North Carolina Consumers Council

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the 2005-2010 Nissan Pathfinder, Frontier and Xterra after reports of severe transmission failures.

Earlier this year, NCCC filed a defect petition with the NHTSA after receiving numerous complaints from consumers regarding total transmission failures in 2005-2010 Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra vehicles being caused by engine coolant contamination.

In many cases these Nissan transmission failures are occurring just outside of any warranty coverage, leaving affected consumers high and dry.

According to the NHSTA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), the source of the contamination is a cracked ATF line that runs through an engine coolant chamber in the radiator. ODI has received a total of 512 consumer complaints from Nissan Pathfidner, Xterra and Frontier owners since August of 2005.

ODI will now review the contents of the defect petition, along with other relevant data, to determine if further steps should be taken, including a potential recall of all affected Nissan vehicles.

NCCC encourages consumers to continue reporting this and other safety defects to NHTSA. Please include your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) in your complaint if possible.