Hey guys.. I have owned 2 nissans, and my current frontier has 110K on it. I am looking to upgrade for more space, and want to get an enclosed trailer to haul my bikes to the track (mx). It was either a pathfinder or a titan, but now I am starting to have second thoughts over all the issues I am finding reported for these vehicles. my family has owned at least 6 nissans including

3 hard body P/Us
96 Altima
2004 frontier
2002 frontier sc
2004 titan

we have logged at least 750K miles on these vehicles without any major problems. So, it is surprising to me to find out a pathfinder may throw it's trans at 30K! If i understand the posts correctly, if I bypass the internal transcooler as soon as I get the thing, i should be safe (with an extended warranty). Will the transmission still be vulnerable to the radiator busting and leaking coolant into the oil lines? I take it as no.

thanks for any help provided. I am 6'2" and kind of leaning towards the pathfinder, even though it feels a little small for me still. the price is right and they sure do roll out compared to my 2000 jimmy. I've had to replace an auto trans before, and I still remember the sting in my wrist writing that $3200 check.

Thanks,

Hi there,

I'm new to the whole Nissan family so I can only talk about the room in the Pathy. I have an 06 Pathy SE. I'm 6'3", 250lbs and for the most part, I fit pretty comfortably in the Pathy. My only complaint would be the way the seats are configured which restricts my leg room a bit, but its seriously not that big a deal. I commute to and from work daily, which is about 40 miles each way (or about 1hr commute one way for you SoCalers) and I'm happy with the way she moves and how I feel in her. Having the enclosed cabin is always nice imo and having that 3rd row back there, while only suitable for small adults or kids, its still nice to have the option to lug around 6 other passengers.

For what its worth, I haven't heard of any tranny issues myself. The only problems I hear the Pathy having is a faulty fuel gauge sensor, and the occasional bad timing chain or something of the latter.

I've got an '06 LE that I bought with 5100 miles on it & now have 62k.
I'm 6'3 / 235 # & love driving the rig. Seating is great. I did the trans cooler hose bypass - check the postings, it's easy to do - at about 45k & the car has been flawless. I even tow a 19' boat that weighs 4200 # wet with no problems. My only complaint was that the rear suspension was too soft but that was taken care of with the air bags & a set of Rancho Shocks.
I'd says buy it - I think you will be happy with it.

thanks for the posts so far. At least I know i'm not the only bigger guy at 6'2" and 230 that would be driving one! At the most, I will be towing around 2000 lbs (6x12 trailer, 2 mx bikes, and gear). Most of the time, I plan on having a single bike hitch caddy for riding days. I love my frontier, wish I didn't have to get rid of it, but I just can't stand the manual anymore, with my 70% city driving.

I have an '05 which now has over 100K on it. I bought it in Sept of '07 with 16K. Maybe I am lucky that my trans cooler didnt fail but I just did the bypass a couple of weeks ago.

I have been a member on this site since Oct of '07 and it has only been recently that the trans cooler concerns have come up. Although many of us are doing the bypass, you dont see all of us complaining about failing transmissions. Obviously it is enough to be concerned with but just do the bypass, or make sure you have warranty that will cover it, and you will be fine.

Btw, I am 6'2" and have always felt comfortable in the Path. Ducking down more to clear my head of the roof, when getting in, took a little getting used to but that is only because I had a van before.

My best advise, if you plan on owning one past the warranty, is to buy one without all the bells and whistles. I passed on the electronic climate control, Navigation, Bose system, DVD, etc. because those are costly features to repair if they go out after warranty. Oh yeah, it is also easier to upgrade the sound system when you start with the base model stereo.

I have a 2007 PF with about 50K miles. I am watching the transmission-coolant issue closely on this forum. So far, I have not seen any 2007s that had the problem. (I also monitor ClubFrontier.)

you are over-thinking it. it costs $0 and may be 20 minutes of your time to do the bypass. you are worrying over nothing.

I believe timing chain and fuel sender is a bigger issue. because there is no way to prevent it.

marvmmarv wrote:I have a 2007 PF with about 50K miles. I am watching the transmission-coolant issue closely on this forum. So far, I have not seen any 2007s that had the problem. (I also monitor ClubFrontier.)

There have been a couple of '07s over at thenewx.org.

Does anyone know if this was updated or "fixed" for 2008? I know there seems to be a lot of small updates/fixes but I'm not overly educated on this problem to begin with.

I have a 2005 SE Premium. I love my PF. I'm 6'3 260#. I fit in it without a problem, even though I wish the front seat went down a little more, but that's not a problem. My PF hauls my entire family all over the place and will tow my 5500# trailer. I've had my wife, 2 kids, 2 dogs in the back and a roof box on top all the way to California from British Columbia and it was one of the easiest drives ever. I've never had an issue with the transmission and I haven't done the bypass yet, even though I'm planning on doing one.