NHTSA Complaint #10499346 — 2006 NISSAN PATHFINDER

THIS ISSUE IS RELATED TO NHTSA ACTION NUMBER : DP12004 MY 2006 NISSAN PATHFINDER STARTED HAVING TRANSMISSION ISSUES AT ROUGHLY 96,000 MILES ON 2/1/2013. WHILE DRIVING, THE CAR WILL SOMETIMES SHAKE AND RUMBLE WHEN TRAVELING BETWEEN 40-55 MPH. THE CAR HAS PROGRESSIVELY GOTTEN WORSE IN THE 2 WEEKS THAT THE PROBLEM STARTED HAPPENING. I TOOK MY NISSAN FOR REPAIR AT BERLIN CITY NISSAN IN PORTLAND, MAINE ON 2/19/2013 AND THEY STATED THAT THE PROBLEM IS A KNOWN ISSUE. THE KNOWN ISSUE WAS A DESIGN FLAW WITH HOW THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION ARE INTEGRATED TOGETHER. IN SUMMARY WHEN THERE IS A CRACKED ATF LINE IN THE VEHICLE, THAT ENGINE COOLANT WILL RUN THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION ULTIMATELY CAUSING PERMANENT DAMAGE AND REQUIRING THAT THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION BE REPLACED. THE QUOTE I GOT TODAY TO GET THE ITEMS REPAIRED IS $6,700. NISSAN IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AND RATHER THAN HAVING A RECALL THEY INCREASED THE WARRANTY DURATION TO 80K MILES. FROM READING ON-LINE, IT APPEARS THAT MOST PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE (LIKE ME), EXPERIENCE THIS PROBLEM AFTER 80K MILES. THEREFORE, NISSAN DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR. FROM READING ON-LINE AND TALKING WITH THE NISSAN SERVICE STAFF, THE PROBLEM WITH MY 2006 NISSAN PATHFINDER IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE AND ULTIMATELY PRESENT A DRIVING HAZARD. I NEED TO MAKE A DECISION SOON WHETHER TO MAKE THE COSTLY REPAIR OR GET A NEW VEHICLE. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE CAR FAILING PUTTING MYSELF AND MY PASSENGERS AT RISK. *TR