2006 Nissan Pathfinder
Complaints about this year name fuel far more often than the other years of this generation — 26% of them, about 11× the usual rate of 2.5%.
Generation 1 of the Nissan Pathfinder, which began in 2005 and ran to 2012. 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 | 837 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 101 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 16.5 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- tank — 15% of complaints, 38× usual
- fuel gauge — 13% of complaints, 32× usual
- gauge — 19% of complaints, 8× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE FUEL GAUGE MALFUNCTIONED AND DISPLAYED INACCURATE FUEL LEVELS IN THE FUEL TANK. THE CONTACT INDICATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INTERMITTENT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE…
THE FUEL SENDING UNIT WAS DEFECTIVE; AFTER THE FUEL TANK WAS FILLED, THE FUEL GAUGE DID NOT GIVE A CORRECT READING ON THE LEVEL OF FUEL. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED AT A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE FUEL PUMP NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. T…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 10E019000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 10V517000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 10V075000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 08V690000 AIR BAGS
- 07E046000 EQUIPMENT 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 2006 Nissan Pathfinder? What happened to yours?
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