NHTSA Complaint #10524690 — 2007 NISSAN XTERRA

EARLIER LAST WEEK, I WENT TO SOUTHERN CAL TO TAKE CARE OF SOME BUSINESS. UPON RETURNING HOME, I WAS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND TRAVELING BETW SPEEDS OF 35-40 MPH. WHEN TRAFFIC SPEED INCREASED, I TRIED TO ACCELERATE BUT HAD DIFFICULTY. WHEN I STEPPED ON THE GAS PEDAL, THE RMP??S INCREASED BUT MY SPEED WOULD NOT. UPON RETURNING HOME I NOTICED THAT I HAD A LIGHT OILY FILM ON MY BACK WINDOW. DURING THE TRIP NO WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON. ON JULY 5TH THAT ??SERVICE ENGINE SOON?? LIGHT CAME ON. I CALLED FOR AN APPT AND ONE WAS SCHEDULED FOR ME JULY 6TH. I TOLD THE DEALERSHIP REP. WHAT I HAD EXPERIENCED EARLIER IN THE WEEK AND WHAT I WAS STILL EXPERIENCING. THE REP MADE STATEMENT ABOUT LEAKY TRANSMISSION FLUID AND HE TOOK MY CAR FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TEST. A FEW HOURS LATER, THE REP CALLED TO INFORM ME THAT MY RADIATOR FAILED. HE THEN STATED THAT AS A RESULT OF MY RADIATOR FAILING THAT THE RADIATOR FLUID MIXED WITH THE TRANSMISSION FLUID. AS A RESULT, I WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE BOTH THE RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION COSTING APPROXIMATELY $6800. HOW CAN THIS BE SINCE I GET MY CAR SERVICED REGULARLY? THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR ON MY VEHICLE. THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN, I BELIEVE THAT THIS ENGINEERING / MANUFACTURING DEFECT WHERE OVER TIME IT ALLOWS FLUIDS TO MIX FROM ONE CHAMBER INTO THE OTHER. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT SINCE THIS IS AN INHERENT PROBLEM WITH 3 GENERATIONS ON THREE SEPARATE MODELS OF NISSAN CARS, THAT IT SHOULD BE A RECALLED ITEM. HOWEVER, I WANT IT TO BE MADE KNOWN THAT THIS IS DEFINITELY A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE WHEN MY RADIATOR FAILED I WAS SEVERAL HUNDREDS MILES AWAY FROM HOME AND ON THE FREEWAY. *TR