The Nissan Path

Hi All,

A local dealer has a 2012 Pathfinder Silver Edition with approx. 32k miles on it. From the pictures it looks clean so I am going to check it out.

What should I look out for?

I know of the transmission failures due to the coolant mixing issue, but I understand that 2011 and 2012 model years are not affected by the issue.....correct??

Anything additional I should look for in service records or carfax data?

Thank you. Hope to join the Pathfinder family

Regards

George

You should be fine with that 2012 I have the same year bought used. Most of the bugs or issues seemed to be worked out by late 2010/11. If you do any towing you will want to add a set of airbags to keep the back end from sagging (my wife could use a set on her rear!) the stock rear shocks are prob toast so maybe pick up a set. It would be a good idea to have the brakes checked or have the dealer tell you what kind of shape they are in. See if you can find some oil change records when I bought mine it was dealer serviced and the oil was changes every 5,000 miles. Other then that you should be fine.

In my brief experience with them...be sure to sit in it for 20 minutes at idle. Then drive it around at 35 to 40MPH. If not for you do it for me! LOL.

I would love to know if your feels as unrefined and vibrating as mine does.

It almost feels like Nissan uses no rubber mounts anywhere.

madmat wrote:In my brief experience with them...be sure to sit in it for 20 minutes at idle. Then drive it around at 35 to 40MPH. If not for you do it for me! LOL.

I would love to know if your feels as unrefined and vibrating as mine does.

It almost feels like Nissan uses no rubber mounts anywhere.

Yes, it still vibrates heavily at idle. I just purchased a 2012 due to the 2013+ changes and not liking them. Thing has a ton of pickup for such a large vehicle with a V6, but yes, the vibrations are there.

Why can't they work this out!? Good grief man just add 1 more drive-train mount or maybe a softer compound?? 3 mounts for a 266HP drive-train is not enough IMHO...

Maybe it just takes some getting used to I don't know.....but it seems excessive for such a nice truck.

I just bought a 2012 silver edition last week with 40k on it and I freaking love it..this thing has so much more pick up than the 2012 wrangler I traded it in for. I do feel vibrations sometimes when at a stop light but nothing major..this thing is basically a truck and drives like one witch I actually prefere..feel powerfull and rugged. I have heard that useing 93 fuel only has reduced vibrations for some people..I'm still useing the gas from the dealer and not sure what they put in but I will be filling up with premium

Ryuguyu wrote:I just bought a 2012 silver edition last week with 40k on it and I freaking love it..this thing has so much more pick up than the 2012 wrangler I traded it in for. I do feel vibrations sometimes when at a stop light but nothing major..this thing is basically a truck and drives like one witch I actually prefere..feel powerfull and rugged. I have heard that useing 93 fuel only has reduced vibrations for some people..I'm still useing the gas from the dealer and not sure what they put in but I will be filling up with premium

You can try running premium fuel I only use it when I tow my camper other then that I think you are just wasting $$

Was reading this and scratching my head, because I've never felt any vibrations at idle.
But reading to the end...it actually may make sense to use better gas. I've always used premium and the offset in cost is slightly better gas mileage so it cancels out.
But if it also prevents a bad idle, then I'm never switching from premium!!

I've run both 87 and 93 for significant amounts of time and during long trips and in the end, I didn't notice any difference in performance or gas mileage between the two. These days, I stick with 87.

Wow. Glad I found this thread. I just asked the same question. :/

Interesting about the shaking at idle. I actually begged off a low mileage Frontier for this very reason! Apparently, its fairly common, and other than a possible reflash, or simple relearn, there isn't supposed to be anything to be concerned with.

I hope the 2012 Pathfinder S with 25k miles that I'm going to test ride and probably buy tomorrow doesn't do this, but it appears to be a Nissan "thing" of some sort. Nice to know that, anyway.

Regarding fuel- Conventional wisdom says always run the lowest octane your vehicle will be happy with. Lower octane burns faster.