6.0

fairly significant
Typical Repair Cost:
$500
Average Mileage:
138,750 miles
Total Complaints:
1 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. replace clock spring (1 reports)
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problem #1

Jun 122018

Pathfinder SE 4.0L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 138,707 miles

Wow! You really can't drive without a horn but, trust me, I thought about it. A lot!

I've had my 2009 Nissan Pathfinder since 7/2015 ... and I'd never had to honk the horn in the course of driving. So, you can imagine that I thought long and hard about actually fixing the problem when I was first quoted $300 for the repair. Seems you have to take the steering wheel air bag out and other inconvenient things when I had been hoping it might just be a blown fuse or something quick and easy.

While I was mulling over the importance of having a working horn, I had THREE incidents on highways where I needed a horn to potentially avoid an accident. It felt like some sort of divine intervention reminding me that a horn is NOT an optional feature.

When I took the car in to actually get the repair (after calling a bunch of other groups for estimates that were all outrageously high), we noticed the horn WOULD work if the steering wheel was turned 180 degrees. Turns out , when they actually got in there, the problem was not a faulty horn but an internal short of the clock spring. A new clock spring was $291.12 and the labor was $182.79 bringing the grand total (including tax) to $498.70. Unexpected, expensive stuff like this is a killer! Especially when I am paying all along the way to do routine maintenance. (I had just paid $550 because it was recommended to preventatively replace spark plugs before they wear out.)

I like this vehicle and overall I have been pleased with its performance but stupid repairs like this, and a problem with the window motor and a problem with a door have all been costly and unexpected expenses.

- colorado22, Longmont, CO, US