Welllllll I am now one of the many who are experiencing this issue! My X will now only accelerate at a snail's pace until up to speed and the code in the engine is P1757....my mechanic told me it is the solenoid or the TCM....neither of which I can afford to fix! I called the dealer they wont talk to me...started doing my due diligence online and look what I find, NISSAN not only knows this is an issue but REFUSES to do anything about it! hope to get out of this piece on thursday and will NEVER buy a nissan again.

Car started rumbling as I drove. Thought I had a tire or wheel bearing issue. Found out through online research that it was related to radiator leaking into transmission. I checked the fluids and all the symptoms were there. Transmission issues started and I had to be towed. Nissan service tech claimed his pathfinder did the same thing and offered to bandaid the problem for 497.00 with a new radiator and flush job. I choose to go with a transmission shop with a limited lifetime warranty but at a price of 2 grand. Help!!!!!! Nissan should be ashamed of themselves. Who is the radiator vendor because they need to be included in the lawsuit.

After numerous other problems with our 2005 Nissan Xterra over the past two years or so, we just found out today that our radiator is cracked and we will need a new transmission!!! I just found this site and am reading that this is a common problem with this make and model vehicle and that Nissan knows about it!!! I am so upset over this!!!! We have spent so much time and money on this crappy car already and now this!!! Our mechanic said it would cost about $5000 to fix!!! What a disgrace Nissan is!!! I am going to make a complaint with headquarters and our local dealership, hoping they will offer to pay for it!! But I am sure they will deny it and make up an independant cause of the problem!! I am wondering if there is any thoughts on a class action suit about this. Thanks and good luck everyone!!!

So far the dealership states they have not had any complaints regarding this issue. Yet I went online and there are many forums and complaints and I even found a class action suit. Plus Nissan extended the radiator warranty from 60k-80k without any explanation. Sounds pretty fishy to me. I am taking my Xterra into the dealership tomorrow. We shall see how they handle this. I am expecting a new radiator, transmission and bypass to all be covered under warranty. If not I will sell my Xterra and NEVER buy a Nissan again. What a shame this is . I love my Xterra and have not complained once. There have many recalls and I have always had my oil changes and all service/maintenance work completed at the dealership. It is very clear that Nissan is aware of this problem yet they wont' recall and fix it. I have been a very loyal customer and now I am looking at 4 Runners.

On February 07, 2011 I was driving my 2005 Nissan Xterra at 55 mph on a two lane highway when it began to shake violently as if I had ran over spilled lumber or rumble strips. I braked hard as I thought I had ran over something. I hadn't, so after pulling over and checking for loose tires or driveline I continue on perplexed as to what happened. A few miles later it did it again. Come to find out there is a known defect on 2005 thru 2010 Nissan Xterra's, Pathfinders, and Frontier's in which the radiators internally leak water into the automatic transmissions and causes the violent shaking at high speeds. Nissan is aware of the issue and has only chosen to extend the warrantee on the radiators and not recall the vehicles. In fact the letter sent to the consumers doesn't even reference the transmission (in which it destroys). While my family and I were not hurt, it was a close call and could have easily been worse at the speed I was going and the effect the failure has on the vehicle.

Nissan Corporation after 2 weeks of waiting has informed me that they have opted not to assist in the repair of the vehicle. I would encourage anyone that has experienced the same issue as I have to file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigations https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm and there local states district attorney, and there local news investigative team. I am doing so and would encourage anyone that feels they have been put at risk due to the issue or has been dealt an injustice due to the defective equipment and lack of notification.

Update from May 26, 2011: Just an update. After being told they would not cover it, Nissan finally called back after I filed complaints and has since fixed the vehicle.

This is a one owner vehicle only driven by my family. I never had a serious/expensive problem until about a year ago.

I had a shudder from the transmission for a few months when I went from a coast condition to a slight acceleration, but I learned to take the vehicle out of overdrive and the shudder did not occur. 2 weeks ago, thankfully after taking a 800 mile trip, I started to leave the house for work, I backed the vehicle out of my garage and when I shifted into drive I heard a thump. The vehicle was a no go, so I arranged for my local mechanic to look at the vehicle and they, in turn, contacted a transmission specialist to look at it. He confirmed what I had already suspected that there was antifreeze in the transmission, turning it into a pile of doggy poo and that it requires a rebuild/replacement of both the tranny and the radiator. It is being repaired at this time and I will update when it comes back. This is but one of many problems which have cropped up in the last year. My honeymoon with Nissan is over and maybe a divorce is in the future. These are wide spread problems they are having and yet they will not stand behind their product. I am not a happy camper at this time.

Bought my 05 Xterra from a Nissan dealer less than a year ago, at 79,000 miles. (HUGE MISTAKE).........Here I am less than a year later and the Rumbling vibrations I've been experiencing, is now going to set me back 6,100.000. This in order to replace the Radiator and Transmission. I contacted Nissan Consumer Affairs and they assigned me a case/file number. Only to find out that they will not stand behind their product because the vehicle is just past the warranty. As I come to find out, This is a common problem with this make and model.and Nissan refuses to do anything about it. So basically I JUST PUT A MATCH TO 13,000 DOLLARS.......THANK YOU NISSAN....

I have had exactly the same problems that the other bloggers are reporting with the rumble strip vibration episodes and have replaced the rear differential and drive shaft trying to rectify the problem. Because the car has such high miles, it is not worth bringing it to the dealer when I know they will lie about the problem and take my hard earned money. Funny thing is, before I read these blogs I brought the truck to the dealer for a minor recall item and asked them about this "vibration/rumble" situation and they acted as if they had never heard of such a thing but they would take $90 to "take a look". I can't thank all of you bloggers enough for expressing your frustration and helping to bring to light what the real problem is. Hopefully, my independent mechanic will be able to take care of the problem before it's too late.

I've known for some time now that this year and model is a piece of crap just by reading all of the complaints online. They appear to be exactly the same thing I have gone through with my car. Yesterday however, was the worst yet. I'm pulling out of a shopping center and as I switch from reverse to drive I hear a loud clunk - as I give it gas the car barely moves forward and I knew at that point it was my transmission. Took it to the dealer and they confirmed that I need a new transmission. Only by the grace of God did I make it within the extended warranty mileage! My car had 74,874 miles at the moment this happened. My extended warranty is covered up to 75,000 miles. One more day or two and I would have had to pay up the yin-yang for this repair. I sent the Nissan Service Advisor an email after reading about the radiator causing the trans to blow and she confirmed that was the case. They are replacing my radiator and transmission. They're paying for my rental car ($30 per day) and all the repairs - I have an out of pocket deductible of $50 (chump change compared to the total cost) but still, I'm upset about this. What about all of the other common folk who don't have extended warranty or whom have exceeded it? I was a couple of days at best away from having to bite the bullet on this one. Nissan has the nerve to try and send a warranty extension on the radiator to 80k miles but do nothing for the transmissions that are damaged because of the faulty radiator! I will never buy another Nissan again, EVER! I'm sticking with American cars next time around. >=/

Update from Apr 21, 2011: I found out that not only did I need a new transmission but also a new radiator. I assumed I'd have to pay the $50 deductible for my extended warranty but the service advisor said that because it was due to the radiator that was covered by extension on the original warranty I didn't have to pay anything. Overall the total repair was $6056.00 I paid $0.00 THANK GOD! Anyone experiencing this same issue, try going to the dealer before you hit 80k!! I'd do it even if I wasn't experiencing any problem just to make sure that the cycle of destruction hadn't begun.

When getting to a speed of 55 MPH and above I would start to hear a rumbling sound. I had my local Nissan dealership take a look at it and they told me it was the front right U-joint. I had them replace the U-joint and when I picked it up and was on my way home the same rumbling sound was still occuring. I took it back to the dealership and they kept it a two days and then told me the rear axial was causing the noise the it needed to be replaced. I had them replace it which cost me $2000.00. Again, when I picked it up and was on my way home the rumbling noise was still occuring. I went back to the dealership got the sevice manager to go for a ride with me so he could here the noise because no one at the dealership ever took the car out to hear the noise. He said they would have to keep it again to see if they could figure out the problem. They called me 2 days later and told me that a crack in the hose that runs through the radiator to the transmission was allowing antifreeze to get into the transmission and the transmission was causing the rumbling noise. They told me I needed to have the readiator and transmission replaced and it was going to cost me $4200.00. Needless to say I was not convinced they knew what was wrong with the car since they were wrong the first two times, so I took it to a local transmission repair shop and had them look at it. They said it was the radiator and transmission so I had them replace both at a cost of $3900.00.

Obviously, after reading numerous blogs, I'm not the only consumer having this problem. Filed a complaint with Nissan USA and took to the dealer to verify that the transmission was fouled with coolant from the radiator. Nissan USA called and said they could offer no assistance. Nissan is aware of this problem and issued a "extended" warranty to 80,000 miles. The symptons are sporatic and continues to show other symptons that doesn't seem related until you can FINALLY get a diagnosis.

Took the car to Nissan on 3/31/11 and was told Nissan USA would call on 4/4/11..which they did. Left mesaage they would call again on 4/7/11-didn't leave call back number.

NISSAN USA knew of this problem and instead of issuing recall just waiting for you to put new transvillsion in at the cost of $4700....I can only sell this car for $9000 before having transmission problem.(If I'm lucky), so this car is basically worth $4300!

I see where their is a class action suit against Nissan for this problem. I hope everyone with the same problem will join and make NIssan pay, I know only the lawyers make the most money from this but since Nissan won't take care of their customer that bought their cars in good faith, maybe the customers will realize some benefit from a class action suit.

I hope it doesn't take senseless deaths by transmission failure to make Nissan stand up and take responsibility for their faulty product.

This is exactly what happened to my 2005 Nissan Xterra Off-Road just over 107,000 miles. I first noticed that the Xterra would shake and vibrate at about 1800 RPMs, which would only last a few seconds. The next thing I noticed was that the heater started producing less and less heat, although this was not consistent. At times the heater would seem to work normally and at other times it would blow cold air at random. I found that the coolant system had to be completely flushed and that the radiator had cracked, leaking coolant into the transmission. I just received a letter in the mail from Nissan today of the extension of the coverage of the radiator assembly to 80,000 miles. However, my vehicle is outside this coverage and the damage to the transmission is already done because of the coolant that leaked in.

I can't believe everyone is having the same problem I am with my 2005 xterra. you would think nissan would have told their customers of it. I went to 4 different auto shops to see what was wrong, 3 of them said same thing -- the transmission. I cant afford a new one because i'm still paying for the dang thing.

I am calling Nissan to see what lies they tell me, I am so glad I googled this and this site came up -- carcomplaints.com is very helpful. Everyone explained the sounds that happened just like mine, just like you are driving over bumps at around 40 to 60 mile an hour is when it starts. one time it totally missed 1st gear and went into 2nd. I hope nissan gets what toyota got.

I had a 2005 Nissan Xterra Off Road. Loved my car for the longest time. Had some minor issues here and there that were covered under warranty. For instance, replaced a U joint twice. Cat went out right before the warranty expired, so I got lucky.

Late winter, started the truck up, and it didn't want to move. After warming it up a bit, went into drive without an issue. Then the tranny would slip a bit. Then the shaking started between 30-50 mph. Thought nothing about it, and figured, probably should flush the transmission. Flushed it, and the fluid looked very dirty, figured, fine it has 90 k on it, no big deal. Replaced the fluid, and drove it for a week, then the shaking continued. I knew my exhaust wasn't the best, and figured it may have something to do with this. Was at work, and tried to drive home, but the truck wouldn't start. Checked the battery, all connections, nothing. I even replaced the starter in the parking garage, nothing. All the lights would come on, but the engine wouldn't turn. I spent a week trying to figure out what was going on.

Had it towed to Nissan, well first had to have it extracted out of the parking garage. Nissan worked on it for 8 hrs, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. They even brought in their 'master technician', who ever this may be, and he couldn't figure out what was going on. Finally, someone checked the fuse to the ECM, and found this was blown. They replaced it, and it blew again. The short was traced back to the trans. When they checked the trans, they found radiator fluid, when they checked the radiator, they found trans fluid. I was quoted that this would be a $6000 repair. Would require a new trans, and a new radiator, with labor and all would come out to probably more than $6000. I passed, and then they slapped me with a $400 diagnostic bill, and a bill to replace the battery terminal on the truck.

Great thing was that Nissan offered me $1000 (as is) for the car as a trade in for a new Nissan, you can figure where I told them to stick their new Nissan. I ended up having it towed away from the dealership. Had it purchased by a national used car superstore (name undisclosed) for much more than Nissan offered me. I'm still depressed about it, as it happened yesterday, and I loved my car.

Anyways, I was on the phone with multiple Nissan reps. My service tech was very sorry when I discovered this is a problem common to this year, and has been happening all over. The funny thing is that I was cleaning out my car, and found the letter from Nissan about the radiator problems, too bad my car surpassed the mileage requirement.

There should be a recall for this! They find all kinds of recalls for this or that, I think this is a much more serious problem. I've spent 2 weeks of my life stressing about this, trying to figure out how to get to work, and having Nissan to look at it for 2 days, only to tell me, we're sorry, but charge me $400.

Never buying another Nissan - I'm going with the 2011 4runner! Screw Nissan.

My Xterra was just diagnosed with the same radiator issue that seems to be reported more and more. As well as mine there was a Pathfinder and Frontier in the dealer service shop with the same problem. I am at 86000 miles and my extended warranty expired at 81000. As of today they are not sure if I will need a new transmission. If that turns out to be the case all told this could cost 5000 - 7000. I tried going through Nissan but they said they would not cover the defective radiator or the damaged transmission and they felt they did enough by extending the warranty to 80000, which I was over anyway.

I am in the process of calling the NY state consumer protection agency and the NY State district attorney. Nissan knew about this problem and only added a small amount of mileage onto their warranty covering people up to 80k miles. They never contacted my or the dealership to issue a notice to have the radiator checked either. This issue seems to occur anytime between 60+. On another note the radiator's where on back order due to this problem so this first stage of the repair is taking longer then expected, 5 days so far.

This will be my last Nissan purchase ever and I will be sure to pass on my experience to other people considering buying a car or truck.

In summer 2010 my 2005 Nissan Xterra (purchased new) began occasional shuddering, as if driving over rumble strips, while driving. The problem increased somewhat over time but no other problems were present until November of 2010 when car began overheating on the freeway. The car was immediately taken to mechanic who was unable to diagnose the problem.

The next day car was taken to Mossy Nissan Oceanside who told me that the transmission was destroyed and would have the be replaced along with the radiator. When I asked why they replied that a break in the radiator had allowed fluid to leak into the transmission destroying the transmission. To repair the damage it would cost me over $5,000.

After some thought I decided not to have them replace the transmission and instead did some research into the problem and found that this is a VERY common problem with the 05 Nissan Xterra. Nissan knows about this problem but is doing nothing to fix it and will not even warn their customers about it so that they can catch the problem in time. What they have done is extend the Powertrain warranty to 80K miles instead of 60K but still with no admission as to why. The problem is that this can happen at 90K or more miles (as with mine and many others) so there is no covereage then and, unless you somehow heard about it from someone else, no way to know until it happens to you.

The worst problem however is this: the problem cannot be fixed by simply replacing the parts as the parts and design were faulty to begin with. Had I done the repair it would have (and has according to consumer reports) occurred again.

Nissan is aware of this problem and the dealerships are making these repairs for $5k knowing that the problem will occur again. There have been reports of people having the problem fixed under warranty and then the same thing occuring again out of warranty and having to pay out of pocket to fix it.

Someone needs to make Nissan do the right thing here!