Model years › Nissan Xterra

2006 Nissan Xterra

Complaints about this year name fuel far more often than the model's other years — 41% of them, about 101× the usual rate of 0.4%.

NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.

Also unusual this year

• tank — 27% of complaints, 67× usual
• fuel gauge — 23% of complaints, 56× usual
• empty — 16% of complaints, 40× usual

What owners wrote

THE MOLDED FUEL TANK SHELL DEFORMED CAUSING THE FUEL SENDER FLOAT ARM TO CONTACT AN EMBOSSMENT MOLDED INTO THE TANK SHELL CAUSING THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FUEL GAUGE TO SHOW THAT THE VEHICLE HAS FUEL WHEN THE TANK IS EMPTY.

THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE STOPPED [VIN] DUE TO A LACK OF GASOLINE IN THE TANK. THE FUEL GAUGE DISPLAYED AN INACCURATE READING OF "HALF FULL"; HOWEVER, THE FUEL TANK WAS EMPTY. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED FOR THE MALFUN…

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.

Own a 2006 Nissan Xterra? What happened to yours?

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How this was worked out

Every year of the Nissan Xterra 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.

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