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.
1.1
hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
166,477 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.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving approximately 50 mph, the radiator fractured and there was a transmission fluid leak. The contact, an independent mechanic, diagnosed that the oil cooler within the radiator was faulty. A dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000.
Tla* the contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving approximately 35 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle did not respond. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was later towed to meadowlands Nissan in hasbrouck heights, NJ where it was diagnosed that the radiator leaked and caused the transmission to fail. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000. Updated 09/06/17..updated 09/11/17 updated 09/20/17 consumer stated the vehicle was repaired at an independent shop. Transmission failure due to radiator leak. Updated 10/4/18
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving 50 mph, the vehicle shook violently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the transmission and radiator failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 144,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving approximately 75 mph, the vehicle shifted into neutral on its own. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road and turned off the engine. The dealer diagnosed that the radiator fractured and contaminated the transmission. The failure recurred approximately six times. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was invalid. The approximate failure mileage was 91,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle stalled and was unable to be restarted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that there was contamination of radiator fluid and that the radiator and transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000. The VIN was unavailable.
- White Springs, FL, USA
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The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving 40 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact discovered that the fuel tank was empty and the fuel gauge displayed incorrect reading levels. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that there was radiator coolant inside the transmission. The transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact mentioned that the air conditioner and heating system became inoperable. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 10V075000 (fuel system, gasoline). The failure mileage was 102,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the radiator leaked fluid onto the transmission and both components needed to be replaced. There were no warning indicators. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 112,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle lost power and stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the Nissan dealer where it was diagnosed that radiator coolant and transmission fluid mixed together and caused the transmission to fail. The manufacturer was notified and diagnosed the failure as "power transmission cross train". the failure mileage was 118,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. While driving at approximately 40 mph, the transmission failed and the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the radiator and the transmission failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was 121,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that the gear would not shift into reverse. An independent mechanic noticed that the transmission fluid was mixing with the coolant and the coolant was leaking into the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission and radiator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 169,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the engine slipped out of gear and engaged from drive to neutral independently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who indicated that the radiator and transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 118,000. Kmj
Car was not accelerating properly and was shaking. Took it to the shop. The radiator had failed allowing coolant into my transmission and ruining my transmission. Repair will cost $4102 + tax.
On 9/13/2013 I took my vehicle to alan webb Nissan to investigate some transmission slipping that I had experienced the previous day. On 9/16/2013 I was informed that my transmission had become contaminated with radiator coolant and my transmission and radiator would have to be replace at the cost of $5300 plus applicable tax. I was further informed that this was known problem with this generation vehicle but that Nissan only provided repair assistance for vehicles with less than 100K miles on them and I was therefor required to pay the full amount. It was only later through online research that I discovered that a class action lawsuit had been the only reason they provided any repair assistance. I also noted that the vastt majority of reported cases were for vehicles over the 100K mark. 1. if this was a known defect that affected millions of vehicles why wasn't Nissan forced to perform a recall and replace the radiators. 2. why was I not as a minimum informed of the defect when I purchased the vehicle with 74K miles on it. With less than 80K on them Nissan would repair the problem at their cost. 3. if the problems are not as a rule happening to vehicles until they go over 100K miles then why cap the assistance requirement. 4. now that it is recognized by the courts as a known failure why are the consumers paying anything to do these repairs whn it could have been avoided with a $200 radiator and an hours labor. I find this very dishonest that Nissan was not forced by the courts or the NHTSA to do a full recall or disclosure to owners. If so many vehicles are on the road which can have a major transmission failure at any time why hasn't the NHTSA forced Nissan to do something about it? this may not be as hazardous as fuel tanks rupturing but I would think that a vehicle that has a transmission failure at highway speeds should be of concern.
On June 7, 2012, Nissan told me that my radiator failed causing my transmission to fail. I have 3 children ages 7 weeks to 5 yrs and count my self lucky that the problem was diagnosed before a potentially life threatening transmission failure on busy los angeles county streets or freeways. I was later appalled to find out that Nissan knew of the issue, but covered it up as evidenced in a NY times article dated 8/24/2011. The service advisor at the dealer informed me that my car situation was an issue that he had seen before. I am now being told that it will cost me $4000 for my car to be repaired due to a known defective radiator that would have cost a fraction of that to replace. I am still without a car after 11 days.
I have a 2006 Nissan Xterra and driving my car it started driving like in neutral so I had my car towed and the shop told me there was a crack in the radiator hose that caused fluid to go into transmission and ruined it. I had my car towed to a Nissan dealer and they said yes they knew about this and had issued an extended warranty to 80,000 miles my car has 100,000 miles on it so it wouldn't be covered. I felt since they clearly had a design flaw in the radiator hose connection that could cause the transmission to give out and be dangerous it should have been a recall issue. It shouldn't matter how many miles you have on the car it was a defective design by Nissan and should have been corrected. All you have to do is search on the internet and you will find many many pages of complaints about this issue. I find it hard to believe that a car company could be aware of a design flaw that is more likely to occur than not but not stand behind the vehicle and take care of it regardless the miles. It is over $5,000 to fix and it is wrong for Nissan not to have recalled this. Why when it is repaired does the new radiator have a different hose connection?? because they know it was a defective design first time around. Just wrong, I will never buy another Nissan again.
My daughter (17 years old) was driving the 2006 Nissan Xterra and the transmission went inoperable and the vehicle would not move. No warning and no indication of failure. Nissan stated that the radiator leaked into the transmission and they would warranty it if it was under 80,000 miles. This vehicle has 87,000 miles and the dealer said that no warranty can be granted but they would be happy to take a $5000 charge to fix it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Salem, VA, USA