Long Term Update 05 Pathy SE

serturbo · Postby **serturbo** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:54 pm

Chase wrote:You think replacing a cat at 72k is normal??? I guess that's "normal wear and tear"? I think we have different opinions as to what the word normal means as it applies to car maintenance...

First of all, read this:

serturbo wrote:Maybe my choice of words was a little too lax.

I think I explained my poor choice of words, so stop harping about it. And yes, 72k for cat replacement seems about right. This is taking into consideration today's build quality of components and stricter tolerances regarding emissions. The conditions that would set a code in a 2005 vehicle would not have set one in a 1996 vehicle.

Chase wrote:I'm not here to bash on Nissan or anyone else, however I won't chalk up all of my repairs to being normal at my given mileage.

What's your mileage and what type of repairs have you had to make? You only have 2 total posts at this time (both being in this thread) and you never mentioned your repair history.

Cliff_Jumper wrote:I opened this thread to let potential buyers know what they will be expecting when they buy a Pathfinder. Not complaining, just giving a heads up out there.

Really? It sounded like a bunch of whining to me. Whining about how Nissan wouldn't warranty your radiator because it obviously wasn't covered by the extended warranty. Did you actually read the extended warranty?

pawjr74 did a good job listing his problems without complaining or whining. His post may have actually helped me diagnose my clunking.

Chase · Postby **Chase** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:05 pm

I currently have 109000 kms (not sure what that converts to in miles). To date I've replaced 3 u-joints, both front wheel bearings, Alternator (bearing shot), serpentine auto tensioner, fuel sending unit, IPDM, timing chain tensioner, rear coolant line was leaking had to be fixed. In my opinion, I should be wearing out the tires before I'm replacing such items. Like I said before I love this vehicle when it's not on the mend

twinblown · Postby **twinblown** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:38 pm

by far this Pathy has been the most reliable vehicle I've owned. I am so glad I never paid for a extended warranty nor have I spent a dime with the Nissan dealer since I bought it "new" aside from oil changes.
Here's my history as I posted in a thread a while back .

"Bought my 2005 "NEW" and besides regular oil, air filter and cabin filter change have done only the following maintainence (myself):

Replaced accesorry drive belt at 65K
Replaced tires at 65K
Replaced battery at 80K (for peace of mind)
First coolant drain and fill at 100K
First tranny drain and fill at 100K
Replaced spark plugs at 100K
Still on original brakes (must be the highway driving) unbelievable!
Tranny cooler bypass done. (for peace of mind)

Stuff that has gone bad and haven't bothered to fix:
Oil preasure sensor.
Fuel sending unit."

that's it! I have 120,000 miles (today) ... Hell my radiator hasn't failed! if anything was to go horribly wrong from now on it wouldn't bother me.
Overall very happy with this SUV and it's paid for!....keep on trucking!

serturbo · Postby **serturbo** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:46 pm

Chase wrote:I currently have 109000 kms (not sure what that converts to in miles). To date I've replaced 3 u-joints, both front wheel bearings, Alternator (bearing shot), serpentine auto tensioner, fuel sending unit, IPDM, timing chain tensioner, rear coolant line was leaking had to be fixed. In my opinion, I should be wearing out the tires before I'm replacing such items. Like I said before I love this vehicle when it's not on the mend

That comes out to less than 68k miles. I agree, those are quite a bit of problems for the amount of miles you have. I'm hoping some were caught before your warranty was out.

Cliff_Jumper · Postby **Cliff_Jumper** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:49 am

serturbo wrote:
Cliff_Jumper wrote:I opened this thread to let potential buyers know what they will be expecting when they buy a Pathfinder. Not complaining, just giving a heads up out there.
Really? It sounded like a bunch of whining to me. Whining about how Nissan wouldn't warranty your radiator because it obviously wasn't covered by the extended warranty. Did you actually read the extended warranty?

pawjr74 did a good job listing his problems without complaining or whining. His post may have actually helped me diagnose my clunking.

Good for you that you have one of the few PF's out there w/o any issue OR you just love going down on your knees and feet wrenching on your PF. Unfortunately, I don't buy and invest my hard earned $$ on a NEW vehicle that will cost me more $$ to replace parts three years down the road.
I bought a Nissan because I thought its reliability is as comparable as its Japanese counterparts. Never again will I buy a NISSAN product....

kelleyo · Postby **kelleyo** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:18 am

At least this dealer knows something about your truck. The fan clutch on my 2005 (previous pathy) locked up so the fan was spinning all the time. Made a loud whoosh all the time and gas mileage went way down. I took it in and told them the fan clutch was siezed and the service tech proceeds to tell me there is no clutch on a pathy fan. We argued for 10 minutes and finally a passing mechanic set him straight. He was pretty red

faced after that!

Storm4.0 · Postby **Storm4.0** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:49 am

Cliff_Jumper wrote:Good for you that you have one of the few PF's out there w/o any issue OR you just love going down on your knees and feet wrenching on your PF. Unfortunately, I don't buy and invest my hard earned $$ on a NEW vehicle that will cost me more $$ to replace parts three years down the road.
I bought a Nissan because I thought its reliability is as comparable as its Japanese counterparts. Never again will I buy a NISSAN product....

Then go buy a Toyota or puss Honda and quit friggin whining about it..... Every manufacturer has it's problems. My Mom's Toyota Corolla went through 3 auto tensioners w/belts and had a oil leak but she has just traded it on a new Chevrolet Cruze. And to be complaining about a Japanese product... then, sorry, but Nissan pulled the wool over your eyes. Pathfinders are manufactured in Smyrna, TN with mostly US parts. And for people who are complaining about plastic endcaps on radiators, every radiator is made that way now. Take a look at the "crappy" leaking radiator you have and see where it's manufactured.... good 'ol USA! I've had a few problems with my Pathfinder, but I still beleive it suits my needs more than any other vehicle out there. If you're not happy then run that s.o.b. off of a cliff!!

Oh and BTW the only problem I had with my Pathfinder that really peev'd me off was the timing chain that I spent $200 and 2 days repairing.

And guess where the parts were manufactured.....

Postby **disallow** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:37 am

Storm4.0 wrote:
Cliff_Jumper wrote:Good for you that you have one of the few PF's out there w/o any issue OR you just love going down on your knees and feet wrenching on your PF. Unfortunately, I don't buy and invest my hard earned $$ on a NEW vehicle that will cost me more $$ to replace parts three years down the road.
I bought a Nissan because I thought its reliability is as comparable as its Japanese counterparts. Never again will I buy a NISSAN product....
Then go buy a Toyota or puss Honda and quit friggin whining about it..... Every manufacturer has it's problems. My Mom's Toyota Corolla went through 3 auto tensioners w/belts and had a oil leak but she has just traded it on a new Chevrolet Cruze. And to be complaining about a Japanese product... then, sorry, but Nissan pulled the wool over your eyes. Pathfinders are manufactured in Smyrna, TN with mostly US parts. And for people who are complaining about plastic endcaps on radiators, every radiator is made that way now. Take a look at the "crappy" leaking radiator you have and see where it's manufactured.... good 'ol USA! I've had a few problems with my Pathfinder, but I still beleive it suits my needs more than any other vehicle out there. If you're not happy then run that s.o.b. off of a cliff!!

Oh and BTW the only problem I had with my Pathfinder that really peev'd me off was the timing chain that I spent $200 and 2 days repairing.

And guess where the parts were manufactured.....

Yeah, people just don't do their research. I would take a serious bet that the pathfinder has more US content than an Envoy or other comparable piece of Detroit junk...

NVRDONE · Postby **NVRDONE** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 3:42 pm

Wow. I find it amaising that so many Pathfinder owners have so many problems. My 06 LE now has 82k on it & I run the wheels off it - a 65 mile round trip commute, towing a boat & many long distance trips. So far ( knock on wood ) the only problems have been a broken center console latch, the covers came off the step rails & the fuel pump / sender issue, all under warranty.
I do the maintance as needed & did the radiator bypass when I heard about the problem.
I also have numerous customers with Pathfinders / Xteras / Frontiers & all seem to be getting good service out of them.
I guess its true that there are some lemons made on Friday & Monday.

Postby **mar1** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:32 pm

wow. nothing really to add after Terry's post

dude, we go offroading here weekly with al kinds of cars. we got jeeps, toyotas, nissans, chevys, gmcs,... you name it.
the only 2 cars that never seem to have any major issues are nissan and toyota.

sure i've replaced my water pump twice now on a 2008 pathy, but we got jeeps that spontanesouly catch fire, silverados and hummers that break more than 20 tierods a year, mitsubishis that break off wheel wells, cherokees that break engine mounts and a jeep that dropped off the driveshaft completely on the ground!

every car has its issues, but Nissans issues are still much much easier to deal with that some of the other manufacturers.
Toyotas are awesome as well, but much more expensive than nissans for little or no added value.

but feel free to express your opinion, its your own thoughts. we're just asking to give the pathy a second chance.

jasunderland · Postby **jasunderland** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:24 am

Even though people have their problems, many people dont and are happy. It is not just with the Pathy that you have this.

I have an 02 Ford Escape and my Brother in law has a 05 escape. He has replaced the water pump in it 2 times and had a couple other issues. the only big money I have put in mine is a new clutch(mine's a manual).

I think it is hit and miss a lot with the same model of car. If everyone had problems like that with the Pathy, then I bet noone would buy it.

I love mine and have 40K on it and not had any issues yet. I have the 100K warranty on it so not really concerned about much with it either. Plan to keep it maintained and it should run for a good long while!

Postby **mar1** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:43 am

2 water pumps, 2 front shocks, 2 bushings, 1 lower control arm, 2 front shrouds twice, 3 front bumpers, 1 rear.

and i still love it. thinking of trading up for the 2012 model once warranty expires in november.

jasunderland · Postby **jasunderland** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:47 am

mar1 wrote:2 water pumps, 2 front shocks, 2 bushings, 1 lower control arm, 2 front shrouds twice, 3 front bumpers, 1 rear.

and i still love it. thinking of trading up for the 2012 model once warranty expires in november.

4 total bumpers?

twinblown · Postby **twinblown** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:51 am

he must be doing some serious "off roading", lol

05Pathfinder · Postby **05Pathfinder** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:39 am

Well I might as well add my info here.

I purchased my 05 Path in june for long trips with my g/f and my Rotti (since she only has a small Mazda3) and as a winter car so I can store my Speed3. So I wanted something worry free and now that I have spent quite a bit of money to get everything fixed I hope this is the last of it for a while.

05 SE w roof, air bags, bose
117km
2 u joints
rear ac lines
some ac line up front (not sure just had them replace it)
ac condesor
rear shocks
fan belt and tensioner
fan clutch

P0455 keeps coming on, I just erase it and ignore.

Also after i recently installed winter tires I got an alignment where they mentioned my rear end was to seized up to adjust (control arms) as well as the front right. So I will not be replacing them since it wasnt all that much out of spec. The tech mentioned that he doesnt see these lasting much more then 2-3 years before you can no longer adjust them which is obviously a poor design. As with everything else in life regular luberification is key if you want to avoid this

Long Term Update 05 Pathy SE

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