CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005-2007 Xterra 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.
The same defect exists in the Pathfinder & Frontier as well. And 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:
0 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
102,852 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 have a 2005 Nissan Xterra. I am the original owner and have been driving it over 16 years. Two years ago, in 2020 while driving my car on the road and with kids inside (with a 1 year old and a 6 year old child), the car began to shake and turned off (we were stranded in the middle of the road, at a traffic light). Since it was my only means of transportation I kept driving it (no kids inside anymore--which was another HUGE inconvenience having to coordinate and at times pay for babysitters). During my continued usage, it will continue to fail to accelerate causing great danger on the freeway and or on public roads. After a while, I managed to drive it to a transmission shop, who told me they had to either hold onto the car or have it towed--as it was deemed unsafe to drive. Upon inspection, the transmission shop confirmed "coolant bypassed into transmission, " among other issues (vehicle does not accelerate, chick engine light is on, etc.) I paid with credit card, $4359.34. Once paid and transmission shop fixed issue, I continued to drive the car with family inside. Now two years later July 2022--I am experiencing the same "vehicle does not accelerate" issue.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated she was able to restart the vehicle however, the vehicle stalled after driving 50 feet. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact towed the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was also informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 149,000.
Bought vehicle from used from private owner a year ago and noticed less then two weeks later while driving including on the freeway the engine just turns off with no steering control, almost no brake control, and sometimes takes a few minutes to start up again just to get out of the way of other vehicles. Now it-??s overheating and leaking coolant on front passenger side floor along with the ground now shutting off more frequently. Also shortly after I bought the vehicle I could hear squeaking noises from under vehicle while driving over the smallest bump and every turn and is so loud it-??s heard from 2 small streets away and feels like any second the body might separate from the wheels. I-??m not sure about the rest.
- Long Beach, CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. While driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle shook violently and did not shift gears. In addition, the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who performed a bypass and flushed the transmission. The vehicle was then taken to another independent mechanic who specialized in transmission service. The transmission was flushed and the filter was changed. The technician also located failure codes 1754 and 1759. The contact called rosen Nissan of madison (located at 2510 w beltline hwy, madison, wi 53713) and was informed that the mechanic who performed the bypass wrecked the vehicle. The contact was informed that nothing could be done. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided a case number. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.
On 3/14 I went to work as I work where I live when to drive the truck and it would not accelerate. Was like being in 4th gear even though I was in first gear. I then noticed the check engine light came on. I borrowed a code reader and got the code P1769 called the mechanic and they came and towed to shop. The code wasn't what was wrong the radiator leaked into the transmission and it destroyed the transmission. The mechanic rebuilt entire tranny re ran cooling lines and added two cooling fans. He had to buy a brand new valve body and rebuild entire transmission as it was destroyed by the antifreeze. We did see this was a problem with this year Nissan and no recall was ever done. The vehicle was in the shop for almost 8 weeks and the amount it cost to repair was a months worth of bring home pay for my self and wife who is disabled. The truck is repaired now thankfully but would of been nice to have Nissan foot some of this bill for sure
Radiator cracks allowed transmission fluid and engine coolant to mix as a direct cause for transmission destruction! car will no longer move and no warning signs or recalls. This is a known problem by Nissan for years and no recall? who got paid at here to allow Nissan to get away with that for so many model vehicles for years! car stalled and died while in motion almost causing a major accident with my 2 kids aboard!
Coolant mixing with transmission fluid. The Xterra would not shift gears correctly and therefore I investigated more by checking the fluid. I found brown coolant so I decided to do a drain/fill. It was running better and I researched further and found that this is a common problem. I took my Xterra to a transmission mechanic who also drained it and repaired a valve that went bad due to the coolant fluid mixing. There was a transmission cooler added as well. He also drained and filled. I then had a transmission flush just to make sure all coolant was out. With all this done, it gave me more time but the damage was done and I am continuing to have shifting issues. I now have to replace my Xterra transmission. I really enjoy my Xterra and have taken care of it by regular fluid changes and keeping up with it maintenance. It has a strong engine with no leaks and constantly clean motor oil. It is unfortunate that I have had to go through the stress of all of this because of a design flaw that Nissan is unable to remedy.
My vehicle lost all power. First started to shake and rattle, then all power was lost. Upon further investigation, my engine coolant looked like a milk shake. Call Nissan, and they said it happens quite often that they have a name for it, "the milk shake". appearently the inner tube, that cools the trans, broke causing fluids to mix, resulting in failure of transmission.
"transmission/radiator recall" I own a 2005 Nissan Xterra offroad V-6. I purchased this vehicle in Sept. 2005. With the exception of an air intake problem within a few months of purchase, I absolutely loved this vehicle! until it went over 90,000 miles in Feb. 2014, the transmission just stopped and went into neutral while driving at highway speed in the fast lane on a busy interstate highway. Fortunately, I was able to pass over the other lanes of traffic and make it to the shoulder before the car rolled to a complete stop. I let it sit and cool and started it up again to find that I was able at least drive it to the dealer. It was then that I was first made aware of the radiator/transmission recall and subsequent issues. They "serviced" the cooling system by replacing the radiator hoses and clamps and flushing the system out and telling me that that will fix the problem. (at my expense of course) they checked the transmission and said that it was functioning normally with no problems. Fine. 2 years and 6,000 miles later while driving at highway speed on a los angeles freeway (it is sometimes possible) the transmission suffered a catastrophic failure and switches into neutral leaving me trying to and weave my way to the opposite side of the freeway where there is a shoulder before I loose momentum. Then the vehicle was non operational and I was stranded 100 miles from home. In the 2 years since, this vehicle has had a complete transmission rebuild, has been in the shop 4 more times and had 2 more catastrophic transmission failures while driving on the highway. The important point to be addressed here is that the investigation into this recall ended and it was determined not to be a "safety hazard". well, when my vehicle failed on a blind curve on ca St hwy 74 (the corridor of death), with no median or shoulder, it became a real time safety hazard to me.
While driving my Xterra would not move when I depressed the accelerator. The engine would rev high making a loud noise and the car would barely move. Service engine soon light turned on and stayed on. Took to a repair shop and was told that it showed a code for the transmission control module. I was told to replace it, over a $1,300. Mechanic disassembled transmission to reach control module and found transmission fluid mixed with water. I was advised to replace radiator and flush transmission. Looking at $2,000 in repairs. Nissan has been aware of a problem with the radiator cracking and mixing with the transmission fluid for awhile. No recall has been issued and consumers are stuck with the bill. They should at least issue a safety bulletin advising their customers of the risk. Instead Nissan opted to stay silent and has failed to address a serious problem. Nissan has put profits before customer service. They should be fined and held accountable for this ongoing problem.
My 2005 Nissan Xterra trans just died on 5/10/2018. I was driving over the whitestone bridge queensbound on my way to work when it just stopped. My mechanic told me today, 5/18/2018, that the fan went inside the trans and would cost thousands to fix. Apparantly this is a common problem. I'm so angry.
While driving my car with just over 40,000 miles on it the clutch began to slip as I hit the gas. This caused the vehicle to slow down while in traffic and other drivers were forced to avoid my vehicle which could not safely maintain highway speeds. The clutch had to be replaced. This again just happened at over 80,000 miles. The clutch is wearing very quickly on this vehicle. Luckily none of these have caused any real safety concern but I want it documented that Nissan is selling a vehicle with a poorly made clutch that could cause safety issue depending on where you are when the failure occurs. If a vehicle loses its clutch it may not be able to shift gears or lose motive power increasing the risk of a crash.
Purchased a one owner Nissan in late 2016 w/ approx. 85-86K miles on it.got approx. 4-5 mths of use before it completely lost power & became inoperable(approx Feb/March of 2017).my wife & I were driving home & basically lost all power w/O any warning.thank god we were on a side road @ the time & were able to safely pull over.it has been parked since early 2017 & rendered useless.$9000 down the drain.vehicle only has 89K miles on it & in immaculate shape inside&out.now we're faced with the financial burden of a $4000+ transmission rebuild + ECM/tcm module replacement. My mechanic picked up on the problem immediately.he checked the radiator & it looked like strawberry milk.I owned 1 other Nissan before this & can truly say I will never, ever own another.I felt very confident in the vehicle mechanically. But if I'd known about this defect I'd have never purchased it.now I'm basically out $9000 or have a $4000+ repair to even be able to recoup any money & some of my losses.if I had any inkling of information about this defective part in Nissan's I'd have never purchased it.I originally considered Nissan a good car maker & ranked them closely w/ Honda & Toyota in performance & dependability.needless to say.all that's now changed.I cannot believe the NHTSA did not demand that Nissan publicly announce these issues as to protect the consumers & current owners. But I'd never heard a thing about it & I "work in automotive finance"!!! I will admit, Nissan was successful in ripping many people off & without so much as an apology. Much less any potential financial assistance that they caused.Nissan needs to wake up & do right by their customers or they wont have them long.trust me when I say.that day draws closer w/ every person who finds themselves in this similar situation.thanks & I hope you do something about this injustice that was allowed to happen on your watch!!!!!!
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that the vehicle was slow to change gears and accelerate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for servicing and to have the transmission replaced. The failure recurred. The service engine warning indicator kept illuminating and the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic for further diagnostic testing. A dealer was contacted (massapequa Nissan, 200 sunrise highway, amityville, NY 11701, (516) 799-2800). The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 10V517000 (engine and engine cooling) and NHTSA action number: Dp-12004 (power train). The manufacturer issued four technical service bulletins (tsbs) on the engine and four tsbs on the power train, but there was no remedy to provide a solution. The approximate failure mileage was 66,074.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Richland , WA, USA