NHTSA Complaint #10510001 — 2007 NISSAN PATHFINDER

AFTER A 90K MILE CHECK-UP AND FULL SERVICE IN SPRING 2012, I UNDERSTOOD THAT MY PATHFINDER WAS RUNNING WELL. NEVER WAS THERE A MENTION OF ISSUES WITH THE RADIATOR / TRANSMISSION, NOR WAS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE ELEMENTS REPLACED TO PREVENT AN ISSUE (TO MY KNOWLEDGE.) AT 101K MILES, THE HEAT WENT OUT IN THE REAR SECTION OF THE CAR (I DID NOT REALIZE THIS UNTIL TWO MONTHS HAD GONE BY AND I WAS ARGUING WITH MY FREEZING CHILD IN THE BACK SEAT THAT I HAD HIS HEAT AS HOT AS IT WOULD GO - HE WAS CLEARLY CORRECT AND THE REAR BLOWERS WERE BLASTING HIM WITH ICY AIR.) THERE WAS A "CLUNK" UPON SHIFTING THE CAR INTO REVERSE, AND BETWEEN 40 AND 60 MPH THE TRANSMISSION LAGGED AND SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS GRINDING AND WORKING HARD. AT 106K I BROUGHT THE PATHFINDER TO THE NISSAN DEALER WHERE I HAD ORIGINALLY PURCHASED THE CAR. THIS WAS THE SAME DEALER WHO HAD DONE THE 90K SERVICE, AS WELL. THEY DETERMINED THAT THE RADIATOR FLUID HAD MIXED WITH THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND THAT MY CAR NEEDED BOTH A NEW RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION FOR $9,000.00. (MY TRUCK IS MAYBE WORTH $15,000 AT THIS POINT - REALLY?) AFTER DELIBERATING WITH THE SERVICE SUPERVISOR, HE OFFERED AN ALTERNATE OPTION OF ONLY CHANGING THE RADIATOR AND FLUSHING THE TRANSMISSION SEVERAL TIMES TO ELIMINATE THE CONTAMINATED FLUID. I GAVE THE OK FOR THIS SERVICE OPTION AT $600. SINCE THE SERVICE, MY TRANSMISSION IS STILL LAGGING BETWEEN 40 AND 60 MPH AND THE "CLUNK" STILL HAPPENS DURING A SLOW REVERSE. I AM NOW INVESTIGATING MY OPTIONS FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION AS THE VEHICLE IS STILL IN BEAUTIFUL SHAPE, OTHER THAN ITS ENGINE ISSUES. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THIS ISSUE IS WIDE-SPREAD ENOUGH THAT THE TRANSMISSIONS AND RADIATOR SHOULD BE RECALLED AND REPLACED BY NISSAN - OR PAID FOR BY NISSAN SINCE IT'S THEIR FAULTY PARTS THAT CAUSE THE PROBLEM. *TR