NHTSA Complaint #10722532 — 2007 NISSAN XTERRA

A HESITATION IN THE VEHICLE'S ACCELERATION BEGAN OCCURRING FREQUENTLY UPON DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR AFTER A FULL STOP AT A STOP SIGN OR RED LIGHT, BUT NOT AT ANY OTHER TIME IN DRIVING THE VEHICLE. THE PROBLEM WAS FIRST NOTED WHEN DEPARTING THE DEALERSHIP AFTER WHICH A NEW TIMING CHAIN HAD BEEN REPLACED. WHEN REVIEWED BY THE DEALERSHIP UPON RETURN TO THE SERVICE AREA (ANOTHER APPOINTMENT HAD BEEN MADE AT LATER TIME), A LOSS OF OVER ONE QUART OF TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS DETECTED (OVER WHAT TIME PERIOD WAS UNCLEAR), BUT NO KNOWN SOURCE OF EXTERNAL LEAKAGE WAS FOUND. THIS LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT INTERNAL LEAKAGE WAS VERY LIKELY OCCURRING. DUE TO THE MANY INSTANCES OF RADIATOR CRACKS AND TOXIC MIXING OF FLUIDS AMONG SIMILAR YEAR MODELS (MID-2000 MODEL YEARS OF NISSAN XTERRA), THE DEALERSHIP RECOMMENDED THAT THE RADIATOR BE REPLACED AND THE TRANSMISSION THOROUGHLY FLUSHED, WHICH MIGHT PREVENT THE TRANSMISSION FROM REQUIRING A COMPLETE OVERHAUL IN THE FUTURE - ALTHOUGH THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES. THIS WORK WAS COMPLETED FOR A TOTAL OF $1500 INCLUDING DISCOUNT; THE INCIDENT OCCURRED WELL AFTER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY PROVIDED BY THE MANUFACTURER FOR RESOLVING ISSUES THAT HAD BEEN EXPERIENCED BY OTHERS, HENCE THE DEALERSHIP'S CHARGES. A REQUEST WAS NONETHELESS MADE TO GET REIMBURSED BY THE MANUFACTURER (NISSAN), CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS ISSUE WAS DEALT WITH AT A VERY EARLY STAGE AND MIGHT THEREFORE RESULT IN A LOWER PROBABILITY OF TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE, WHICH COULD COST SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS ($6-7,000 OR MORE). OTHER DRIVERS/OWNERS HAVE TYPICALLY EXPERIENCED MORE SEVERE ISSUES, SUCH AS SHAKING/STALLING VEHICLES AND/OR ILLUMINATED DASHBOARD LIGHTS INDICATING ENGINE PROBLEMS.