NHTSA Complaint #10470860 — 2006 NISSAN FRONTIER

MY 5-SPEED AUTOMATIC 2006 NISSAN FRONTIER'S RADIATOR COOLER TANK RUPTURED FORCING COOLANT INTO THE TRANSMISSION THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION COOLER LINES CAUSING "CATASTROPHIC FAILURE" AT 92000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER (12000 MILES OUTSIDE THE EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THE FAULTY RADIATOR). THIS IS APPARENTLY AN "UNCOMMON", BUT KNOWN PROBLEM WITH NISSAN TRUCK AND SUV MODELS. I WAS TRAVELING AT 65 MPH ON INTERSTATE 70 NEAR FREDERICK, MARYLAND WHEN THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE OCCURRED. I LOST ALL FORWARD MOMENTUM BUT WAS ABLE TO MANEUVER THE TRUCK TO THE SHOULDER BEFORE CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. I HAD IT CHECKED BY AN INDEPENDENT SHOP IN MOUNT AIRY, MARYLAND AND THEY QUOTED THE REPLACEMENT OF THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION AT $4350. AFTER MAKING INQUIRES WITH THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR NEW IN 2006, THEIR INITIAL ESTIMATE WAS BETWEEN ROUGHLY $6000 - $10000 FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION! THEY WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE DOWN WITH NISSAN CORPORATE AND THE FINAL COST OF REPLACEMENT OF THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION WAS $3000. MY TRANSMISSION FAILED WITHOUT ANY SIGN OR WARNING AT 65 MPH ON A 3 LANE INTERSTATE - THE FINANCIAL BURDEN TO FIX THE PROBLEM HURTS, BUT IT COULD HAVE GONE MUCH WORSE. *TR