2011 Nissan Pathfinder problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (10) · Engine (7) · Power Train (6)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Nissan Pathfinder model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
31 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (2)
Air Bags:frontal 2023-02-10 · campaign 23V067000 · 404,690 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2008-2011 Titan, Frontier, Xterra, Pathfinder, Armada, and 2008-2009 Quest vehicles. The resin emblem on the driver's air bag cover may develop cracks and detach during air bag deployment.
Risk: A detached emblem can become a projectile during air bag deployment, increasing the risk of injury to vehicle occupants.
Fix: Dealers will replace the drivers airbag cover. Owner letters were mailed December 8, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall are PC944, PC945, and PC946.
Engine And Engine Cooling 2011-12-19 · campaign 11V592000 · 14,718 vehicles
Defect: NISSAN IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011 INFINITI FX, MODEL YEAR 2012 INFINITI M, MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 NISSAN FRONTIER, MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 NISSAN XTERRA, MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 NISSAN PATHFINDER, AND MODEL YEAR 2012 NISSAN NV VEHICLES. SOME OF THE BOLTS THAT CONNECT THE ENGINE OIL COOLER AND THE ENGINE OIL FILTER TO THE ENGINE IN THESE VEHICLES MAY HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED TO BELOW SPECIFICATION STRENGTH. AS A RESULT, THE BOLT MAY BREAK AT THE OIL FILTER ATTACHMENT POINT AND CAN CAUSE AN ENGI
Risk: IF THERE IS AN ENGINE OIL LEAK, THE ENGINE OIL PRESSURE WOULD DROP AND THE ENGINE COULD SEIZE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Fix: NISSAN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE CONNECTOR BOLTS FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 30, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
Service bulletins (104)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · ITB09-063C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl
Air Bags 2024-07-08 · NTB23-081C · Service Campaign
voluntary safety recall campaign 2005-2013 frontier, pathfinder, and xterra; driver air bag cover campaign id #: pc945 and pc948 applied vehicles: 2005-2013 frontier (d40) 2005-2012 pathfinder (r51) 2005-2013 xterra (n50) check service comm or dealer business systems (dbs) national service history t
Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB13-107G · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
vehicle key not detected / authenticated, engine will not start this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB13-027D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
can communication – network diagnostic flow chart this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
Showing the 6 most recent of 104 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-06-11 · Suspension“rear sub frame has significant rust, snapped while driving at slow speed, there was no injury but steering was affected, no harm done this time but it is a known issue, 2wd model has a recall for the same part with the same issue…”
2025-06-09 · Suspension“my airbag light and seatbelt light are on and the horn has stopped working. frame and front suspension is making a horrible creaking sound and has been for months. frame seems to be rotted … i’ve taken it to multiple places to have it looked at…. i’ve also seen other complaints on here of people having the same issue! this poses a huge safety risk!…”
2024-03-05 · Engine“through a check engine light for camshaft position sensor bank 1 so i replaced both of them well that cleared the check engine light for a min and was running good the after five min of running it started rough idling cutting off and throwing a check engine light for p0340 again i sent it to the nissan dealer shop they said it didn’t have no check …”
2023-12-13 · Suspension“frame is rotted from rust. not drivable as drive train connection to wheels in rear end ready to fail at any moment. rust is so bad it will require towing to be repaired. repair estimate exceeds blue book value. $4800. 110,000 current mileage. recall for this problem existed on this make/model for years 2004 to 2009. this vehicle is 2011 with no …”
2023-09-14 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2011 nissan pathfinder. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 23e012000 (air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the contact …”
2023-02-15 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2011 nissan pathfinder. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 23v067000 (air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the local dealers: nissan of bradenton (1611 cortez rd w, bradenton, fl 34207: (941) 755-1571) and gettel nissan (3530 bee ridge rd, sarasota, fl 34239: (941) 34…”
2022-09-30 · Service Brakes“brake are to the floor, will not come back off the floor. i have everything replace including master cylinder at nissan. they were unable to figure out what is causing this…”
2021-10-24 · Power Train“the vehicle will frequently and without warning lose all power while in the roadway. last evening i was exiting the highway when i lost engine power and power steering. the dashboard lights came on and i had to coast to the nearest driveway. this has happened multiple times before, always without warning. when i have taken it to two nissan dealersh…”
2021-10-23 · Suspension“when i applied the brakes, a slippage and rubbing noise occurs. moments later, i could brake. no engine lights are visible on the dashboard. this has occurred several times. …”
2020-01-09 · Engine · 110,000 mi“tl* the contact owns a 2011 nissan pathfinder. the contact stated that while the vehicle was being inspected, the contact became aware of oil underneath the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the bolt that connected the engine oil cooler and the oil filter fractured which caused…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.