radiator fluid contained a white greasy substance. I took the car in for inspection and repair at my local Nissan dealer and they informed me that there was indeed cross contamination due to a cracked transmission cooling line mixing with the radiator fluid. This will end up costing me $2,500 to fix. It appears that I am not the first to have to deal with this problem, and by the number of people filing complaints it seems like a defect to me and not mere coincidence. This really needs to be a recall. Nissan needs to be held liable for the multitudes of people stuck in this unfortunate situation.
Lost power, transmission not engaging, was told that it was radiator coolant was leaking in the system. After transmission was replaced after at approximately 27,000 miles same incident happened again.
Car would not start, got it towed to my mechanic, radiator allowed coolant to mix with transmission fluid. Containment the transmission. Radiator and transmission has to be replaced. Job will cost $5346.74.
While driving at approx 40 mph, the transmission suddenly disengaged; rpms went up to 5000; was like being in neutral. At the time, I was traveling up a slight incline without a shoulder or safe area to stop. Stopped in the roadway. Had it towed to Nissan dealership. They advised that they were aware of the known issue'for a long time and that the radiator part that cools the transmission fluid failed and radiator fluid had entered the transmission causing the transmission to fail. This known issue, was never a recall and Nissan had no intentions on a recall due to a class action lawsuit. Unfortunately, my vehicle mileage is over the class action lawsuit settlement mileage and therefore Nissan will not take any responsibility; leaving strict instructions' to Nissan customer affairs to specifically not offer any assistance to persons affected by this known issue. Nissan dealership service dept advised that Nissan had fixed' the known issue on a newer model of radiator. Nissan should have recalled the product for a safety inspection and replaced all parts known to fail. Total estimated cost to repair at Nissan dealership started around $8000 and negotiated to $5000. Several private transmission repair shop estimates are approx. $4000. Most private auto shops will not touch this repair due to the known issue' and no confidence that Nissan fixed the known issue'. request an investigation with an eye towards safety recall & reimbursement for those who already had to pay out of pocket.
Just over a year ago our 2005 Pathfinder's transmission failed due to Nissan installing a faulty radiator in the vehicle when it was made. Due to the expense of getting it fixed, it still sets in the garage waiting to save up the money to fix the issue. Over the year, Nissan has admitted it was a problem but instead of fixing it, they say they will cover it if the vehicle has low millage. The radiator problem is not millage dependant. We drove our Pathfinder and it was beyond the millage they would cover. So I guess I am being penalized by Nissan for driving the Pathfinder. I just wish Nissan would do the right thing for its customers.
Transmission stalls when trying to shift between gears. The transmission cannot decide when to shift and tries to downshift during deceleration. The transmission is slow to respond.
The 2005 Nissan Pathfinder was going down the road and it began to hard shift. The revs would go high and then the car would shift very hard. Then while going down the road at about 55mph the car shifted into neutral. The car would not engage any gears and I had to pull of the road. Once the vehicle was stopped it would not engage any gears. I tried to reset from park and still nothing. I turned off the car and then back on, then I placed the car into "D" drive at which time it had a long delay before engaging the gear hard. Then I rolled off slowly and again, it reved up high before going into the next gear. As soon as I got to about 20 mph it shifted into neutral before coasting to a stop. I had to repeat the off/on procedure and keep it under 20 mph before I got to a safe place. The car continue to go down the road between 15-20 mph at high revs in order to get it to a mechanic shop. There were no warning signs, no indicators that the car was going to shift into neutral and the worst thing is that I was with my family in the car when this occured with a high volume of cars on the road which made it a dangerous condition for the car to unexpectedly shift into neutral.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the transmission seized and the check engine warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the radiator and transmission were both replaced due to coolant leaking into the transmission and causing internal damage. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Radiator cracked allowing coolant to contaminate transmission fluid. Transmission suddenly failed on highway. No warning signs. Vehicle was revving but not moving. Dealer says internal transmission problem and not eligible for repair under extended warranty. Specialty shop says radiator is cracked. Photos and parts available.
Transmission is going out, I received a letter from Nissan a couple months ago that states some of these vehicles have had issues. Also they do nothing for this after 100000 mi. Well, it seems that Nissan knew about this and there are alot more of these than some of these vehicles. I have been all over the web and have come to the conclusion that there are thousands of these issues and Nissan fails to admit fault. I don't have money to fix my vehicle with 112000 on it and I should not have to replace a transmission with only 112000 on it, especially a well maintained one.Nissan knew of this problem! [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
I was driving and stopped at a traffic signal. When the light turned green and I pressed the gas pedal the vehicle moved less than 5 M.P.H. this continued all the way to church on March 10th, 2013. I drove to the vehicle to the dealer and 2 days later they diagnosed the issue. The radiator was leaking coolant into the transmission, cross contaminating the transmission fluid. This caused the valve body in the transmission to fail. The Nissan dealer informed me that the radiator and valve body in the transmission had to be replaced. They also informed me that my power train warranty was expired because I was over 100,000 miles and my vehicle is at 104,000. I was told that Nissan wouldn't cover the repair even though the radiator is defective but since I caught it early the transmission wasn't totally damaged just partially damaged saving me more money. However, my repair bill was $2,999.94!! even the mechanics at Nissan told me that this is an known issue (off the record) and Nissan should cover the repair!! this is due to a defective radiator and Nissan should issue a recall. Consumers shouldn't have to foot the bill for a manufacturing defect that Nissan is aware of! it effects 2005 thru 2010 Pathfinder, xterra and frontier vehicles. Nissan is voluntarily offering to co-pay for repairs if your vehicle has less than 100,000 miles because of a class action lawsuit that is still pending in court. The issue only occurs after 100,000 miles leaving millions of consumers on the hook for an obvious manufacturing defect!! please help us recover the cost of this expensive repair?? please!!!!
I was leaving an appointment at the hospital and as I approached a speed bump I heard a loud drop noise and the vehicle would no longer move upon pressing the gas. There was a complete loss of motive power. I put the vehicle in park and turned it off and then on again and it went into gear however I was unable to accellerate over 40mph and headed straight to a dealership. I received a call on from the dealer diagnosing the problem as a failed transmission fluid cooler located in the radiator assembly that allowed coolant to mix with and contaminate the automatic transmission fluid, resulting in damaged internal transmission components and a damaged internal transmission computer.
While driving in middle of the street, suddenly car stopped driving. Had the car towed to repair shop. It seems there is a coolant leak into transmission that caused the issue. However Nissan's extended warranty only allows up to 100000 miles or 10 years whichever comes first. Since my mileage is over that, Nissan will not cover any repairs.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, a strong burning odor emitted from under the hood and the vehicle lost acceleration power. The contact was able to move the vehicle into a parking area. The contact inspected the vehicle and found smoke. The contact drove the vehicle home. The mechanic inspected the vehicle and found that the radiator failed and caused the radiator fluid to leak into the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 127,525.
Transmission cooler leaks, allowing transmission fluid and engine coolant to mix, leading to automatic transmission damage. Nissan dealer is aware of the incident and offer a $2500 deductible, this is not a fair deductible and Nissan is not playing a fair game.
I was driving about 40-45 M/H and the car stop accelerating, I took the car to the mechanic and he say it was the transmission($7,000) so I look it up in the internet and a lot of people have the same problem.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from traffic light, the vehicle hesitated and failed to engage in gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that radiator fluid was leaking into to the transmission and as a result, the transmission solenoid needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 116,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the vehicle seemed to shift incorrectly. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that there was a crack in the radiator that was allowing coolant to enter the transmission. There were also cracks in the hoses that contributed to the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 127,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Greensboro, NC, USA