The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. While driving 4 mph, the transmission failed and the vehicle stalled. It was diagnosed that the radiator fluid leaked into the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of this issue. The failure mileage was 111,326.

- Benicia, CA, USA

Transmission failure (atf contamination). ODI received a petition requesting investigation of transmission damage attributed to contamination by engine coolant. The source of the contamination is a cracked atf line that runs through an engine coolant chamber in the radiator.

- Mckinney, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Nissan xtera. While driving 30 mph, the vehicle stalled, the instrument panel lights illuminated, and the vehicle made a subtle noise before stalling. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 114,000.

- Shreveport, LA, USA

The car started loosing power since last two weeks. Couple of days back while parking the car completely lost the power even though it was in drive. Today I took it to the dealer and dealer diagnosed 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

- Chrlotte, NC, USA

I purchased this car used from a dealer with approx 64,000 miles. After 2 days and less than 200 miles the car started shuddering as if I was driving over rumble strips and the check engine light came on. The next morning when I went to take it to the dealer there was a horrible rattling sound coming from under the hood that softened as the car warmed up. Needless to say that both of the more common complaints about this car raised their ugly heads at the same time: Transmission and timing chains!! I took it to my local Nissan dealer for evaluation and repair and was told that the cost would be between $8-9,000. Thank god for aftermarket warranty. Anyway... if Nissan does not intend to issue a recall, there should be a disclosure on carfax/autocheck/etc for these significant problems.

- Jackson, NJ, USA

My 2005 Nissan Xterra had leak in the radiator and went into my transmisson. Now the truck did not run. I contacted Nissan when the truck had less than 80,000 miles on it but they refused to fix due to mileage.

- Greenville, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that the check engine soon warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the radiator fractured which caused an oil and coolant mixture, which damaged the transmission. The contact was informed that the radiator and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 102,000.

- Worcester, MA, USA

The timing chain guides are faulty and at this time I am hearing the whining noise that has been described from several other complaints. It is known that this can completely destroy the engine and fail at any given time, possibly causing an accident or death because of the accident caused by this issue

- Leander, TX, USA

Takata recall. - Xterra has had radiator replaced, transmission fixed twice due to bad valve body. Now it is shuddering again at 40mph down the road. This needs to be addressed. Transmission failed going down the highway, causing it to go into failure mode. I lost all power by the time I could get pulled over and stopped.

- Grapevine, TX, USA

The radiator leaked into the transmission, without any incident leading up to the mechanic finding the leak. The radiator had to be replaced, and the transmission had to be rebuilt. The transmission still seems to improperly shift, and a strong, rich, oil smell is coming from the engine compartment now. I do not qualify for any reimbursment because of a previous settlement which I, like many others, were not involved in, and which did not cover and problems over 100,000 miles. I believe the manufacturer knew about the defect in their car and chose not to fix the problem in a part which should not have failed, and should have issued a recall. If we had not caught the damage in time, the engine could have failed in the middle of driving, and and accident might have been unavoidable. I also believe the dealer who sold me the car was informed about the settlement and intentionally chose not to tell me about it, even when I asked specifically about the problem during negotiations.

- Kings Beach, CA, USA

After a year of ownership at approx.. 108000 miles, the vehicle would not start. Had it towed to reg. Garage and subsequently another garage with better diagnostic system as the code would not hold/replicate easily. Code was for ECM, which was repaired at owners cost (unaware of recall). There was mix of antifreeze/oil due to leak in radiator. Flushed system and replaced radiator at owner's cost. Within weeks, vehicle was not accelerating correctly and code showing emissions issue and catalytic converter issue. Looking at thousands of dollars in repair costs which appear to simply be a band-aid until the issue begins again. Still paying on the vehicle and a new mom of twins. Now stuck with an unsafe vehicle riddled with repair costs for an issue that Nissan is well aware of and should have fixed. How frustrating that this issue is still in limbo after 2 years, how this cannot be seen as a constantly recurring problem which is extremely unsafe and be the responsibility of Nissan is beyond me. These issues occurred while in motion on a major highway and on side roads with hills.

- Dover, PA, USA

I purchased a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The vehicle's transmission is gone due to a fault in the manufacturing. This could have been a potentially dangerous situation - but luckily for me I was not driving or on the highway. I have contacted Nissan regarding this issue and was told that they are not going to assist me in repairing the problem because the vehicle warranty has run out. I bought this vehicle used - the dealer never mentioned anything about a recall or problem at the time that could be fixed by Nissan nor did I receive any correspondence from Nissan themselves. Now I am stuck with the financial burden of $5000 for the repair. I don't think this is fair - the used car dealers should be mandated by law to fix vehicles with recalls and inform car buyers that there is a manufacturing defect. Nissan also should be held accountable.

- Leominster, MA, USA

Radiator has transmission fluid in it. Transmission has radiator fluid in it. Will have to replace both. App, $5000. Vehicle shifts hard then stutters, vibration

- Pace, FL, USA

I bought a used Nissan Xterra last year that had 100K mile. Traveling from work warning lights come on. I took my vehicle to meineke for diagnostic. The warning code read transmission. Took it to the Nissan dealer knoxville tn the next day and tech diagnosed 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. That week my car produced slowing of vehicle and times where engine would not crank. I ended up paying $3010.35 (attached) to chip's transmission to get fixed. I contacted Nissan North America regarding the issue and was provided documentation that after reviewing my case; they were unable to offer financial assistance because the vehicle was outside the new vehicle limited warranty. (attached) I found out a class action lawsuit was filed regarding this matter and the fix was an extended warranty. Per document if you miles were over 90K miles you were out of luck. Well luck plays no part in this matter as I had bought this vehicle used over 100K miles and was never notified. I had a warranty for 1 yr or 12000 miles when I bought was never notified. I feel like regardless of the mileage. This was a defective part that was installed by Nissan dealership and was a known problem by consumers. This part should be replaced or recalled by Nissan and that an ongoing investigation on the behalf of those consumer who had these vehicles should not have to pay for such extensive repairs or damages being that it is Nissan's wrongful intentions. I have had to eat the cost of not only missing work but paying for rental car expenses for 14 days (attached) plus the parts/repair to this vehicle. F you would like to contact me regarding this matter.]

- Lenoir City, TN, USA

The transmission is damaged, because the cooland fluid got mixed with automatic transmission fluid. All of this because a bad Nissan design. Nissan does not take care of this problem, leaving the costumer with a mayor problem. People should not buy Nissan. This company does nothing for problems that they created. It happened in motion driving on a city street.

- Durham, NC, USA

A leak inside the radiator has allowed radiator fluid into the transmission. Just driving a short errand near home when I felt a vibration at about 40-45mph, followed by erratic shifting. As I returned home, the car wouldn't even climb up my driveway. I was able to back out, and tried driving forward, but could only crawl a couple of mph. Luckily reverse still worked enough to safely move out of the street.

- Westminster, CO, USA

Chain tensioner has failed resulting in engine damage. Nissan has been aware for years that this part is a problem and has chosen not to remedy the defective part. Instead, it will cost me thousands in repairs.

- Longmont, CO, USA

My son was driving the car on a local road near home at night. He was accelerating up a small grade, when he said the car acted as if it had popped out of gear. It began to rev higher and made a higher pitched sound. He tried changing from being in "drive" to a lower gear, but it still did not engage the transmission. He had enough momentum to be able to coast onto our side street and park the car. Luckily there was no accident, but he was almost rear-ended as his car slowed suddenly and traffic ran up on him. The car would not start, nor turn over at that point. I had the car towed to the local Nissan dealer. They mentioned it was a known issue with the transmission and radiator and it would cost over 5K for just a new transmission, not including a new radiator or labor to install both. I was able to find another mechanic that purchased a rebuilt transmission, but the whole thing still cost over 5K to have the rebuilt transmission and radiator installed with no assurance that it would not happen again. This is a well documented issue with these vehicles and continues to cost people thousands of dollars for a very poor and dangerous design.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA

Was leaving parking lot onto main street and car just died....

- Glendale, AZ, USA

I just purchased my 2005 Xterra used from a lot, and only after seeing great reviews on edmunds.com and cars.com did I realize the terrible problems these cars have. There's a terribly high-pitched whine coming from the engine bay at all speeds, which my mechanic told me over the phone is likely the timing chain/chain tensioner system and that it's well known on this model year. He said very low-quality parts were used in the construction of the chain system and that it's prone to critical failure. That kind of fix is anywhere between $1,000 and $2,000. Apparently, just like the transmission and radiator failures, Nissan covered this problem up as best they could and preferred to endanger customers and hand out waivers when people asked specifically instead of owning up to the problem and fixing it outright. Appalling.

- New York, NY, USA