10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 10,071 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.
The contact owns a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder. While entering a parking space approximately 5 mph, the contact engaged the brakes and the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated. The vehicle failed to slow down and crashed into an unoccupied vehicle. The ABS warning light illuminated then immediately, the vehicle came to a stop while extensive force was applied to the brake pedal. There were no injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing and to be repaired. The vehicle exhibited severe body damage. The contact was in the process of notifying the manufacturer of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000. Updated 07/08/11
- Morris Plains , NJ, USA
Fuel/throttle control: I experienced a "sudden unintended acceleration" incident in July of 2002. I was in the process of head in parking and was moving very slowly while applying brakes the vehicle accelerated over curbing into a wall. The vehicle stopped, the engine stopped running, and air bags did not deploy. The vehicle is a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder with less than 8,000 miles on it. I have read of other incidents like this for this vehicle and am now afraid to drive it. No other incident has occured. I have never experience this situation before and I originally thought that I stepped on the acceletator the same time as the brake. Now I believe I did not step on the accelerator but for some reason the vehicle malfunctioned. I have not taken this into the dealer because I have no confidence in their ability to diagnose the problem as it appears to be very intermittent. This is a serious problem that is potentially lethal and cannot be detected by normal maintenance and happens so quickly that the driver cannot react to avoid a serious collision. There were no injuries (this time) but vehicle damage was $500.
- Mission Viejo, CA, USA
Vehicle suddenly accelerates while applying brakes and stopped or slowed--causing loss of control of car
- Irving, TX, USA
When parking vehicle and without prior warning vehicle suddently took off. He had to put vehicle in park in order to stop. Dealership was aware of problem. Incident with sudden acelleration happened three times.
- Niskeyuna, NY, USA
While stopping engine would idle high. Dealer and manufacturer have been notified.
- Crofton, MD, USA
Sudden unintended acceleration (sua) on Feb 24, 2001. After coming to a full stop with transmission in "drive" and remaining stopped for approximately five seconds, the engine speed suddenly went from idle to 5000-6000 RPM. Vehicle remained essentially stationary due to spinning tires on wet pavement and the immediate harder application of brakes, but a collision would have resulted had the pavement been dry. Engine continued to race for approximately five seconds. I set the transmission to "neutral" in reaction to the sua which may have stopped the sua or may have just been coincidental with the sua stopping on its own. I took the vehicle to the Nissan dealer in annapolis, md on Feb 26, 2001; dealer found no stored error codes and could not duplicate the problem. Both Nissan Consumer Affairs and the dealer told me that nothing more could be done until dealer could repeat the sua. Nissan Consumer Affairs has a record of the incident, as does the dealer. This not a case of throttle/brake pedal misapplication. I suspect that the cruise control system is the cause of the sua because I rarely use cruise control when driving this vehicle. I was using cruise control for a prolonged period of time immediately before the incident approximately 25 miles/20 minutes uninterrupted. Cruise control was most likely set to on when the incident occurred but I did not think to verify this at the time of the incident. Also, and very notably, there have been two separate occasions after the sua incident where the cruise control on light was illuminated when the engine was started (cruise set light was off). The cruise control on light should be off whenever the engine is initially started. I will provide VIN upon request. I donT have the VIN available at this time. Other vehicle particulars: Automatic transmission, SE model.
- Crofton, MD, USA
- New York, NY, USA