10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 77,278 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
2000 Nissan Pathfinder. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle body rot at the bottom of the left shock tower. The consumer stated he made the repairs to his vehicle, two weeks prior to receiving the safety recall notice. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, to have them look at the repairs and stated it was a better job than Nissan would have done. The dealer sent the paperwork and pictures to Nissan Corp. There was no response for two months, until the consumer received a second recall notice. The consumer later found out, Nissan did not consider the vehicle repaired because there was no receipts and time slips to indicate how long it took to perform the work.
- Chicopee, MA, USA
My Pathfinder began making strange noises when turning/driving. It became more and more difficult to steer the vehicle and keep it going straight. After numerous trips to my repair facility and body shop the steering strut (driver's side) was found to be rusted and the car was deemed unsafe to drive. I turned it in to springhills salvage in springhills Ohio in July of 2010 and received $300 for a perfectly wonderful vehicle except for the rusted strut/steering. I have filed two claims with Nissan under this recall and both times they have denied my claim because I got rid of the vehicle prior to their recall. This is not satisfactory. Updated IVOQ 02/24/12 updated IVOQ 03/06/12
- Urbana, OH, USA
2000 Nissan Pathfinder. Consumer writes in regards to corrosion in the front driver's side strut tower housing in the front wheel area, as well as unusual noises, rattling and steering instability while driving the vehicle. The consumer complied with the recall notice. However, after not hearing back from the dealer, regarding the status, the consumer contacted the dealer and was informed the damage was too extensive to be fixed and the consumer was instructed to pick up the vehicle. Updated 10/06/11
- Staten Island, NY, USA
The contact owned a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. While driving approximately 60 mph she heard a noise coming from the drivers side wheel while making a right turn into another lane without any warning. The vehicle was later taken to a local mechanic who advised her that the apron had cracked near the drivers side strut. The mechanic welded it back together. Six months later, while driving, the same wheel would not reposition itself after making a turn. The vehicle was taken back to the same local mechanic again and he advised her that the front strut would go through the tower and the wheel would come off; therefore, it would be best to junk the vehicle unless she wanted to spend thousands of dollars to repair it. The vehicle was taken to a junk facility. The VIN was unavailable. The approximately failure mileage was 99,000 and the current mileage was 106,000.
- Dayonne, NJ, USA
The contact owns a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated the driver side strut tower rotted and the welds were fracturing from the steering column. When driving 10 mph and over, the vehicle would become extremely difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who inspected the steering and found that the strut tower was rusting against the steering. The mechanic was unable to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 146,000. Updated 05/03/11 updated 05/26/11
- Marlborugh, MA, USA
2000 Nissan Pathfinder major front drivers strut tower corrosion, caused steering column to snap.
- Saint John, New Brunswick, Can, 00, USA
The strut tower on my 2000 Nissan Pathfinder broke loose from the vehicle and pressed up on the steering column causing sever stress on that unit. I was able to notice it prior to breaking the steering column joints and found a qualified body shop to press the unit back together and weld support brackets to hold the strut tower in place.
- Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
The contact owns a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that the front frame had rusted and cracked. A mechanic at a body shop stated that the strut tower was rusted and cracked and could not be repaired. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired by the dealer. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was approximately 78,000.
- Wester, MA, USA
I own a 2000 Pathfinder. The front strut tower has separated from the car's frame due to rust. This represents a serious safety issue. As near as I can tell it occurred after I hit a pothole. I was fortunate that I was not on the highway.
- Vineyard Haven, MA, USA
My 2000 Nissan Pathfinder SE started making strange noises in the front end about a week ago. Upon inspection, I found that the strut tower had totally rusted out and completely separated from the vehicle. When I tapped it with a hammer, it created a huge hole, and the frame just disintegrated. The vehicle is no longer safe to drive and must be taken off the road. Having it repaired is not feasible. As a mechanic, I take very good care of my vehicle. It's maintained and washed regularly. This is clearly a defect in the Pathfinder, and should warrant a product recall. Driving the vehicle like this would be risking the safety of my family and myself.
- Hyde Park, NY, USA
I have a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. July 24,2010 I hit a pothole on I95 North, shortly after that I started hearing squeaking noises, truck was pulling, steering wheel was shaking very bad, I could not drive over 55 mph. When I got home my husband checked it out and that's when he noticed that on the drivers side the shock tower separated (cracked) from the frame rail. Shock tower does have some rust corrosion but hitting a pothole should not have caused this to crack, this is a big safety issue. My truck is mechanically excellent as well as cosmetic. I called Nissan dealer where I purchased my truck and he was very surprised to hear this issue, and said it was very rare. I researched this on the internet and it seems that this is a known problem with Pathfinders. My truck did not start showing signs that something was seriously wrong until this day 7-24-201. It could have caused much more damages or even possibly a bad accident. This problem is something that Nissan needs to be aware of....its like driving a death trap and a very expensive job to fix. Buyers need to be aware of this known issue and Nissan needs to make a recall bulletin on the shock tower rust corrosion before someone gets killed due to their lack of performance. My truck is in my body shop as I am typing this..I am awaiting an estimate..he did tell me its an expensive job..12-13 hrs labor alone, plus parts. Nissan needs to acknowledge this!! big question is why would the shock tower rust, shouldn't it be rust proofed? truck can't possible be that safe if something like hitting a pothole would cause this to happen.
- Gardiner, NY, USA
My sixteen year old son along with my seven year old son were driving my car when car started wobbling, he lost control going approximately 60 miles an hour, over corrected and went head first into trees and the air bag did not deploy. Fortunately my sons were wearing seatbelts and did not sustain any major injuries, just bumps and bruises. The car then hit on the drivers side after the frontal impact then hit on the rear. My car was totaled. At no time did the air bag on the drivers side deploy. If not for the seat belts, my children could have been seriously injured and my son driving did hit the steering wheel, and the air bag would have prevented this had it deployed. I would say this was definitely a defect with the car.
- Locust Grove, OK, USA
- Albuquerque, NM, USA