In August, 2014, my 2006 Pathfinder SE developed symptoms of a transmission problem. It was bought to the dealership of purchase for mechanical diagnosis. It was found to have a cracked radiator which allowed coolant to be forced into the transmission system, resulting in the destruction of the transmission components. The repairs would require the replacement of both the radiator and transmission, and were estimated at $7100 before taxes. Subsequent research indicated that this is a very common problem with the 2005-2007 Pathfinder, and is due to a major radiator design flaw. It also appears to be an exceptionally well known flaw, evident by the massive anecdotal evidence on websites such as carcomplaints.com.

Of the legal review of this issue conducted so far, Nissan has been found to have a significant weight of responsibility. Litigation and judicial review has been completed in the United States, the ruling of which was in favor of the vehicle owners.The subsequent settlement of forced Nissan to significantly expand their warranty covering this problem from 3 years/30,000miles up to 10 years/90,000 miles. This warranty, however, does not cover my vehicle, as it falls outside of the maximum mileage covered by the extended warranty.

Despite this, in the name of customer satisfaction and good business ethics, Nissan does still hold an obligation to assist in the repair of my vehicle. Service records prove my vehicle was well maintained and free collision repair that could have altered, changed or otherwise contributed to transmission and radiator damage. This condition was solely the result of a poor design, and should not result in major financial burden to the customer. It is clear from customer complaints that this issue most often falls outside of the extended warranty period, but this does not absolve Nissan of their obligation to take responsibility for an unintended design mistake. Their customers, and my family, should not have to suffer.

Ethically, at the bare minimum, I believe Nissan should have made more effort to inform me of this potential issue as well as the remedy. However, as the warranty extension is not a recall, it does not put onus on Nissan to notify customers of a “defect” nor offer a proactive remedy to the situation. Had this been done, I could made the informed decision to implement the low cost modification to the transmission cooler system that would have prevented this situation. I believe that this adds further weight of responsibility for Nissan to take steps to correct this error for all customers, both inside and outside of the proscribed warranty period.

I purchased my vehicle new, in good faith, confident in the reputation and integrity of Nissan products. A large sum of money was paid, and a healthy profit reaped, on the promise of a quality product. My decision to purchase this vehicle came partly as a result of familiarity and experience, as I come from what can be described as a Nissan family. My father currently owns a Maxima and a Quest, and has owned multiple Nissan vehicles in the past. This was my second Pathfinder I personally owned in succession, having been happy with my previous 1997 model. I, like my father, had faith in the sound construction and reliability of the Nissan product. In hindsight, trust should not be build from owning a sound automobile, trust SHOULD be build by examining how a company handles problems.

As for how Nissan is handling this problem, I have been assured by Nissan Canada Customer service that they will not under any circumstances take responsibility or ownership for the mistakes they have made in the production of a faulty product. They advised me that an extended warranty, admittedly forced upon them by a class action lawsuit in the United States, absolves them of all responsibility for designing a self-destructing automobile. I was rudely advised by one "customer care" representative (Jennifer) that at some point, the customer must become responsible for the design defects of the manufacturer, as laid out by warranty limitations.

This is completely unacceptable, and I plan to explore all regulatory, legal and media related options to get resolution in this matter.

On August 20 2014 the problem started happening, my daughter was merging on to the interstate and went to merge and the car did not accelerate at all. Another car swerved to miss her at 70 mph. the check engine light came on and she moved to the shoulder to avoid an accident. She was very upset and called me crying hysterically. I asked her if it would start and she said no . I felt helpless because she is 200 miles away at college. I told her to call her roommate to come get her and i would drive there the next day to see what i could do.After 20 minutes she called back and said it started. I told her to take it to the closest Auto Zone etc and tell them to run codes on the car Code came up P1774 which is bad solenoid in transmission. I went up the next day and tried to drive car home. Had a few problems but got it home. Took it to a reputable transmission shop and he told me the coolant and transmission fluid have mixed and have been contaminated. He told me he had 2 more pathfinders on lifts with the same problem. He also told me that he has had over a 100 pathfinders he has fixed over the past year. So i called nissan customer service and told me to go to a dealer and have it checked. I did and they told me the same problem and told me i need a new radiator and transmission. $ 5.000 my cost. Called back nissan and for 2 wks talked to at least a dozen people and they said sorry we are not paying to fix your problem. Even the service manager at the nissan dealer and the other shop said there should have been a recall for this problem.Please help all the people with this issue get some help.Thank You

There are many problems with this vehicle. When I checked the fluids for the transmission, it wasn't the color of the transmission fluid, it was a black color. I have also been having transmission problems. I found out that the catalytic converters need to replaced. When it was working, the vehicle would stall and then start back up. I cannot gear in (R) reverse and my vehicle cannot drive anymore, even geared up in the (D) drive. It revs up and does not go anywhere. Now I am stuck with a vehicle that does not work AT ALL. I cannot drive to interviews and take my child to school.

Something needs to be done with this. This is going to total up to thousand dollars for recalled parts. I am upset with the manufacturing of this vehicle.

The heater hasn't worked for two winters. I thought it was related to the radiator/transmission defect caused by Nissan. Each time I took it in to Nissan to check the heater, they just said they didn't know what was wrong with it. The heater would occasionally work, but mostly not. I took the Pathfinder in for a routine oil change and asked them one more time, to PLEASE look at the heater again as I cannot drive it another Colorado winter without heat. Finally they told me that the coolant and transmission fluid are mixing, due to a manufacture error (I have since read that it is caused by a crack in the radiator.. caused by Nissan) and that my transmission needs replacement and I will have to pay $3000!

This is unethical of Nissan. Nissan made a mistake, and should have to take full responsibility!!!

Going through this process one Nissan representative admitted to me that they hear about this problem all the time and they are told to refuse all of them! After owning multiple Nissans over the years I can tell that this company is losing its way.

Story: This Pathfinder was Dealership serviced whole life and always ran flawlessly. Once the trans started shifting poorly at around 120K I was told it was outside of any warranty. I asked for assistance since this was a known issue and seemed to be increasing with other owners on the blogs, etc. And dealership refused and factory refused. Both very abruptly, I might add! It was obvious that they hear about this problem all the time and know just what to say. I took it all the way to "Nissan Executive Team"(highest level for factory goodwill decisions they told me) and they refused to help or participate in anyway and to complain to the BBB. I am just so very disappointed with this. I am having the trans and rad. repaired at a local Aamco trans. Hope it all works out as I still love my Pathfinder and would like to keep for several more years.

Update from Apr 29, 2015: Transmission still shifting funny and trans shop said they need factory help, which won't help. Sort of stuck here. The trans shop needs Nissan information, but dealership says no. Very frustrating! Such a great car that Nissan just wants to forget about.

My car joins the ranks of the victims of the radiator coolant leaking into the transmission. Started feeling rumbles at around 40 mph 2 months ago; brought it in for servicing and was told there was coolant in the transmission. Then researched the issue on internet and learned all about the now-closed class action lawsuit re the design defect that allows the hoses to transmit the coolant into the transmission. I'm afraid to drive because I know that any moment the transmission can fail completely. Was quoted "around $6500.00" to fix it. I will take it to the Nissan dealer to see if they can do better with used parts, but only if they have a long warranty. I think it's a bad idea to spend $6500 for it; why give so much money over to Nissan when they haven't taken responsibility for the defective radiator and transmission? I will request that them to cover my expenses and if they refuse I think I'll file my own personal little lawsuit in small claims court just to express my frustration if nothing else.

At first sign of a problem it was too late...transmission fried. Extended Warranty set to 80K I'm at 88,128. This will cost me $2500 out of pocket...I'm reading on the site that average mileage of the problem is over 100K so they set an 80,000 mile mark to cost the owner $2500 which is probably less than it costs them to fix it being they are the dealer.

I almost got killed because it chose to slip and stop the vehicle in an intersection when the light changed and cars were baring down on me at 50 mph. People thought I was a nut stopping in the intersection as I tried to limp my way out of harms way.

Thanking God my family was not with me...

Can't afford this with awful economy but have no choice.

I'm pretty screwed!!!

Nissan has totally let me down...

We took it to a mechanic. He said the radiator was cracked and replaced the thermostat because it all of a sudden started running hot. About 2 weeks, later, we took it to another mechanic and he said that we need to replace the radiator and he needed to drain the transmission due to the mixture or coolant and tranny fluid. My wife bought the radiator, and took it to him to fix.

After about 2 weeks, the check engine light came on. Now, I'm in Afghanistan this whole time as a Paratrooper, she'd doing this on her own with 3 children and little to no money. Once the light came on, she took it to Auto Zone to get the code read. They said it had something to do with the cat converter. When she found that out, she took it to Nissan of Sanford, NC. The service dept ran a diagnostic test and told my wife that it need about $8,000 worth of work. It needed a new CAT Converter, a new transmission and new cooling system. Keep in mind, we have already paid more than $1000 putting a "band aid" on a more intense problem.

The service man at Nissan told my wife it is a ticking time bomb and that needed to get rid of that vehicle while it was still drivable.

Little did we know about the class action lawsuit for this vehicle. The Nissan Radiator Defect Class Action Lawsuit Settlement case is In re: Nissan Radiator/Transmission Cooler Litigation, Case No. 10-cv-07493, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Now after reading all the disgruntled owners talking about "What about the owners over 100K". This is blatant disregard for loyal customers who apparentlt, HAD THE MISFORTUNE of their vehicle"MAKING" it past the 100K mark.

This is a skid mark on the underpants of an owner. Shame on you. Now, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place...either try to fix the issue and spend 8K, or have my wife trade out while Im in Afghanistan, deployed, sacrificing my time, my life for asses like Nissan to just crap on us. I can't believe this is happening.

I have heard that several people are having problems with their transmission fluid getting radiator fluid in it. The classic signs and symptoms that have started with my 2006 Nissan pathfinder are: 1. horrendous shuddering when pressing on the gas to increase my speed, 2. occasional banging when my automatic car shifts into gear, 3. delay in speed when I attempt to pass. since all of this had started right after 100,000 miles a new transmission is not covered. I am a single mom who is a hospice nurse, I drive all day, having a reliable car puts food on the table for my kids. I don't have $3,000 to fix this problem. I could cry, I don't know what I am going to do. right now I just keep driving it knowing it is going to break down any day. I was informed by so many people that Nissan was a great company and manufactured a great vehicle when I decided to by this pathfinder. I am soooo disappointed!!! I will never buy another Nissan vehicle, I'm sorry, for the amount that I originally paid for this vehicle, it should not start falling apart at 108,000 miles.

On the Nissan website it stated that beginning in October 2012 they were going to start notifying owners of pathfinders from years 2005-2010 via mail about the changes in warranty and the extension of the warranty due to the defective radiator. I never received any sort of notification. Furthermore, the defect is not occurring until the vehicles are reaching 80,000 plus miles. extending the warranty to include up to 80,000 miles does NOT affect or help the MAJORITY of owners. Most vehicles made in the years affected are just now starting to reach this level of mileage. I would expect there to continue to be issues with the defective radiator as all of these models continue to "age" and the mileage increases. This isn't going away!

This is a Nissan manufacturing issue; we should not have to pay a dime for the repairs. I'm a teacher and I work very hard to pay for my 2006 pathfinder, which is ironically close to being paid off. It's not fair to have to incur these very, very expensive additional costs just to maintain a car I have taken very good care of over the years. Dear Nissan, take responsibility for your mistakes. Make it right!

I noticed a shudder when the car was shifting, My mechanic test drove it and sent me to the transmission shop. The gentleman there told me that it was a transmission problem. He also said that this was a common problem with this year Pathfinder. He thought that since this was a common problem that Nissan had extended the warranty. I later found that the warranty had been extended but not enough to include my truck. Very disappointed in Nissan, I have owned 4 Pathfinders and several other cars made by Nissan. I thought they would take better care of loyal customers.

My frustration is there is no manufacturer recall created after the issue was brought to their attention in 2012. The appropriate course of action by Nissan would have been to issue a recall. Instead, those of us that were never alerted to the issue are now covering the bill. Everyone is up in arms about GM. However, what about the companies, like Nissan, that fail to do anything? At least GM was able to swallow their pride and take care of their customers. I would assume that most people will feel the pinch when they have to spring thousands of dollars to fix a vehicle, with an issue that cannot be ignored.

Had my 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE serviced at the dealership on March 2014 and had the transmission fluid changed because the service managed said that it looked bad. My Pathfinder was making a noise similar to running over the rumble strip on the side of the road. It stopped after have the fluid changed for a while. The noise returned and I started to read on line about the radiator problems and checked my radiator and found a milky reddish color in it. I now have to put out $2500 to have radiator and transmission replaced because of a know defect in the radiators which Nissan did not recall!!!! If it is a know defective part & Nissan knows about it they should be responsible for paying for the cost of the repairs. What a crock of sh*t. I owned Nissans for the last 20 years because they were very reliable. Not pissed of about the problem, I am pissed off about Nissans no owning up to the problem and making things right. PURCHASED MY LAST NISSAN !!!! A word to everyone out ther is Nissan does no give a SH*T about its customers!!