[XXX] 2023 Nissan Pathfinder Purchased from Carvana [XXX] I was traveling from Vermont to Pennsylvania. At a [XXX] rest area, the vehicle failed to start after being parked approximately 15 minutes. Dashboard lights illuminated, but the engine would not crank, and subsequent attempts became progressively weaker. A tow truck operator jump-started the vehicle, which then restarted successfully several times. Approximately 200 miles later, while traveling in four lanes of rush-hour traffic on [XXX], the vehicle suddenly experienced a complete engine and electrical shutdown without warning. I lost all power and came to a complete stop in a middle lane. It could not be restarted. I could not safely exit the vehicle because of surrounding traffic and remained buckled in my seatbelt until police arrived to block traffic. The vehicle was towed to Ramsey Nissan. Ramsey Nissan diagnosed a failed battery, rated at 700 CCA and measuring 452 CCA. The dealership reported that the starter and alternator tested normally and no diagnostic trouble codes were stored. The battery was replaced. The dealership did not provide a documented explanation establishing why the engine shut off while the vehicle was moving or whether an intermittent electrical or charging-system fault was ruled out. I am concerned that the underlying cause may remain unresolved and that a recurrence could result in serious injury or death to myself, my passengers or another person traveling on the same road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Nissan Pathfinder won't start problems
109 of the 7,336 owner complaints about the Nissan Pathfinder describe won't start, most of them for the 2007 model year.
- owner complaints
- 109
- worst model year
- 2007
- typical repair cost reported
- $4,500
- typical mileage
- 109,000
By model year
Often reported together
Check engine light 16Stalling 13Fuel gauge 9Transmission failure 8Shudder 6Fuel pump 6Overheating 5Grinding brakes 5
Trouble codes mentioned
U1000 2P0717 2P0463 1
What owners say
The vehicle suffered a sudden, complete loss of motive acceleration at highway speeds, followed by a total powertrain breakdown and battery drain linked to an active federal safety recall. While traveling at highway speeds on Highway 169, the vehicle suddenly lost all acceleration, surged, juddered violently back and forth, and then shut down completely in an active traffic lane. The dashboard electrical components remained on, but the vehicle would not crank or restart. This failure trapped the occupants in a highly vulnerable position with oncoming traffic, requiring a dangerous manual jump-start in the middle of a busy highway just to move the vehicle out of the active lanes. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealership, where the failure is directly linked to an active, unremedied federal safety campaign: the federal safety agency Campaign ID 21V020000 / Nissan Recall Campaign PC786 (Stop Lamp Switch Relay Malfunction). This defect causes the brake switch relay to stick, triggering a sudden brake override command that unexpectedly cuts all engine power and aggressively drains the battery while driving. The unprompted engagement of this safety defect while operating at high speeds represents an extreme, life-threatening vehicle performance failure.
First Incident- volume kept rising on its own. Would turn it down, it would go right back up. Would turn the radio off, it would turn on by itself and would keep rising until full blast. Vehicle was parked, came back from work, turned vehicle on and the volume was fine on it. Second Incident- (this has happened twice) about a month after the volume incident. This time the vehicle would accelerate by itself. No cruise control was on, vehicle would keep going faster and faster. First time this happened the vehicle needed to be towed, cops were involved. I finally was able to stop the vehicle at a red light (where it eventually broke down and would not start). Extended warranty covered the tow. There was no check engine light on. Replaced the battery as I was told the errors were pointing back to low voltage. After battery was replaced, maybe three weeks later the vehicle did the same thing on the highway again. Car speed kept increasing on its own, no cruise control or pedal input. Vehicle kept speeding. I took this vehicle to Moon Township, PA Nissan Cochran dealership and they could not replicate the issue. I have video proof the first time this happened where the vehicle kept increasing in speed without pedal input. I have two kids under the age of [XXX] , This is an unsafe vehicle and it has lost my trust completely. The extended warranty company for this vehicle said they can’t do anything since the dealership says no check engine light is on. Third incident- got into vehicle, turned the vehicle on and the parking brake would not release. The parking brake was never applied in the first place so I have no clue how or why it was on when I turned the vehicle on. I just recently called the dealership on this issue now (Moon Township, Nissan Cochran) and will see what they say. Again, no check engine light is present. I am at a loss on this vehicle. 2022 with only 45k miles on it and have never experienced this many issues with a vehicle before! It is unsafe. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INF
I was driving the vehicle and it just stopped on the highway, no warning no kickback no precursor that something was wrong with the vehicle, and it stopped, the warning sign: Not available System malfunction came on and then the entire electrical system shut down. I had to have the car towed home because it would not start. I went to the dealer on several attempts and no help was rendered. I was told to either come back or there are too many cars, just really getting the run around for a matter that is fatal. I was driving with my family in the car and it just stopped. I almost had an accident, it could have been fatal. This is unacceptable.
I bought a vehicle from Woods Nissan in Lees Summit, MO, on [XXX], and in a week I went back for details, and the car would not start. They checked and claimed nothing was wrong, and I took their word for it. I took the car to KC Auto Clinic in Independence, MO, and they found it was the judder system, which they said was an issue they were seeing in many Nissan vehicles. To me, there should be a recall on this, as it can simply shut off and cause a huge accident. Don't let this happen and wait for an accident to happen, as this can happen to anyone, driving or possibly getting into an accident with a vehicle like mine. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
My 2018 Nissan Pathfinder SL has had to have the engine replaced once due to the CVP issues with the transmission causes in the engine to fail. It was replaced not even two years ago and now the issue has presented itself yet again and the engine has failed once again. I believe that this vehicle should be issued for recall because this is an issue that has happened twice engine has failed twice car will not run. Will not turn over vehicle is at a standstill. I want somebody to contact me regarding this because this is not acceptable.
While entering the [XXX] going East (Home) exit [XXX] I needed to accelerate because of incoming vehicles to my left (Freeway) Instead of going fast my Nissan Pathfinder lose some power to accelarate and my speed reduce to 60 mph And I knew that something is very wrong there is a big trailer behind me, So at this point It felt like my SUV is not responding when I push the pedal, So I decided to pull over to the nearest exit which is [XXX] and end up pulling over near [XXX]. I turned off the engine hoping that the my SUV is going to be fine, But unfortunately the break is locked all of a sudden, To make the long story short it wont start, Here I am on the side of the freeway calling triple A , waited for almost 3 Hours, Thank God the triple A team helped me to calm down because at this point I have to take care of my safety first. I thank God that I was driving alone and not with my future wife and two children [XXX] and [XXX] old. I' m writing because this might happen again,not only to me but to other families,This is very unsafe I pray to God that you'll do something to fix this issue God bless. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I have had 2 major and one minor incident with my 2022 Pathfinder. I bought it certified preowned Jan 2023 with 21k miles. At 23k miles- end of the same month it was purchased- the vehicle decelerated from 75mph to 35mph on the interstate. The dealership sent a towing truck to pick it up next day and they diagnosed the problem to be a dead battery- the lights on the car remained on all night but if it was the battery then the car would have not even been on. Dealership failed to dig deeper. At 57k miles on May 3rd 2024 after being at the public park for an hour with my daughter the car would not start, warning lights were on the screen such as a malfunction warning. The dealership sent a tow truck and they kept the car for 3 days. We picked it up on a Monday and on Friday May 10th while driving on the interstate, the car decelerated from 75mph to almost nothing, I barely made it off of the exit. They towed it once again and this time we were told the issue was a bad mass airflow sensor. It was replaced and a week later we got another malfunction warning while parked on a sunny day. Currently in arbitration with Nissan. They fail to recognize this is a safety issue and no matter what they say the "cause" is, the same issue keeps happening on the interstate. Nissan is not taking it seriously and they want to give me 3,500 for the "inconvenience" I keep telling them I do not feel safe in this vehicle. I was told the car is outside Lemon Law timeframe. I brought up other the federal safety agency complaints that are like mine and still haven't heard from them, it has been 5 days. I would like for this safety concern to be taken seriously. It has put me and my family in danger as well as others.
Issue is related to insufficient starting and propulsion of the vehicle after the idle stop feature has stopped the engine. After the idle stop feature turns off the engine [upon stopping of the vehicle], the engine does not start quickly and efficiently. You take your foot off the brake, the vehicle begins to start, then you push on the gas, the engine/vehicle then hesitates and stutters, and then the engine finally fully engages and moves the vehicle. Engine doesn't seem to be getting sufficient fuel. NOTE: THE MOST CONCERNING ISSUE is that upon pushing on the gas after idle stop, the vehicle has automatically slipped into Neutral [two recent incidents], basically stalling the vehicle in traffic (until the RPMs reduced and it could be put back in Drive). This is a safety concern if I am beginning to take a left-hand turn or pulling out into oncoming traffic. I have to now turn off the idle stop feature each trip to avoid this safety concern (unless I forget). I will be bringing vehicle into the dealer for service soon - but I am not confident this is going to effectively diagnosed or resolved.
The engine in this vehicle has shut off two times while we were driving it. We were forced to make emergency exits off of the roadway in order to prevent injury to ourselves and others. This is a life-threatening situation when the vehicle loses engine power while it is being driven. Additionally, we have experienced multiple instances of the vehicle not starting after it had been parked. We have researched this on the internet and have found that other Nissan owners are experiencing this same issue. When the vehicle stops running while driving or when it will not start after being parked, we get these symptoms: everything lit up on the dash TPMS light, I-Key error, no speedometer, no tachometer the engine cooling fan is running vehicle will not start back up When you push the start button the dash lights come back on the cooling fan would kick on engine will not start
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling
- What is wrong
- Nissan is recalling certain model year 2011 infiniti fx, model year 2012 infiniti m, model year 2011-2012 nissan frontier, model year 2011-2012 nissan xterra, model year 2011-2012 nissan pathfinder, and model year 2012 nissan nv vehicles. Some of the bolts that connect the engine oil cooler and the engine oil filter to the engine in these vehicles may have been manufactured to below specification strength. As a result, the bolt may break at the oil filter attachment point and can cause an engine oil leak.
- Risk
- If there is an engine oil leak, the engine oil pressure would drop and the engine could seize, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the connector bolts free of charge. The safety recall began on january 30, 2012. Owners may contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 11V592000 · Recall details
Engine and engine cooling
- What is wrong
- Nissan is recalling certain model year 2004-2006 armada, titan, infiniti qx56 and model year 2005-2006 frontier, pathfinder and xterra vehicles. The intelligent power distribution module (ipdm) assembly contains an engine control module (ECM) relay that has a diode for electrical current noise reduction. The ECM relay may allow silicon vapor to form and, over time, the silicon evaporates from the diode molding which causes silicon oxide to develop on the ECM relay contact due to arcing.
- Risk
- This could cause engine stalling increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the ECM relay inside the ipdm assembly. This service will be performed free of charge. The safety recall began on december 6, 2010. Owners may contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 10V517000 · Recall details
Questions about the Nissan Pathfinder won't start
Which Nissan Pathfinder years have won't start problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2007 (23 complaints), 2005 (22 complaints) and 2008 (14 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix won't start on the Nissan Pathfinder?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $4,500 (median of 24 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used Nissan Pathfinder?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history