Do You Own a Pathfinder?

If you are going to tow with it I would be careful as some of them had problems with Nissan towbars pulling out of the chassis.
I would go to the Pathfinder forum and read through it
http://pcoa.org.au/forum/viewforum.php?f=20

Hi bbuzz,

I have a Pathfinder R51 auto Ti.

I purchased it new in 2008, the vehicle is really capable off road, it has done nearly 190K, has been to some remote locations and performed really well.

We have a "Challenge Desert Seeker" camper trailer which the vehicle tows really well, it can be a bit thirsty at times, but overall not too bad.

Several things to look out for,

1.

wow not sure what happened there, but back to the things to look out for

1. Fuel gauge, don't trust it, it will say you have fuel but in actual fact it is a lot less then the gauge indicates.

2. Paintwork, I have met plenty of R51 owners who all complain about fading paint in the first five years.

3. Lack of accessories, cargo barrier in particular.

4. Timing chain, check out the Pathfinder website (POCA) and you will see literally dozens of replacements at around 70K, mine was one of them. Lots of luck getting Nissan to admit it is a problem.

The other thing to consider is Nissan Australia's complete lack of any sort of after purchase warranty, I had long standing issues with items 1, 2, and 4 listed above, eventually after two and a half years of complaining about the fuel gauge they replaced the whole climate panel, then had the cheek to tell me it was out of warranty and I would have to pay for it, the lawyers sorted that one out.

As I said the vehicle is more than capable, it is just a lack of caring by Nissan that annoys me.

Happy motoring

Regards

Barry H

Hi John,

Have you had similar problems.

Regards

Barry H

We recently traded our 2011 St Pathfinder for a new Landsruiser.
If we hadn't been upgrading to a Cruiser, we would definitely have keep the Pathie. It towed out 2500kg van beautifully, cruised the freeways really well and was overall a fantastic car. It had about 120000km on it and our trade in was $23000. We thought someone got a bargain there- most in the same range as ours were selling for around 26 - 28ks.
Ours was pretty standard - had a HR tow bar, but not much extra on it.

Is one in our family and I think they can only be judged with your intended use in mind.

Its a great car with a lot of good points however they are short on wheel travel and this limits them in bush but they still go a long way.
33" tyres and a 2 inch lift helped but still not that good.

It had timing belt issue mentioned above but we were able to home-fix it but its a real job.

Ours shattered its front diff on Billy goat bluff and we cut out the axles and it still limped home.

Its been great overall but isn't really tough enough and its expected to be replaced by another 4800 GU Patrol soon.

Thanks to all replies.

I will have another look at it and check the timing belt in the service book.

It certainly looks the goods.

bill