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What 183 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Nissan Pathfinder

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 (183)Crash / fire / injury (9)Engine (82)Transmission & drivetrain (34)Electrical system (27)Brakes (11)Fuel system (8)Steering (8)Airbags (6)Lights (6)Visibility & wipers (6)Body & structure (5)

1 of 183 complaints match · Body & structure · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Apr 28, 2018Body & structureEngineCrash

ON FEBRUARY 10, 2018, WE BROUGHT HOME A NEW PUPPY. WE WANTED TO CALM OUR CURRENT PET DOWN SO I WENT INSIDE MY HOUSE TO LET HIM OUT TO USE THE RESTROOM AND CALM HIM FOR THE INTRODUCTION. IT WAS A COLD NIGHT SO MY 7-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER AND HUSBAND WERE IN THE BACKSEAT UNBUCKLED WITH THE HEATER ON. NOBODY WAS IN THE FRONT SEAT AT THE TIME. THE CAR WAS RUNNING AND I HAD THE KEY IN MY POCKET IN OUR HOUSE. ABOUT 7 MINUTES LATER I HEARD A CRASH. IN MY MIND, I FIGURED MY HUSBAND WAS MOVING THINGS IN OUR GARAGE BUT WHEN I WENT OUTSIDE, THE CAR HAD ACCELERATED UP MY DRIVEWAY AND INTO MY GARAGE. IT CRASHED INTO MY FREEZER, AND IF THE FREEZER HAD NOT BEEN IN THE WAY IT WOULD HAVE CRASHED INTO MY HOUSE. NISSAN FLEW AN ENGINEER DOWN FROM TENNESEE AND HE RAN A REPORT ON HIS COMPUTER AND FOUND NO FAULT. I ASKED IF THEY KNEW WHY IT HAPPENED AND IF THEY TOOK THE VEHICLE APART TO LOOK FOR CAUSE AND THEY SAID: "NO, WE WERE NOT LOOKING FOR WHY ONLY IF THE COMPUTER SHOWED AN ERROR." I ASKED FOR THE REPORT AND THEY STATED THAT THE REPORT WAS PROPRIETARY AND REFUSED TO RELEASE IT TO ME. IT SEEMS ODD THAT THEY WOULD NOT RELEASE THE REPORT IF NISSAN IS NOT AT FAULT.

NHTSA ODI 11090812

Working with the data? Download all 183 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 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 2017 Nissan Pathfinder verdict →