So here you are, driving along without a care in the world (other than that nagging suspicion that some other cheap part in your Nissan will fail at any moment) and BAM - your engine shuts off for no good reason. The cars in front of you are slamming on their brakes and you have no power, so you jam your foot through the floor and Fred Flintstone the car to a halt, otherwise it's a ticket and jacked up insurance rates for you, my friend. You try to crank the engine, but it never starts... just keeps turning. Finally after a few tries it fires up and your check engine light is on. Getting the code check shows that the crankshaft position sensor is a possible fault, but you have no idea what the frick that is. Let this slide, and it only gets worse. You might be flying down the interstate at 70+ mph when your engine just shuts off. You'd better hope to God above that there isn't a sudden traffic jam.

Low and behold, just underneath the passenger wheel well cowling where the transmission meets the engine lies the faulty part. An electronic sensor not too much bigger than your own thumb that nearly caused death and destruction. It's a $30 part that Nissan is happy to charge $250 to replace, and they know all about it. Add it up to yet another low cost part prone to failure that can cause death or serious injury that Nissan is blatantly ignoring.

I had to have the Vaporizer Solenoid replaced when my 05 Xterra stalled on the road coming back from the grocery store. Thank goodness, it didn't happen on the freeway. A few days later, my 05 Xterra does the same thing. Sputters and stalls on the on ramp to the freeway after work. I am so thankful for evening traffic, because it would have been a bad situation if I stalled while it was fast paced traffic. I had it towed to the mechanic's shop to find out that it was IPDM unit that needed to be replaced. Of course I paid out of pocket for it intially, then my mechanic finds out it is a voluntary recall for the IPDM unit, he contacts Nissan for a refund on the part, which I was able to receive.

Now I have to figure out what is wrong with my transmission and to see if my radiator is contaiminating the transmission with fluid. And of course, with the mileage on the Xterra, the factory and extended warranty is long expired. 122K is what is currenlty reading on my Xterra.

Seriously, where is the accountability with Nissan in addressing these valid and dangerous car defects with the Xterra? I am totally having some anxiety issues, is this car not safe to drive with my family inside? And to think, I was buying a quality car when I purchased the Xterra. I know this is the last Nissan product I will ever put my family in again.