2008 Nissan Frontier
Complaints about this year name fluid far more often than the other years of this generation — 18% of them, about 44× the usual rate of 0.4%.
Generation 1 of the Nissan Frontier, which began in 2005 and ran to 2021. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
| Complaints filed | 272 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 46 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 17 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- radiator — 27.9% of this year's complaints, against 7.1% across the other years of this generation (3.9×). Owners wrote it as: radiator, cooler, transmission radiator, mix.
- coolant — 21.3% of this year's complaints, against 7.1% across the other years of this generation (3×). Owners wrote it as: coolant, transmission failure, causing transmission, found out.
- timing — 14% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: timing, chain, timing chain, whining.
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
- radiator — 23% of complaints, 10× usual
- coolant — 15% of complaints, 24× usual
- transmission fluid — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
What owners wrote
RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE DUE TO CROSS CONTAMINATION OF RADIATOR AND TRANSMISSION FLUID CAUSED BY CRACKED ATF LINE RUNNING THROUGH ENGINE COOLANT CHAMBER IN RADIATOR.
WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTED ERRATICALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND COOLANT WERE MIXING. AS A RESULT, THE TRANSMISSION AND RADIATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE [VIN] WAS CONTA…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 10E019000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 10V075000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 08V045000 EQUIPMENT
- 08V690000 AIR BAGS
- 10V401000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 23V067000 AIR BAGS
How this was worked out
Every year of the Nissan Frontier 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 2008 Nissan Frontier? What happened to yours?
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