The Nissan Path

Hi. Recently joined. My wife and I are looking at buying a new Pathfinder. Never owned an SUV but liked the pathfinders so far.

We live near Cape cod and she recently was able to drive out onto a beach nearby with a friends 4wd...explorer. We were in the market for a new car and now interested in a 4wd because of that.

My question is can the new paths navigate the beach OK with the 4wd lock? I understand about tire pressure and all that. But in general should it be okay? It's not heavy dune driving...all protected here. It would be turning on the beach and driving straight then turning around essentially at the end of the day.

I haven't been able to find any information really about newer models so hoping this site is a good place. I don't want to purchase one of it doesn't fit all requirements. And then find out later after we got stuck or something.

Thanks

Just bumbling along the beach? I've done that in my little FWD hatchback. In a big SUV you'll be absolutely fine.

As long as you can drive on SURFACE, you will be absolutely fine.
Problem are soft, muddy surfaces, where vehicle digs belly deep into surface and the only option is to pull it out with another vehicle. You can do both, drive on beach or get stucked with any vehicle.
Sorry for not being more specific

I just took a Frontier that I just bought to get some recall work done at the Nissan dealer. I was talking to the girl who works the service desk and we got on the subject of the new Pathfinders. She said they've had a lot of problems with the new Pathfinders. She said when she goes to buy a new vehicle, she's going to get a Toyota. It tells a lot about a company when people that work for them won't even buy their own vehicles. I worked for Nissan for 16 years and have owned five of them, however, next time, I'll be looking at Subarus!

smj999smj wrote:I was talking to the girl who works the service desk and we got on the subject of the new Pathfinders. She said they've had a lot of problems with the new Pathfinders.

Sad but true. The frustrating part is that Nissan is not acknowledging that there is a problem with their CVTs.

I heard they extended the warranty to 10yrs? Just bought a 2010 Rogue.

disallow wrote:I heard they extended the warranty to 10yrs? Just bought a 2010 Rogue.

2003 through 2010 models have an extended warranty of 10 years/120,000 miles on the CVT transmission. Models after 2010 have the 5-year/60000 mile warranty.

JayArras wrote:

smj999smj wrote:I was talking to the girl who works the service desk and we got on the subject of the new Pathfinders. She said they've had a lot of problems with the new Pathfinders.

Sad but true. The frustrating part is that Nissan is not acknowledging that there is a problem with their CVTs.

They've admitted problems on their earlier CVT's and extended the warranty. On the early R52s, they updated the software, but the vehicles are plagued with a number of problems. Consumer Reports ranked the vehicle at the bottom of its class as far as reliability and named it one of the five worse vehicles currently being sold.
As someone who worked for Nissan during some of their best years (the '80s and '90s), its frustrating to see how they can make some very good cars and then make some very bad ones. They have the potential to be a much better company than what they are.

smj999smj wrote:
They've admitted problems on their earlier CVT's and extended the warranty. On the early R52s, they updated the software, but the vehicles are plagued with a number of problems. Consumer Reports ranked the vehicle at the bottom of its class as far as reliability and named it one of the five worse vehicles currently being sold.

Someone pointed out to me that leftover 2015's are now rare for Highlanders, Pilots and Explorers. But you can find plenty of 2015 Pathfinders on dealer lots all over the country.

As someone who worked for Nissan during some of their best years (the '80s and '90s), its frustrating to see how they can make some very good cars and then make some very bad ones. They have the potential to be a much better company than what they are.

Do you think that Nissan has been mum on the R52 CVT issue because they simply don't have a clue of how to solve the issue? Or do you think that there has been a management change and this is now their new stance?

I can't tell you what Nissan is doing. The CVT in and of itself isn't a bad idea and some of them are very good, but just like conventional automatic transmissions, some work better than others.
I would choose a Highlander or Outback over a new Pathfinder, if I were in that market.