2018 Nissan Pathfinder Recalls & Problems
2018 Nissan Pathfinder: 3 official recalls and 78 owner complaints to NHTSA, most often about service brakes.
Most common problems reported by owners
“While driving the car it randomly turns off and turns back on it also jerks initially. All lights on the dashboard turn off and back on, speakers make a loud BOOM sound! Have experienced the car not starting. Bought a new battery thinking that was the issue, it wasn't.”
“The DCU (Display Control Unit) no longer works, so hands-free on steering wheel is disabled because of this. Iowa law requires hands-free only in vehicles. This is a safety issue because of this. Nissan wants to charge thousands of dollars to repair. This is a known defect in some Nissan vehicles.”
“The DCU (Display Control Unit) no longer works, so hands-free on steering wheel is disabled because of this. Iowa law requires hands-free only in vehicles. This is a safety issue because of this. Nissan wants to charge thousands of dollars to repair. This is a known defect in some Nissan vehicles.”
“The vehicle veers towards the right, even though a wheel alignment was completed on 7/1/26. On 7/28/26 when driving the vehicle, it wouldn’t accelerate properly, it felt sluggish and although the gas pedal was depressed it was struggling to pick up speed. As the vehicle was attempting to shift between 2nd and 3rd gears the car jolted forward and the traction control and collision lights came on. B…”
“The vehicle veers towards the right, even though a wheel alignment was completed on 7/1/26. On 7/28/26 when driving the vehicle, it wouldn’t accelerate properly, it felt sluggish and although the gas pedal was depressed it was struggling to pick up speed. As the vehicle was attempting to shift between 2nd and 3rd gears the car jolted forward and the traction control and collision lights came on. B…”
“I was driving along at 35-40 mph and the vehicle suddenly stopped accelerating when I gave it gas. Nearly empty at the time so I thought maybe it was a gas issue. I drove it a couple of days after that and it drove just fine. I filled her up with premium gas, thinking that it would fix the problem. The third time I went to drive it was last Friday, [XXX] It would barely accelerate. it took about…”
“The engine began to fail because of a lack of adequate breathability into the crankcase, causing high crankcase pressure, excessive oil blowby, severe exhaust smoke, severe engine sludge, severe engine shuddering, and lack of response to the power steering because of engine power loss. The failure of the PCV system was at fault. Produced codes P0300, P0306, and P0430. Engine sludge needed to be…”
“THE VEHICLE AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM/CRUISE CONTROL WOULD NOT OPERATE WHEN A WARNING MESSAGE UNAVAILABLE FRONT RADAR OBSTRUCTION WAS DISPLAYED. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT WHEN THE MESSAGE OCCURS, THE BRAKES CAN STOP AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. *TR”
Official recalls (3)
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Nissan Murano, 2016-2018 Nissan Maxima, and 2017-2019 Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 vehicles. These vehicles were previously recalled and unrepaired, or inspected and determined to not need a repair, under recall number 18V-601. In addition, this recall expands the previous population. The Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) actuator pumps may allow brake fluid to leak onto an internal circuit board.
Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ABS actuator, free of charge. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available, currently expected to be during summer 2020. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Note: If the ABS warning light remains illuminated for more than 10 seconds after engine start up, owners are advised to park the vehicle outdoors away from other vehicles or structures and to not drive the vehicle.
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Nissan Murano, 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2017-2018 Nissan Pathfinder, and 2017 Infiniti QX60 vehicles. The Anti-Lock Brake (ABS) actuator pumps may allow brake fluid to leak onto an internal circuit board.
Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the serial number on the ABS actuator, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 29, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Note: When brake fluid has leaked onto the circuit board, the ABS warning lamp will remain illuminated for more than 10 seconds after engine start up. If this occurs, owners are advised to park the vehicle outdoors away from other vehicles or structures and to not drive the vehicle.
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Nissan Altima, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Leaf, Maxima, Murano, NV, NV200, Pathfinder, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Sentra, Titan, Titan Diesel, Versa Note and Versa Sedan vehicles, as well as Infiniti Q50, Q60, QX30 and QX80 vehicles. Additionally included are 2019 Nissan GT-R and Taxi and Infiniti QX50, QX60, Q70, Q70L vehicles. The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Fix: Nissan will notify owners in phases, having dealers update the back-up camera settings software, free of charge. The recall began November 11, 2019 and all affected VINs should be activated. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669 or INFINITI customer service at 1-800-662-6200.
Recall repairs are free. Check a specific car with its VIN on our recall lookup or at NHTSA.gov .
Other Nissan Pathfinder years
Other 2018 cars: recalls & problems
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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall and complaint databases. Complaints are unverified owner reports.