The Nissan Path

How's it going folks. I'm new to the forum because I am more than likely going to be buying a 2009 Pathfinder this week.

Just added a new kid to the family and need the third row, The wife and I narrowed the choices down to the Highlander or Pathfinder. Well, after driving them both I narrowed it down to the Pathfinder.

Looking at a few different available vehicles. Miles range from 65K to 93K. I drove the 09 SE today with 93K miles and loved it.

I am just checking in with you guys to see if there is anything I need to worry about when buying one of these with medium/high mileage.

Any suggestions are welcomed. This will be my first time buying a car with this many miles on it so I need to know about things to look for.

You will Love it, good choice over the highlander. The Pathfinder does come with a few concerns, however i believe the 2008 and greater, models are less susceptible with

the transmission contamination with coolant and just an overall "bumpy" ride are what come with the Path.

The trans issue can be easy eliminated by doing a bypass which will completely eliminate the possibility of coolant getting in the trans. Once again, easy mod that can be done in the driveway.

Enjoy your new Path, post pics please sir!

Anyone else chime in if I missed something, i've had my Path for quite a while and is by far my favorite vehicle ever owned...

Welcome. Not sure the age of your kids, however the 3rd row will not fit a rear facing car seat. I believe the Highlander will. However the pathfinder is a true 4x4 system and the highlander is not. It's a give and take world.

One of the things I love about the Pathfinder when dealing with back-seat cargo is how wide the 2nd row doors will open, almost a full 90 degrees.

Anyway...the radiator/transmission problem is well documented here, check it all out, that's the only real major concern. Nissan extended the warranty for those parts to 80K miles, so your lower mile choice is still covered, while your higher mile choice could be problematic. Take it to any corner oil-change shop and have them check the transmission fluid, if it looks like a Strawberry Milk Shake run away! If it looks fine, and the transmission feels like it shifts fine, just do the bypass trick documented on the forum and enjoy the new truck.

As of yet, I don't think we've had a 2009 report a transmission cooler failure, although, there was one who reported this in a 2010. I, personally, would replace the radiator, but the bypass method has worked for many, is cheap and easy to do and is much better than taking your chances on ruining a perfectly good transmission. Most of the "bugs" had been worked out by 2009. You may still have to face replacing the upper timing chains and tensioner "feet" in the future. I would recommend installing AirLift 1000 air bags in the rear to better the ride and prevent bottoming out, but this is simple and inexpensive to do. Kits are under $100 and can be done in under an hour.

thanks for the feedback.

Not worried about the third row allowing for a rear facing. The new little guy will go in the back seat and the third row will only be used by the older kids on the weekends I have all four of the kids.

The rad/tranny issue scares the hell out of me. That's going to be the FIRST thing I look for tonight when I go test drive another one.

The one I am seriously considering has the standard LCD screen but does not have a back-up camera. Can you simply install a camera using the same wiring harness and LCD screeen already in place?

thanks again for the feedback.

I actually wound up getting a Dark Grey 2010 SE with the backup cam and Bose stereo. Darn thing only had 21,150 miles on it when I pulled off the lot. The interior, with the exception of a few scratches on the plastic in the cargo area is spotless. The backseats appeared to have never been used at all. The only blemish to the front seats/interior is where you can tell that a heel of a shoe wore down the driver's floor mat. All in all, good find and buy.

Also...the coolant fluids look nice and clean...no milkshakes...so thats good.

Congrats on the purchase. Hope you enjoy your Pathfinder as much as we all enjoy ours.