I have liked Pathfinders since I was a kid and wasn't even old enough to drive. I bought my first one back in 2008 it is a 2005 Super Black LE full loaded the only thing it doesn't have is a navigation system. My first major issue was the fuel level sensor had to be replaced. I was able to get reimbursed by Nissan thankfully. The next major issue was my engine started running extremely hot causing a hose to rupture during an oil change. This happened last summer 2012. The most recent issue was coolant mixing with the transmission fluid. I noticed slipping while going to 2nd gear then it would jerk into gear. It was pretty consistent for a couple of days then became intermittent. So I took it in to my mechanic (May 4 2013) who has worked it since I have owned it. They checked everything and drove it around for a while everything check out good. The next day I picked my wife up from the airport (May 5 2013) heading back home on I-85 north just got off the exit and the engine would not accelerate and was struggling, we literally limped home with a horrible tar smelling odor. We made it to the driveway where I always back in to the garage and it died it could not move from the bottom of the driveway with smoke coming out and transmission fluid flowing out from the bottom running down the gutter. I had it towed using AAA so that was free. Long story, short. The transmission was fine so far the computer for the transmission needed to be replaced and the fluid needed to be flushed. That ran $1599.00 and an external radiator was installed for $287.37. I wasn't able to go into work all week, luckily I am allowed to work from home so I was able to avoid having to rent a car.... My family goes on long trips sometimes twice a year and after this I no longer feel safe and no longer have confidence it will make the trip. Have not given up on Nissan, but maybe the Pathfinder. I plan to trade it in before next week....

This is a complete and total breakdown in Nissan Quality Control and Customer Service! I'm "lucky" my transmission failed before reaching 100,000 miles, I suppose, but why should I be required to contribute 30-40% of the total repair cost when I did not cause 30-40% of the problem? Nissan is the company who made the car and installed a defective part! I purchased the car in December 2011 from Carmax. The car only had 77000 miles then - the repair would have cost me nothing! And why did no one inform me of this potential issue sooner? Nissan is lucky that I did not get into an accident as the result of this - had I been trying to accelerate onto an interstate, I could have been crushed! It is absolutely absurd that Nissan didn't reach out to consumers sooner to let them know that they could install an external transmission cooler and bypass the faulty one to possibly prevent total transmission failure. What could have cost me $200 at a repair shop is now costing me $3000. I love my Pathfinder, but I'm not sure that I would trust Nissan enough to buy another vehicle manufactured by them.

NISSAN SAID THAT MY TRANSMISSION WAS NOT BAD ENOUGH TO QUALIFY FOR THE WARRANTY. The first gear did not work.

They wanted me to drive it more and come back when it was really bad. Also, they cannot prove that the mixture caused this transmission problem.

They said the mixture may not have caused this issue. Keep in mind they performed a bypass to attempt to fix the pink mixed substance pouring out of the car. My first gear did not work at all.

Luckily, I have a friend that put a new transmission in. If you have this car with 90 thousand miles, sell or trade it immediately before the transmission goes.

I wish I would have. I guess I am one of many with a transmission issue with the 05 pathfinder. Thank you Nissan.

Nissan new about the problem and rather than sending out an alert and having the radiator replaced even at my own expense they did nothing. They could have sent a bulletin explaining the complaint of many people rather than letting it come to a 3500 dollar tab. when you have a car paid for and take care of it installing a 300-500 dollar radiator and cleaning the cooling unit,tranny would have been minor . I would have understood after 100k and no other real issues. However , when they knew about the issue and hid it rather than sending everyone information on how to keep minor damage from becoming major ... pisses me off. they knew , they did nothing and since i am over 100k even the class action seems like it wont help me get any money back. in addition to the transmission costs and radiator think about the car rentals and tow trucks and time they wasted. My family has purchased two nissans in the past. I do not know about future purchases. i bought the pathfinder used and it had full records on it, if they would have just sent me a letter about the tranny i would have taken care of it myself.

I've got a couple more complaints to add, but this is the big one so lets go for it. Bought this Pathfinder in 2009 from Ted Russell Nissan in Knoxville, TN. Starting last fall (2012), every single issue that anyone has ever had has plagued this vehicle...the paint is bad (needed a whole new paint job), the heater core went out (costing 400.00), and finally, the radiator leaked into the transmission...which also overheated the engine, thus blowing a head gasket as well. I didn't realized that this was a Nissan issue until after getting the heads fixed and the radiator replaced (to the tune of 3000.00). So that sucks. The transmission was still shot so I went by Ted Russell Nissan, who basically told me about the 3000.00 "co-pay" that they were required to do. And that was it. The guy was nice enough, but the 3000.00 wouldn't cover my engine, nor the radiator that I had replaced. Basically, Nissan is saying "Too bad for you...even though this is entirely our fault...it's still gonna cost you around 6000.00" I'm in the process of trading this thing and getting a Subaru Outback.

It's really too bad - because I LOVED this truck- it looks great, handles well, etc., but if Nissan isn't willing to stand behind their product, I'm never buying from them again, and I'd especially avoid the 2005-2010 Pathfinders like the plague.

I purchased my 2005 Nissan Pathfinder from a Nissan Dealership about 7-8 months ago. My main issue is that the dealer should inform buyers of any MAJOR issue the year/make/model may have. There is no way a Nissan Dealer wasn't aware of this major issue with the 2005 model. This is very disappointing and a financial burden to me as I informed the sale person that I had hesitation trading in a new model for a later model and he ASSURED me this car would have not issues and that it should last me to at least 250k miles. I was intentionally misguided and would like to pursue a suit either against Nissan or Matt Castrucci Nissan.

My 2005 Nissan Pathfinder stopped running on Dec 12, 2012 (mileage 120,135). It was towed to a local mechanic and he said that radiator coolant had gone into the transmission. Mechanic had to replace the radiator and flush out the transmission fluid. After flushing, it was road tested and mechanic said engine was running find. The cost for radiator replacement and transmission flush/clean was $1,100.

After 2 days, the same problem happened and again Pathfinder was towed back to the mechanic. He indicated the transmission needed to be flushed and cleaned again but after this the car would not run again. Mechanic said the transmission was damaged and could not be repaired. Transmission needed to be rebuilt due to internal damage which would cost about another $2800! So, now I am looking for another mechanic (even the dealer) to find out what could be done to repair transmission at a lower cost.

Refer: 2005 Nissan Pathfinder, SE 4WD, U1133055

Thank You, Susan Luangrath

Brought the Pathfinder to Nissan of Groton, Conn..They charged me 106$ to tell me they THOUGHT it was the fan clutch...After telling them they should take better care of there customers (We purchased the car there), I brought it to a local mechanic (KLEEMAN'S AUTO)..Where he informed me of the coolant leaking into the tranny fluid and that the transmission was shot..After doing just a minute of research online I found out what the issue was. We are a young couple with three children and there will never be another Nissan in ANY of our driveways as long as I live. Thanks for taking care of your customers NISSAN. May you be the next car company to drown in your lies.

Bought this vehicle 2011, january, the problem came after few months. First time, i was on the high way the vehicle started reducing the speed by itself while im driving, took to dallas nissan, and told me ur warranty is gone and the transmision failed, cost u around $6000.00. i was shocked didn't expect this issue after i spent a lot of money on it. Got back home try to find the cheapest repair station, mechanics find the radiator had leaked the coolant into transmition makes the transmission unresponsive (sleep the transmission). So, to rebuild that transmition i called nissan headquarters their response was annoying. Finally, i spend around $4000.00 fix my car. I'll never recommend anybody to buy nissans. it is sucks....im so mad ,,,make me crazy. will not buy their product anymore,,,hell....

I bought this vehicle used from a Hyundai dealership in Vernon. It was a trade in, no issues were claimed although a check sheet in house was done. Problems were evident driving the vehicle home approximately 400 miles. The guy who did the rebuild indicated the transmission was shot due to a faulty transmission cooling tube leaking coolant into the transmission. He said this was very common and there would have been tell tale issues that would inform you there were problems which means the former owner had to know. The purchase price of $6000 was suspect as these vehicles go for around $15000 used. I am now into this for $9800+, not what I intended to spend in the first place!

The valve body had to be replaced. In Canada it retails for about $1500. You cannot get rebuilds or aftermarket for this vehicle. There were 3 in Canada so I got one shipped from Calgary, Nissan. In the US they could not guarantee when they could get one for me and said it could be 2 weeks or 2 months yet the manufacturing plant is in Tennessee.

I was shocked to find out that Nissan simply extended the warranty on just the rad alone instead of issuing a recall. Every owner should have been alerted to this problem as there was a preventative fix for this problem. Installing a relatively cheap external transmission cooler would have saved thousands of dollars!