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:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
101,472 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.
I am in the middle of a road trip with my children and suddenly my Pathfinder would not accelerate going uphill. I thankfully made it up the hill and onto a highway on ramp. The grace of god is all that kept me from being struck by a tractor trailer taking the same exit. The Pathfinder shuddered and I pulled into the shoulder (a blessing that there was just enough space for one) and it turned off right there. Not even 85,000 miles on an '06 Pathfinder and I had to have the steering column replaced after something broke it in it 2 yrs ago, now this. I had it towed to the closest Nissan dealer, 35 miles from where it stopped and hundreds of miles from home. The dealer told me it was the known issue with the cheap plastic radiators and transmission. I am now in a rental car, looking online for a hotel (I was planning on driving up to Canada and an now stuck in Ohio), and have to pay $3,000 to get this fixed because of the age of the car. Nevermind that it is a known issue!!
The transmission of my Pathfinder went bad because of defective radiator. It mixed transmission oil and antifreeze in the transmission. It will cost me 6K+ to repair. I read a lot of people had this problem and I want Nissan to fix it.
As I was driving on a residential road my 2006 Nissan Pathfinder hesitated to move as I pulled over I noticed leaking from underneath my truck. I open up the radiator cap noticed that transmission fluid in the radiator fluid has mixed
I backed out of my driveway onto the main road and went to put the vehicle into drive and it would not go into drive. When I got it to the repair shop they said that the radiator had leaked into the transmission and caused it to ruin the transmission.
Just after exiting freeway, vehicle's automatic transmission failed to engage in any forward gears. This caused forward movement to reduce to extremely slow motion. If this occurred while on the freeway, and if a driver panicked, not immediately moving off to the side, it could have caused an accident with potentially serious consequences. This problem is widely known and has been dealt with to a limited extent. Don't see a place on this complaint form to indicate what the problem is. Transmission was contaminated with coolant due to lower trans line in radiator's lower tank being ruptured. Radiator was also cross contaminated with transmission fluid. This common problem in certain model 2005 - 2007 Nissan's is not currently a recall (it should be), and the limited extended warranty in the Nissan settlement offers no reimbursement for vehicles having this problem with over 100,000 miles, as is the case with most of us. I hope you are aware of the several thousand people who have had this potentially dangerous problem over the years, and the thousands more who will continue to have this same problem in the years to come.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving at 55 mph, the contact noticed vibrations underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission and the radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 114,000. The VIN was unavailable.
I was driving stopped at a light has I began to proceed the truck had no speed an the car behind was going at a high speed with other cars on right and left as I tried to accelerate it would'nt go. Continued to go and at slow pace and then picked up speed. This continued each time I stopped finally was able to get to destination and it completly stopped. Had recently replaced converter and now transmission.
Another classic story of Nissan Pathfinder transmission failing due to engine coolant leaking into the transmission fluid cooler system resulting in catastrophic failure of the transmission.
The transmission fluid and the radiator fluid are mixed up due to vehicle design issues. Nissan is conveniently getting out of the complaint by putting in stuff that there is no warranty on the vehicle.
I purchased my 2006 Nissan Pathfinder in 2013 with 109K miles on it. I loved it for 1yr and a half. 2 months ago it started shifting rough, I took it to a local place to be looked at. I was told that Nissan Pathfinders have a faulty radiator that leaks internally into the transmission causing complete transmission failure! would cost $3600 to fix. I called suntrup and was told by the service department that they had never heard of this before and to bring it in, which I did and $100 later they told me the same thing I already knew from the other place for free. They again said they had never heard of this happening before but they could fix it for $6800! I began searching (not too difficult since it is all over the internet!) I called around trying to find a more affordable transmission place and every single place I called knew about the Nissan faulty radiators!! this is a prevalent problem for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 Pathfinder, xterra and and frontier! Nissan refuses to do a recall stating it isn't a safety issue but there was a class action suit closing in 2013 (year I bought my car) and would fix the transmissions up to 100K (I bought mine at 109K. The national transportation safety board is looking into this issue. I did contact suntrup and talked to the sales manager who said to come in and they would "try and help me". their solution is to roll the $4,000 I am upside down into a brand new car causing my payments to go up exponentially! (also as a single mom of 3 kids in car seats a car isn't helpful, neither is super high payments). You can not tell me that they didn't know about this Nissan transmission issue being a Nissan dealer! they didn't know about the class action suit, the year I bought the car"!"! perhaps there isn't anything that can be done in my case but I do not think it is ethical to continue selling these models and years!!
Purchased vehicle from car lot Feb. 28, 2015. Drove this vehicle 5 times and the coolant leaked. Flushed system notice there was stop leak in radiator. Now my transmission slips and truck shakes during acceleration. This was a previous issue before I bought the vehicle because the shaking occurred when driving home. I thought this was just the tires needing to be balanced, but after research I know that it was from the coolant previously leaking into the transmission, and now I am left to deal with it.
My transmission went out on a busy intersection due to this coolant leaking into my transmission. My children were in the back seat when my transmission failed. Glad we didn't end up in a reckless and that my children are safe. There is numerous reports of this happening to these Pathfinders how is this not a recall.
Leak in radiator causing cross contamination between radiator and transmission fluids. This is causing hesitation in power during operation of vehicle. Per the Nissan service provider we took it to, the cars needs a new transmission and radiator at the cost of $6000 or it will soon die. We believe this is a manufacturer 's defect and a known flaw- many other complaints are posted by other owners.
Fluid cross contamination from radiator to transmission causing hesitation during operation of vehicle. Per Nissan service department, unless transmission and radiator are replaced this is unfixble and car will soon die. Repairs estimate is 6,000 dollars.
The transmission started to slip, which needed to be taken out of overdrive from time to time. After a few months the transmission gave out completely on the highway. It will rev up, but will not drive. Apparently they are famous for the gasket leaking engine coolant with the oil. They should have all been recalled.
The service manager shocked me when she said I needed a new transmission, because antifreeze had leaked into transmission and ruined it.she proceeded to tell me I need a timing chain, U-joints, muffler clamps and that I should have taken better care of my truck. She advised I should get a new truck the cost would be a total of $4,500 dollars for the repair!.I left in disbelief knowing a truck with 65K miles should not need a transmission.I researched on the web and found that Nissan was aware of a defect in the radiator that caused this problem, not only on my truck but other Nissan models as well. They settled a lawsuit that favors Nissan, but neglected to inform any of there customers like myself with a heads up if the issue has not happened yet.I have to pay the first $3000 dollars of the repair and Nissan will pick up the rest, this is outrageous the cause of the problem was a defective radiator, this should have been recalled.the service adviser did not notify me of this issue at the dealership and as of yet has not sent me a detailed estimate of the repair.this should be a safety issue since the trans could slip at some time causing an accident.Nissan Consumer Affairs division has not responded with a remedy with my complaint. I have lost faith in the local dealer and with Nissan product as well. Will not buy another Nissan again.P.S. I took my vehicle to another repair facility and there estimate alone for the job was $4,555 dollars, when driving it to them I could hardly drive over 40 mph and the transmission started slipping, again this should be a safety recall !.if I needed power to change lanes or get out of the way of another car I would have been killed....updated 09/22/15
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle failed to accelerate without warning. In addition, the contact stated that vehicle stalled and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hamilton, NJ, USA