2008 Nissan Pathfinder problems
The 2008 Nissan Pathfinder has 458 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (34%) concerns drivetrain & axles. Next are fuel system (18%) and engine (17%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 458 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Drivetrain & axles 34% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 10 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 7 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 107,000 miles 385 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 15 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 22 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 35 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 73 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 84 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 66 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 44 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 24 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 6 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 385 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 107,000 miles. For drivetrain & axles specifically, the median reported mileage is about 114,000 miles (140 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 10 complaints mention a crash; 7 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 91% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 36 model years of the Nissan Pathfinder with enough data (110 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 nissan pathfinder. While idling at a stop light, the vehicle was rear ended by another vehicle traveling 99 MPH. None of the air bags deployed in the contact's vehicle. Four occupants were injured and a police report was filed. Through online research, the contact discovered NHTSA campaign id number 08v690000 (air bags:frontal). She feels that her vehicle is very unsafe and wants to know why a recall was not issued. The mileages and VIN were unknown.
Tl* the contact owned a 2008 nissan pathfinder. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the driver crashed into the preceding vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. A police report was filed. The driver sustained injuries to the chest, head, and neck, which required medical attention. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
I was removing trash from the back of my pathfinders at the local transfer station. I turned to go back into the rear of the vehicle for the remainder of the trash when I struck the side of the tail gate which had crept down to my eye level and I turned into it resulting in lots of bleeding and a trip to the er requiring 11 sutures on my lower forehead just above my eye. This is a dangerous situation and I'm concerned it could happen again but also could happen to one of my children.
Vehicle indicated fuel of about 1/4 tank and about 90 miles remaining. It will instantly drop to empty on the fuel tank and will show 0 miles remaining. This has occurred several times in the last couple weeks. Sometimes it is empty and sometimes it has fuel in it.
Couple years ago around 60,000 mile or so ago started to notice hesitancy when shifting around 40MPH. Nissan stated that was due to how I broke the car in. So I let it go thinking that it was okay... Then it started at 60MPH and kept getting worse at every gear, sounded like I was driving on rumble strips. So I take it to a mechanic they inform me that it was caused by the radiator fluid leaking into the transmission. Which I see now that is an ongoing problem!