I received my car as a first car for free so yes, I knew I would have minor issues as in my belt, tires etc. but they were fixable. my brakes however, have been giving me nothing but issues. Now I understand my car is almost 17 years old and has very high mileage, but we keep up with any issues that occur with it. I noticed my brakes started giving out a little bit about a month ago. I started losing pressure slowly day by day when I pressed them. Then it came to a point when I could touch the ground with the pedal and it wouldn't come to a stop. My dad put my brake fluid in and told me to pump them a few times to get it to brake on time ( he's also a diesel mechanic btw), but it only worked for a day or two. Now, I'm no mechanic just a teenage girl, but I know when something does not feel right on my vehicle. I have ran red lights by accident, have had to pull off the road and have almost had many, MANY close calls with hitting other vehicles. My father soon replaced my brake pads but it still did not seem to fix the issue. So we went an ordered a new master cylinder for $100. I had him put it in on Sunday and my brakes feel even worse and he cannot figure out why... I've already poured more than $400 into this car in the past 2 months. and it's draining me. I don't have a choice whether or not to drive it because I work 2 jobs, my father has been sick so I'm constantly driving him to doctors and my sister to school or going food shopping. I can't really afford to bring it to a shop and I definitely don't have the money to buy a new car + I'm in college and have to pay for that myself. I'm very disappointed with this cars performance and nervous for my well-being. I need some suggestions on how to fix my issue for a reasonable price (if possible) .TIA.

While driving onto entrance ramp to the express way, my brakes lost almost all pressure, and pedal became 'squishy' to the point of the pedal reaching the floor to have any stopping power at all. Brakes basically went out due the constant problem of the heat shield on the bottom of the car rubbing against the steel brake like running under/near the passenger side of the engine. Car has 67,000 miles and it finally just broke through, leaking brake fluid to the point the brakes went out.

My mechanic said he has not made this repair on an Xterra before, but has heard of it happening to others.

Sounds like it just takes time for the steel line to wear enough to actually spring a leak.

DANGEROUS! Will be contacting manufacturer.