My wife was driving along one day and our Nissan Pathfinder transmission broke down. This happened in fast traffic and with my baby in the back, not exactly the safest situation. This is a known issue, seemingly a crack happens in the radiator that spills into the transmission fluid rendering the transmission useless. So Nissan extended the drivetrain warranty to 80,000 miles, problem is my Pathfinder has 90,000 miles. Call me crazy but why does a known design flaw become my problem ever? Wear and tear is one thing, design flaws are another. I'm going from one of Nissan's biggest fans to never wanting to buy a Nissan again. Nissan is failing to recall this known problem or at the very least help me not become a hater. What a lost opportunity. Nissan failed. Here's the kicker, I was about to buy a second Nissan, obviously their reaction won't allow me to do that now. I called Nissan to see what they can do and I have received nothing but juniors who are not allowed to deviate from a script. The supervisor is not interested in connecting with me, it's so obvious they are taking a head in the sand approach. Is this really happening, especially after the Toyota pedal recall implications.

Not much to add to what has been said...Nissan's faulty design has led to a radiator that leaks fluid into the transmission and destroys it. And they have taken ZERO responsibility to help their customers who have been affected. Replacing a transmission and radiator on a well-maintained vehicle with 120k miles is absurd. The vehicle is now unsafe to drive and I do not feel comfortable having my family ride in it. I hope the class action suit gains momentum and justice is served for us consumers. I will never purchase another Nissan product again.

Memorial Day weekend we were in heavy traffic due to being a Saturday and also a holiday weekend. MPH was 40 and our SUV suddenly lurched violently forward. Thankfully my husband has fast reflexes and is a very good driver and managed to get control of the car or there would have certainly been bad consequences due to where we were. We also realized there were other signs that something was very wrong and had it taken to a Nissan service shop. This is from their notes: "they found internal transmission failure due to auto trans cooler which is internal part of the radiator let go, remove radiator and perform engine/coolant flush twice flush out trans lines twice and replace auto trans with factory reman unit and radiator." They took the SUV June 6th and we did not get it back until Aug 6th due to Nissan having trouble filling all the transmission replacements because of so many of the same transmission/radiator failures and we were told this by the Nissan service technition. Paying the almost $6000. and losing our second vehicle for 2 months was frustrating but that we could have been very seriously injured or worse, on top of the many surrounding vehicles and drivers who would have been affected when the SUV went out of control lurching forward as it did it is shocking to us that Nissan has done nothing about this for years. We can live without the money. We are grateful we came out of it safe. From so many others reporting the same dangerous symptoms of the well known problems to us is scary.

I had the symptoms of this problem for a year before anyone was able to diagose the issue. It was finally diagnosed as the transmission getting cross contamination from the radiator. I called nissan and they told me to take it to a local dealer, which we did. The local dealer (Sandy Sansing Nissan, Pensacola, FL) said there was no cross contamination that the transmission fluid was just dirty. We had it replaced but were still having issues. We took it back three months later and now the same dealership is saying we now have cross contamination. I called Nissan again and they filed a complaint but said there was nothing they were willing to do. To fix the issue we are being told that we have to have the transmission replace or rebuilt, new radiator, external cooler installed. We had the radiator replaced and an external cooler installed and transmission fluid changed to remove the cross contamination. We are still having issues with the transmission skipping/balking but are driving untill we have to get it replaced/rebuilt.

While traveling @ 70mph on I-95, my transmission failed instantly causing very dangerous situation. Nissan knows the problem is faulty(crack) in the radiator assembly. 8yr/80,000mile warranty extension is a joke. Fix it now!!!!!

Update from Jan 6, 2013: Now, Nissan notifies me that they have extended their(extended) warranty. They are trying to protect themselves by now offering a reduced copay, depending on miles/years. Problem is for me, it is all to late. I had to surrender my vehicle to Wells Fargo, because I was underwater and told originally it would be $6,500.00 to fix. Tried to get goodwill from my dealer to fix, even though we also had just bought a 2010 Murano as well. They said no, and I will continue to trash Nissan until somebody provides me with some type of customer service. Good Luck everybody!!!

I was driving on I15 when it went out. I lost power while driving 65 in busy traffic. I am a good driver and it was still dangerous to get to the right shoulder. It turned out the tranny was gone due to the radiator and tranny fluid mixing. I have a 2005 pathfinder with 84000 miles so nissan said i was out of luck. Tried complaining to corporate but Tim, my local rep never called me back until i started making complaints. It was 2 weeks by then and had to get my truck fixed so took it to an independent shop and they rebuilt it for $4700. When I finally got a hold of nissan corporate they said there was nothing they could do as they wont pay for others work. Now I have a host of other electric issues that they cant diagnos at my Nissan Dealer. My car will drive fine one day then go into limpmode the next. I have to let it sit for 30 minutes and its fine again. I so want to get rid of this POS. My pathfinder was great until 80,000 miles then its just become a nightmare. Beware of any nissan SUV!!

It started acting up in March 2012 and it started getting worse and worse. I had someone to look at it, which took them a while to figure out that the radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission. Low gear went out first, now it will not start at all because the fluid has ruin the control box in the transmission therefore the transmission is no good. A guy that works at Nissan in Shelbyville put it on a machine and discovered the problem. The radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission. Why didn't you have a recall on it? Are you going to do anythin about it? Because I don't have that kind of money.

I took my Nissan Pathfinder in to have the oil changed and tires rotated. The transmission was acting funny but I thought that it might be the fluids so I was not worried. Boy was I surprised when I got a phone call that the radiator coolant had leaked into the transmission and both have to be replaced. I was furious!!!! I was told that Nissan knew about the problem and gave it an extended warranty to 80000 miles. Really, Nissan knew about this problem and did not even attempt to contact me and let me know? This is a safety hazard as if the transmission went out on a busy street or highway I could have caused a wreck. I will never buy another Nissan. I was once a loyal customer but never again!

I had the same problem with the transmission that many have complained about on this site and others. I've bought Nissan's my whole life and could not be more disappointed with the way that the company is handling this situation. I just had my transmission replaced for the tune of 5500 dollars. This is after having the radiator replaced and the transmission flushed. when the problem started I had 100,800 miles on the vehicle and my extended warranty expired at 100K. If anyone knows, or has an update on what Nissan is doing to make this right please let me know.

The transmission ultimately failed when my wife was driving on the highway with my two small children. She was almost hit trying to get over to the side of the highway with no acceleration.

We had the exact same problem as everyone else. The coolant leaked into the transmission and has destroyed the transmission in the middle of the 95. Took vehicle to Nissan Coral Springs several times prior to shutting down, we cannot believe that Nissan does not have qualified mechanics, got poor diagnosis, Nissan Coral Springs repeatedly kept saying it was not a tranny problem. Of course I spent over $3,000 on other repairs recommended by Nissan Coral Springs.

Nissan consumer affairs, was very helpful in taking down my complaints and very supportive with my feelings, they went as far as to say as a good will courtesy they will help me fix the tranny upon the dealership diagnosis even though it was at 92,000 miles past the extended warranty.

Low and behold, Nissan correctly diagnosed my vehicle when it could not move, they finally got it right, it is a tranny problem, great job Nissan Coral Springs; it actually had to break down to get the correct diagnosis.

Nissan consumer affairs, stop “BS” people around. When I called to let you know that I was having problems, you told me this vehicle was under recall for the ECM module, and as a good will courtesy you will help me fix the tranny upon Nissan’s diagnosis. However, I did my part every time I took it in to Nissan I followed up with a phone call to let you know the status. When my car finally broke down you guys was more than happy to add more stress to my life, the case was re-assigned to a new rep with a new case number, and the good will courtesy dropped off the case. I was not surprise to hear that Nissan was unable to assist in the repairs.

We bought this beautiful car my wife and I first SUV as our family was growing. We have had every major problem occur on this vehicle that has come up on consumer affairs. Our first problem was the fuel sending sensor which caused the entire fuel system to break down. I paid out of pocket for the fix, and fought nissan for a reimbursement until they finally paid on the claim. Next was the radiator leaking into the transmission. Our car started with a little shake during acceleration so I thought it was dirty injectors so i had them cleaned, but that did not fix the issue then the car started to shake very hard and and the AC stopped working. I took it to my mechanic and he said your radiator has completely fallen apart and leaked into your transmission. I remember getting the extended warranty information from nissan on this problem so I went down to nissan where they started to give my the run around about how we should buy a new car, it is not there fault, finally we took the problem all the way up the ladder where the final decision was since you were over the miles by 2,000 miles, we are not going to cover a dime of the repair. So we paid 3200 bucks to fix the problem. Last week our Cat.Converter broke another $1000 to fix, and now today the engine block has cracked. $4500 to fix. Will nissan stand by this product NO!!!!

Pathfinder was vibrating starting at 45/50 miles per hour.

Modern Nissan of Concord, NC diagnosed problem as intercooler in radiator burst mixing coolant and trans fluid. They replaced radiator, flushed out transmission 3 times to get all sludge out flushed trans oil cooler lines and test drove for 50 miles with no shutter. Note from dealer said if shutter returns transmission would have to be replaced but working fine at this time.

Also at this time, the heat had stopped working when idling. Heat pump was not opening and no coolant was going into heater core. Replaced pump and was said to be working at that time (1/4/2012). Total cost of these repairs was $1204.84.

Update from Aug 9, 2012: Paid $450 in January 2012 to replace radiator, flush sludge out of system. That fix seemed to work until June 11, 2012 when the Pathfinder transmission would not engage in 1st gear, but would eventually kick in. Returned to Modern Nissan dealership (who has been great about this) and they quoted $4,000 to fix the selanoid that creates pressure in the transmission and either replace or fix the transmission. My Pathfinder is stuck at the dealership. In the meantime, I called Nissan after reviewing over 197 incidents of similar nature on this site alone. Nissan extended the warranty a year for this problem but that only covers 80,000 miles, so I have the same problem, but have surpassed the mileage threshold. At this point, I'm working with a Regional Specialist at Nissan who is trying to work the case. This vehicle has been very well cared for over the years and I bought it new. Help, Nissan???