| Issue ID | 1332097 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10924272 |
| Manufacurer | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| Brand | NISSAN |
| Model | XTERRA |
| Model Year | 2005 |
| File date | 16/02/16 |
| Component | POWER TRAIN |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | 2005 nissan xterra - complete transmission failure at approx. 102,000 miles, caused by faulty radiator that leaked water into the transmission, which nissan knew about but refused to recall. I never received any notice about the radiator issue from the manufacturer or dealer!! It would cost approx. $300 for nissan (or the consumer) to replace the radiator, as opposed to $3800 to completely rebuild the transmission and replace the radiator upon failure; therefore, nissan let their customers drive dangerous vehicles in which the transmission could - and did - fail at any moment. This is an extremely dangerous situation. I was in rush hour traffic, stopped at a light downtown headed to the freeway entrance ramp. When the light turned green, i accelerated and the engine roared beneath my foot. I could not even travel through the stop light. The xterra would not go forward or backward. Had i made it to the freeway and been traveling at 50 - 60 mph in heavy traffic, and accelerated to find i had no power - no acceleration, i (and others) could have very easily been injured or killed. When my xterra was towed to the transmission repair shop, they were very familiar with this issue and informed me that a class action had been filed and won, (and was already concluded) over this exact issue; however, the consumers in the class received a very small portion of the proceeds (approx. $800 at the high end). I am contemplating filing an action in small claims court against nissan and the local dealer in jackson, ms, from whom i have bought 3 suvs in the past 20 years. I tell everybody i see driving a nissan about this issue and have spread the word on social media. This is completely unacceptable, fraudulent, reckless endangerment by nissan, and something needs to be done about it to make the consumers whole. I will never buy another nissan. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 114804 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | BRANDON, MS |
| VIN pattern | 5N1AN08U45CXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | 6 |
| Drive train type | RWD |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 0 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |