Hello all, need some help. I am at 30,000 miles on my 2011 Pathfinder. The dealer down here in Florida has quoted me 750 dollar for the 30,000 service Anyway, I have family with Toyota who said if I supply the oils he will have his service guys do the service for free.

Replace engine oil and filter
Replace automatic transmission fluid (01NIZTRANSFLUID)
Replace brake fluid (97NIZ8)
Replace differential oil (97NIZ12)
Replace transfer case oil
Replace front differential oil (97NIZ12)
Replace engine coolant/flush system

This seem to be a lot of BS for 30k. With my 4Runner I never did any of this until I was near 75k miles. Anyway, I will be using Castrol oil, tranny, and diff oil. What oil is recommended for transfer cases?

I really appreciate any help!

the service is expensive for just fluids exchange. 30k is when i do all my fluid exchanges except for coolant and brake flush in my r51. getting it done for free labor will be probably cost maybe $150.00 in parts.

Besides the oil/filter, none of that is required unless you're using the severe service schedule. Granted, if you're planning to keep the vehicle a long time it certainly wouldn't hurt to change some of these. I think the coolant and brake fluid service is not necessary at all at such low miles. The brake fluid can be done when you service the brake pads, whenever that needs to be done. Coolant is good for 100k.

The transmission, differential, and transfer case oil shouldn't be more than $50 for the fluids (be sure to use the correct spec fluids) and it doesn't take long at all to swap them out. Just drain/fill...there's no need to flush if you're going to change them every 30k. Transfer case takes the same oil as the transmission.

I did the first fluid swap at 60k, then again at 90k. I'm at 115k now with no problems at all. Brake fluid was flushed when I changed pads at 50k and 100k. Coolant at 90k when I swapped the radiator. Also changed drive belts/tensioner at that time.

I'm with Skinny2 on this one that is exactly what I did on my last truck "06" Toyota 4Runner and I managed to put 170,000 on it before I got my 2012 PF.

Thank you all for the replies. I will follow what Skinny said. Nissan is unique. They still tell me to come in every 3750 despite using Castrol Edge oil. I guess it's true, service is where they make their money.

11Path&Titan wrote:Thank you all for the replies. I will follow what Skinny said. Nissan is unique. They still tell me to come in every 3750 despite using Castrol Edge oil. I guess it's true, service is where they make their money.

As is the case with all brands, it all comes down to the dealer you're using. My nearest Toyota dealer is a complete POS and one reason we avoid that brand. They're crooks on maintenance and horrible to deal with on warranty repairs. I've had to drive an hour out of my way to get recall work done before. Very annoying and they've been like that since I bought my first Toyota back in '92. I tried to use them again a couple years ago on my wifes '11 Sienna and it was a disaster again. I never get a survey when using that dealer either.

I spoke with the folks at my nearest Nissan dealer a couple times when picking up maintenance parts and they're very low key. Said they don't recommend coolant flushes until 100k and usually recommend 5k oil changes since it's in between the normal and severe schedules. If you look at your owners manual (assuming it's the same as mine) there are three service schedules. One is "schedule 2" use which recommends 7,500 mile intervals (on non-synthetic oil) for "normal" use. The other is "schedule 1" which has a 3,750 interval and is more like a typical "severe use" schedule. The other is "premium" which is basically a money maker for the dealerships and a total scam unless you're just in love with spending money on maintenance. I've stuck to 7,500 mile intervals during the warranty (on synthetic) but have now gone to 10k intervals on oil. Everything else I did somewhat of a combination of schedules 1 and 2 because I do tow a little and go off-road for work fairly often.

Even under Nissan's "severe service" maintenance schedule, this is all that is required (other than a bunch of "inspections"):

-replace air filter
-replace cabin air filter
-replace engine oil and oil filter
-replace brake fluid
-rotate tires


Engine coolant is Nissan Long-life coolant and isn't required to be replaced until 105,000 miles. There is no service interval requirement for ATF, transfer case fluid, nor diff fluids...only routine inspections. As far as oil changes, it's 3750 miles under the severe schedule and 7500 miles under the normal service schedule. I usually do a drain and fill of my ATF, transfer case and diff oils every 30000 miles, but only cause I'm paranoid! Oil changes I do at 7500 miles using full-synthetic, and that's probably overkill, as well.