2008 Nissan Xterra
Complaints about this year name transmission radiator far more often than the model's other years — 11% of them, about 27× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 119 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 24 |
| Involving a crash | 9 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 17 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- airbags — 9.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the model's other years (4×). Owners wrote it as: airbags, blinking, airbag light, reset.
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
- fuel — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- tank — 9% of complaints, 23× usual
- put — 7% of complaints, 17× usual
What owners wrote
THE FUEL GAUGE DISPLAYED THAT THE FUEL TANK WAS EMPTY WHEN THERE WAS FUEL PRESENT IN THE TANK. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE FUEL TANK SHELLS MALFUNCTIONED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FA…
WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE FUEL GAUGE DISPLAYED FALSE READINGS. THE GAUGE SHOWED THAT THE FUEL TANK HAD LESS FUEL THAN WHAT WAS ACTUALLY PRESENT. ALSO, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVELED TO THE FLOORBOARD WHEN IT WAS DEPRESSED AND THE VEHICLE…
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.
- 07V528000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
- 07E105000 SERVICE BRAKES, AIR
- 23V067000 AIR BAGS
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.
Own a 2008 Nissan Xterra? What happened to yours?
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