2015 Nissan Pathfinder
Complaints about this year name fan far more often than the other years of this generation — 22% of them, about 17× the usual rate of 1.3%.
Generation 2 of the Nissan Pathfinder, which began in 2013 and ran to 2020. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 319 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 101 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- bag — 10.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation (4.1×). Owners wrote it as: bag, air bag, passenger seat, seated.
- acceleration — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.7% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: acceleration, pressing, pedal floor.
- break — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: break, vehicle turned.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- cooling fan — 13% of complaints, 31× usual
- radiator — 10% of complaints, 9× usual
- noise — 15% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
RADIATOR COOLING FAN WOBBLES AND MAKES LOAD/GRINDING NOISE! POTENTIALLY ENGINE OVERHEATING CAN BE DANGEROUS TO OCCUPANTS IN THE CAR DURING A ROAD TRIP!
THE RADIATOR COOLING FAN ASSEMBLY BECAME INOPERABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY. COOLING FAN BEGAN TO MAKE WEIRD NOISES, HAD TO REPLACE COMPLETE FAN ASSEMBLY AFTER 40K MILES.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V244000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V681000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V012000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 21V020000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 22V420000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Nissan Pathfinder was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2015 Nissan Pathfinder? What happened to yours?
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