radiator leak

[NVRDONE]

Just got notice from Nissan that they have extended warranty coverageon the radiator & related components due to a possible internal radiator leak.
Coverage seems to be:
8 years / 80000 miles with no co pay
9 years / 90000 miles with a $2000 co pay
10 years / 100000 miles with a $3000 co pay
I'm glad they extended the coverage because I'm at 6 years & 115000 miles.
You may be getting this notice soon.

[skinny2]

I believe you'll find the warranty is for the lesser of 10 years or 100,000 miles. Which means you are out of warranty. They're not being all that giving...$3,000 is quite a high copay unless the transmission is taken out...and then realistically you could likely go somewhere besides a Nissan dealer and get it repaired for less than that.

[eieio]

I believe you'll find the warranty is for the lesser of 10 years or 100,000 miles. Which means you are out of warranty.

yep, years/mileage = whichever comes first
IMO, these new extended warranty concessions are the least expensive way to get the lawsuits off their back, and prevent this from becoming a recall campaign

[skinny2]

I don't see this becoming a recall given that it's not really a safety issue, but it certainly opens up the door for a class action suit. Nissan has never really gone to bat on these type of issues like many other manufacturers...Honda was covering full replacement of their transmissions well into the 100k range.

[NVRDONE]

Oh, I know I'm way out of warranty on this one. Fortunatly I did the bypass at about 14k & have never had a problem.
I know Nissan won't step up & cover anything. I had the cats fail at 86k when the coverage was good untill 80k. They woulen't even cover any part of the $2500.00 cost.
I did have the trans go out on my 01 Acura TL at about 97k & Honda covered the full replacement cost.
Fortunatly I still love my Pathfinder.

[smj999smj]

I got my letter the other day. I heard it was the result of a class action lawsuit that Nissan lost in NY state. Having worked previously as a tech for Nissan for many years, I think the way they handled (and still handling) this issue is horrible! Dissatisfied customers ranting all over the internet about a known, major issue with a vehicle is not good business sense. It does nothing but leave a bad taste in people who have invested money in their product and turns them into potentially lost customers in the future (and maybe even wards off potential new customers that hear of the issue). Nissan can stick their "amended warranty" where the sun doesn't shine! Glad I replaced my radiator on my own before any leak problems occured.

[lauracurtisspalmer]

I don't see this becoming a recall given that it's not really a safety issue, but it certainly opens up the door for a class action suit. Nissan has never really gone to bat on these type of issues like many other manufacturers...Honda was covering full replacement of their transmissions well into the 100k range.

This certainly is a safety issue. The average incident has occured while going about 40 MPH. Which we were doing in heavy traffic on a holiday weekend. Fortunately my husband's excellent driving skills and quick reaction saved us from what could have been a tragic accident, for us and many others in front, behind and on the sides of us. Many have had this occur while on the interstate, either with the vehicle completely stopping or as in ours and many other cases going out of control and lurching forward. Read the many, many complaints on the NHTSA site. You'll see a lot of complaints where folks had quite scary incidents when the transmissions failed.

[skinny2]

This certainly is a safety issue.

Ok, that's true. I should have said something more like a "direct safety issue"...I've never seen a recall issued for something like this. The safety issue here isn't much different than any other breakdown. However,they do have other ways to pressure Nissan to repair/ext warranty though based on complaints. There is currently an open request for an investigation into this issue and part of the argument is that the warranty does not offer adequate coverage because of the low mileage limit. Clearly Nissan is trying to keep the pressure off with this latest olive branch but it still seems very weak. There's been no update by NHTSA since June.

[05seOffRoad]

This happened to me last week radiator leaked into tranny, need a new transmission and radiator.

Truck has 106k miles, trade in value is just a tad over 9k, they want 7 to repair it...

[skinny2]

This happened to me last week radiator leaked into tranny, need a new transmission and radiator.

Truck has 106k miles, trade in value is just a tad over 9k, they want 7 to repair it...

Of course that's the trade-in value of your truck with a working radiator and transmission....quite the conundrum. I would think an independant shop could turn this around for somewhere in the $3,000-$4,000 range, maybe less. Hang onto the receipts and send them along with a letter to Nissan asking for some good-will. Also a possibility they'll end up with some sort of more reasonable warranty program down the road at which time you could possibly get some of your money back. Granted there have been plenty of other vehicles have transmission failures long before 100k miles simply from a poor design of the transmission...a risk anytime you hold onto a vehicle outside of warranty. Best of luck.

[Seanw1]

This happened to me last week radiator leaked into tranny, need a new transmission and radiator.

Truck has 106k miles, trade in value is just a tad over 9k, they want 7 to repair it...

It happened to mine in July. I had 150K miles on my truck, and had done the bypass at about 130K. New transmission cost me $4300 from an independent shop. Nissan wanted $7K. Engine still runs like new, so I spent the $4K instead of buying a new truck. I hate having a car payment, and paid my Pathfinder off last February. Figure I will keep it another couple of years to get my moneys worth out of the new transmission.

[deermjd]

It happened to mine in July. I had 150K miles on my truck, and had done the bypass at about 130K. New transmission cost me $4300 from an independent shop. Nissan wanted $7K. Engine still runs like new, so I spent the $4K instead of buying a new truck. I hate having a car payment, and paid my Pathfinder off last February. Figure I will keep it another couple of years to get my moneys worth out of the new transmission.

So was it determined that your transmission failed due to coolant contamination or just from age and mileage?