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.
June 4, 2013 I purchased a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder platinum model. Around September 2013, while ascending a small hill I noticed a shudder shake that lasts about 4 to 6 seconds. The situation happens while driving around 25 miles per hour when accelerating from low speeds. It occurs intermittently so I thought it could be the pavement however within the past year it has been more frequent. I have experienced the shaking during slow turns and upon hills the transmission feels stuck and you finally feel the gear kick in and after making it uphill or stopping vehicle drives smooth again.. it seems as if the car loses acceleration power and I have to release the gas pedal in order for it to stop shaking and then return to normal. Nissan needs to carefully investigate and fix this serious safety issue and issue a mass vehicle recall.
Shortly after purchasing my new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder in may of 2013, I started to experience the vehicle violently shuttering at lower speeds. It seemed as if the car would lose power and I would have to release the gas pedal in order for it to stop. I have called multiple Nissan service dealerships and have spoken with service managers about the issue but, they all say the same thing, "Nissan is aware of the issue and they are working on issuing a recall. Continue to drive the vehicle. It will not cause damage to the vehicle itself". I am reaching my one year anniversary with this vehicle and the problem continues and is becoming noticeably worse. While at first the shuttering occurred only in low speeds, it seems to be occurring while at high speeds as well. I have contacted Nissan and was told that there was not an existing recall for this issue and that my VIN was not a match for any transmission recalls. I was also told that a regional manager would get in contact with me and I was given a case number.
On an intermittent basis, the gas pedal does not engage when depressed ? the driver has to release and press the gas pedal multiple times or hold down gas pedal and then the engine revs hard and the car suddenly lurches forward. It happens both when beginning to accelerate from a stop as well as when the car is driving and in motion and the driver presses the gas pedal to accelerate (such as when passing another car on the highway). By early April 2014, this had happened at least 20 times in a four-week period and sometimes happened daily. I took the vehicle to our local dealer, who consulted with a regional Nissan warranty rep. He said he had seen the problem before, and they replaced the the brake lamp switch and relay. I have had one incident where it happened again after this work was done on April 9.
There is a sudden juddering shake that lasts about 4 to 6 seconds driving around 25 miles per hour. I have experienced the shaking during turns and upon hills the transmission feels like driving a stickshift and you finally feel the gear kick in and the after making it uphill or stopping uphill. Vehicle drives smooth again. My girls are very scared with the shaking I have left my vehicle at the dealership pending a fix/solution.
- San Diego , CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the vehicle began to shutter. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that the computer needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 8,500. The VIN was unavailable.
About 4 hours into our return trip on Friday, March 29, I was driving on I295 around the city of richmond, va. We were in heavy traffic travelling about 75 mph when our car backfired. My wife and I looked at each other, and nothing seemed to happen to the car. So we continued driving thinking the backfire was a noise from a source other than our car. However, when I braked shortly thereafter because of traffic buildup the car stalled at 40 mph. I was stunned but quickly responded by restarting the car. From that point on the car repeatedly stalled each time we braked and/or reduced speed.
Purchased in Aug 2013. Sept 2013 at low speeds under 25 mph, the vehicle begins to shudder and looses acceleration. Nissan dealership could not find a problem. Oct 2013 my vehicle was back in for the same issue. This time Nissan replaced the transmission. Nov 2013 back to the dealer for same issue, was told a software update was just released for a computer upgrade for the transmission. Problem still existed. Returned a 4th time in Dec 2013 and was told I must have been spinning my wheels in the snow, no problems were found. In addition to the transmission problems, the roof started leaking and the water ran behind the dashboard. A gasket needed to be replaced, shortly after I began to have electronic issues with wipers, volume control for bluetooth, radio. Some type of module was replaced this took two return trips before a problems was found. Again within a month these electrical issues returned. On Monday 3/24 the transmission once again failed as I was making a left turn from a stop. With this incident I was almost killed by a tractor trailer because I was stuck in the middle of the intersection and could not get the vehicle to move. Luckily the truck was able to swerve behind me a the last moment to avoid the collision. Restarting the car several times cleared the problem and was immediately took it back to my dealership. I explained everything that has been happening with my vehicle since purchased in Aug 2013, 33 days of service so far and no resolution. I have also filed a complaint with Nissan Consumer Affairs, case # [xxx]. Nissan admitted there is a problem with the transmission but does not have a fix. At this time the vehicle is not safe to drive and the dealer has put me in a free loaner car until they have a resolution. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Shortly after purchasing my 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, I noticed a shudder when accelerating at low speeds. This has randomly happened at least 10-15 times in the past year. After a stop or slow to around 10 miles per hour, the car shudders on acceleration. Many times it happens during a turn with acceleration but it also has had the problem during straight acceleration at low speeds. The dealership was made aware of the problem during multiple services but techs were not able to duplicate the problem and did no repairs.
Shortly after purchasing the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder in December 2012, we noticed the vehicle shaking when accelerating or decelerating. This occurred in both the 2wd and the 4WD/variable transmission settings. The recall notice received said the continuously variable transmission (cvt) chain might slip and cause the vehicle to "judder", which it did many times. The vehicle acts like the engine will die when stopping or accelerating from a stop, causing hesitation that could result in an accident. After the recommended "reprogramming of the transmission control module (tcm)" by the dealer, the problem continues and now one year and several complaints to the dealer later we were advised to "open a file" with Nissan to document the problem, though no one has said if it can be repaired. Along with this complaint, we are also contacting the national Consumer Affairs dept of Nissan North America. The "slipping" occurs daily and according to the original recall notice, this might result "in future damage to your vehicle's transmission".
It was time for a oil change and I was wondering why was it when you pull off the car stutters come to find out it needed a transmission and when the guy told me he even said they have had lots of them like that so why would you keep selling.
Vehicle juddering while traveling at low speed, it feels like it going to stall. Nissan is aware of the problem but they say they can't recreate. They called in to mossy Nissan in national city, ca to test drive the car with the foreman of the shop, and the problem recurred, he felt it, but we didn't have the computer hook up to the car diagnostics. I took the car back in for the same thing, I left the car there for 2 days and hey said they couldn't duplicate it. Also it has a coolant leak that has not been fixed after 3 times. They smell it but can't find the problem.
Sudden lose of power on accelerator for about 4-5 seconds on low speed. It is very dangerous situation as I could possibly struck by another vehicles from behind.
While driving at a speeds of 40 or below the vehicle will begin to shake/shudder. It will continue for approximately 5-10 seconds. It also appears to loose power. The dealership has looked at it and reprogrammed it but shortly after leaving it began to do it again.
Car jutters when accelerating after a stop and when turning. The car was purchased in June, and has done it about 15 times since. The first time we took it into the dealership, they reset something in the transmission and said that should fix the problem. Well, it didn't fix the problem. We took the car back to the dealership twice, they test drove it and said they never experience the juttering. Therefore, they haven't done anything about it. Now it's December and I received a recall notice for something else regarding the antilock brake system software. I am very dissatisfied with this car and the service that Nissan has provided; they haven't helped me one bit even after filing a complaint with Nissan corporate.
While turning left, the transmission began to shutter and the vehicle lost power for 2-3 seconds. Passenger airbag off indicator intermittently comes on with passenger in seat.
Passenger airbag light illuminates as disabled when an adult passenger occupies the seat. Sensor has been reprogrammed but condition still exists. Dealer claims no codes are stored. Manufacturer has been notified. Recall did not affect my vehicle due to production date. Idle has been re-learned several times. Tachometer will drop below 500 as if vehicle is going to stall. Now I am experiencing loss of traction. Tires spin and squeal while just trying to pull out in to traffic. Had vdc light illuminate and shut off after 5 seconds in completely dry conditions. Had metal scraping sound, left wheel bearing and control arm was replaced. Took in to dealer a couple weeks ago for similar metal sound on left side, they claimed backplate bent in to rotor. Metal on metal sound still occurring. Called Nissan to file yet another claim requesting that they absorb negative equity, since my original claim for them to repurchase vehicle was denied. There is something seriously wrong with this car.
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the engine would exhbit an abnormal whistling when initially started. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that they could not diagnose the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 7,000.
1. while attempting to leave a school parking lot (going in a straight line with other parents' cars) at 10 mph the engine shuddered and the vehicle jerked back and forth as if it transmission couldn't engage power to the wheels. The shuddering stopped after a couple seconds and I was able to leave the school parking lot safely. (vehicle has shuddered while driving straight three times in the last month.) 2. pulled into a roundabout at 15 mph and the engine shuddered, jerking the Pathfinder back and forth. When exiting the roundabout at nearly 20 mph the vehicle shuddered again for a couple seconds, but this time it was not a violent -- it only vibrated the vehicle. (vehicle has shuddered while turning at least 12 times in the last month.) 3. after turning right onto a straight street and trying to accelerate, the engine felt as if half the power were taken away. The engine revved up, but the acceleration was weak. (this has happened twice in a month.)
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Astoria, NY, USA