NHTSA Complaint #10682859 — 2007 NISSAN PATHFINDER

MY 2007 PATHFINDER HAS BEEN SHIFTING ROUGH AND SOUNDS LIKE I AM DRIVING ACROSS "RUMBLE STRIPS" USED ON THE ROAD TO KEEP DRIVERS AWAKE. I WENT TO THE DEALER TO GET AN OIL CHANGE AND EXPLAINED THE ISSUE. AFTER THEY CHECKED THE CAR OUT THEY TOLD ME I HAD POWER STEERING FLUID IN MY RADIATOR AND COOLANT IN MY POWER STEERING ASSEMBLY. WHEN I ASKED HOW THAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN, THE TECH TRIED TO ASSURE ME THAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RADIATOR LINES FAIL. I TOLD THEM I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THAT AND WANTED TO KNOW HOW THIS COULD HAPPEN. THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD COST $5,250.00 TO REPLACE THE RADIATOR. THE SERVICE TECH AND SERVICE MANAGER ACTED LIKE THEY KNEW NOTHING AND SUGGESTED I CALL NISSAN NORTH AMERICA...I DID. THEY TOLD ME THAT SINCE I HAD REPORTED MY ISSUE TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU MY CASE WAS SENT TO THE ARBITRATION DEPARTMENT. THE ARBITRATION GUY CALLED AND TOLD ME MY VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. I DID SOME RESEARCH ONLINE AND FOUND THAT NISSAN HAS KNOWN OF THIS PROBLEM SINCE 2005. NISSAN LOST A CLASS ACTION SUIT FOR THIS PROBLEM BUT THE REMEDY WAS TO EXTEND THE WARRANTY FOR 100,000 MILES. I'M CONFUSED BECAUSE I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW A MANUFACTURER CAN WARRANTY AWAY A DEFECT. FROM MY RESEARCH THE AVERAGE MILEAGE FOR THIS PROBLEM IS 112,000 MILES. MY CAR IS SLOWLY BECOMING NON DRIVABLE. I ACCELERATED OUT OF A PARKING LOT BUT THE CAR MOVED OUT INTO TRAFFIC AND STARTED RUMBLING BUT WOULD NOT ACCELERATE ANY FURTHER. I ALMOST GOT HIT BY ANOTHER CAR. WHY IS THE CONSUMER RESPONSIBLE FOR A KNOWN DEFECT? ISN'T A WARRANTY FOR PARTS THAT ARE MANUFACTURED CORRECTLY? *TR