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What 78 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Nissan Frontier King Cab

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (78)Crash / fire / injury (6)Airbags (23)Transmission & drivetrain (20)Engine (12)Body & structure (7)Electrical system (6)Seat belts (5)Speed control (5)Suspension (3)Seats (2)Wheels (2)

1 of 78 complaints match · Wheels · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Mar 21, 2017SteeringWheelsCrash2 injuries

I BOUGHT NEW TIRES, SAME SIZE AND BRAND NAME AS THE LAST 4 TIRES BUT A DIFFERENT MODEL TYPE OF TIRES. AS I WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON A 2 LANE ROAD, THE FRONT PASSENGER TIRE FLEW OFF THE RIM. THE RIM SCRAPED THE ROADWAY AND FLIPPED MY TRUCK UPWARDS AND SPUN THE VEHICLE UP IN THE AIR OVER A GUARD RAIL AND I HIT INTO A CONCRETE CULVERT. THE VEHICLE WAS DECLARED A TOTAL LOSS. THE TIRES WERE INSTALLED BY A SHOP, BALANCED AND ALIGNED. THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT BACK A FEW DAYS LATER TO THAT SAME SHOP DUE TO THE VEHICLE SHAKING VIGOROUSLY AT ROUGHLY 40 MPH. THE SHOP REBALANCED THE 4 TIRES AND ROTATED THEM. THE MECHANIC ADVISED ME THAT THE BACK DRIVER TIRE HAD LOST PSI AND WAS CLOSE TO 30 PSI, THE COLD PSI ON THE TIRE SAYS 50 PSI. THE MECHANIC ADVISED ME THAT A ROTATION WAS COMPLETED AND THAT TIRE WAS NOW IN THE FRONT PASSENGER LOCATION AND WAS INFLATED BACK TO 50 PSI. THE SHOP MECHANIC ALSO ADVISED ME THAT HE BELIEVED THE TIRE THAT WAS THEN IN THE FRONT PASSENGER LOCATION MAY BE FAULTY IN REGARDS TO THE WIRE INSIDE THE RUBBER OF THE TIRE AND ASKED WHERE I PURCHASED THE TIRES. AS I ENTERED THE HIGHWAY WITH SPEED LIMIT OF 70, I COULD MERELY APPROACH 60 MPH WITH VIGOROUS SHAKING. I ADVISED THE SHOP OF THIS, BUT DECIDED TO GO WITH ANOTHER SHOP TO CHECK THE BALANCING AND PREFORM A NEW BALANCING. THE NEW SHOP ADVISED ME THAT THE RIMS WERE NOT CLEANED PROPERLY FOR THE INITIAL SHOP'S WEIGHTS TO STAY ON AND SAID THE VEHICLE MAY HAD BEEN THROWING THEIR WEIGHTS OFF. UPON COMPLETION OF THE 3RD BALANCING, THE SHOP HAD ALSO INSTALLED A BACK UP CAMERA FOR ME BUT DID NOT HOOK THE FRONT AIR BAGS BACK UP. THESE DID NOT DEPLOY DURING THE ACCIDENT. AFTER THE LAST BALANCING, THE VEHICLE STILL SHOOK AT HIGHER SPEEDS BUT WAS MUCH LESS THAN THE OTHER TIMES. MY VEHICLE NEVER HAD ANY OF THESE ISSUES WITH THE TIRES I PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED WHICH LASTED APPROXIMATELY 55,000 MILES AND NEVER SHOOK BEFORE.

NHTSA ODI 10967502

Working with the data? Download all 78 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 14, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 Nissan Frontier King Cab verdict →