1.8

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
94,000 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.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2005 Nissan Xterra:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #2

Mar 022011

Xterra 6-cyl

  • 104,000 miles
I own a 2005 Nissan Xterra. My problem started with the fuel leveling system and my check engine light coming on. It was the fuel leveling sender. My fuel was not registering correctly at all. Next came stalling of my SUV. I would be driving and it would act as if it was running out of gas and cut off. That turn out to be the emc, in which I paid for but was reimburse because Nissan issued a recall for the emc. This did not fix the fuel leveling sender problem. A few months later, my SUV was having a "hard crank". it just did not want to turn over. It would stall while driving. I would just cut off. I took that to a dealership and they said it was the cam sensors. So, I had the cam sensors replaced and I had the fuel level sender replaced. It was recommended that I have a mult-point inspection, so I had everything with that replace. I spent a $1000, only for my check engine light to come back on the next day. I took it back to the dealership for them to tell me now it is the catalyst converters and both needs to be replace. The price for both parts alone was $1300. I do not understand why so many Xterra owners are having these types of problems and Nissan are not responsible for fixing them. They will offer an extended warranty after the fact, but by the time the problem occur a 2005 does not qualify for the extended warranty. The catalyst converters affects the clean air for your vehicle. This is a safety issue.

- Jackson, MS, USA

problem #1

Apr 012010

Xterra 6-cyl

  • 84,000 miles
*** ipdm and double catalytic converter failure in 2005 Nissan Xterra *** my 2005 Nissan Xterra engine once shut down as I am driving on a busy street; I had to let the Xterra coast a short distance without power to pull over and stop my SUV to the side of a safer section of the road. I could not immediately restart the car. After waiting about 15 minutes, I was eventually able to restart and drive the SUV. The problem, however never went away. Periodically the engine will shut off without warning. It finally got to the point where the car would not start at all. I had to have the car towed twice, including a tow to a Nissan dealership in santa monica. The incident began in April 2010. In May 2010, the Nissan dealer in santa monica checked the problem and indicated that the ipdm had to be replaced. This was an expensive repair. Shortly after the ipdm was replaced, 1 of 2 catalytic converters in the Xterra failed and had to be replaced. 6 months later (December 2010), the other catalytic converter failed. I believe the ipdm issue is severe. I believe the ipdm issue is also associated with (and likely to be the cause of) the failure of catalytic converters in the vehicle. In my case, it is double failure since both catalytic converters failed 6 months apart from each other. Failure of the catalytic converter is an environmental concern.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA