Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Nissan Frontier

What it says about you

Opinion

The mid-size truck that went a decade without a redesign and kept selling because it worked. You bought a tool.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

22 model years on record, 4,581 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2023 (battery), 2010 (fluid), 2008 (fluid), 2007 (fuel gauge), 2006 (fuel gauge), 2005 (radiator). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • radiator 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 peak 35.2% of that year's complaints
  • warning lights 2022, 2023 peak 41.8% of that year's complaints
  • fuel 2006, 2007 peak 38% of that year's complaints
  • gauge 2006, 2007 peak 30.7% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2026 1 recall 12 complaints
  2. 2025 3 recalls 14 complaints
  3. 2024 3 recalls 38 complaints
  4. 2023 battery 128 complaints
  5. 2022 6 recalls 110 complaints
  6. 2021 2 recalls 34 complaints
  7. 2020 2 recalls 46 complaints
  8. 2019 1 recall 28 complaints
  9. 2018 2 recalls 25 complaints
  10. 2017 1 recall 38 complaints
  11. 2016 1 recall 43 complaints
  12. 2015 0 recalls 33 complaints
  13. 2014 2 recalls 42 complaints
  14. 2013 1 recall 48 complaints
  15. 2012 3 recalls 78 complaints
  16. 2011 1 recall 64 complaints
  17. 2010 fluid 118 complaints
  18. 2009 5 recalls 74 complaints
  19. 2008 fluid 272 complaints
  20. 2007 fuel gauge 1,040 complaints
  21. 2006 fuel gauge 1,232 complaints
  22. 2005 radiator 1,064 complaints

What does a Nissan Frontier say about you?

Loading comments…

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.