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Plus the headroom w/ a sunroof is also lacking. Both seem to almost be deal breakers for me.
The Pathfinder had two O2 sensors fail early on. I suspect a poor batch of sensors combined with fuel with lots of sulphur in it. Sensors replaced under warrenty and switched to premium fuel with 10% ethanol and have had no further problems (knocking on wood).
I think we are too nervous. Modern vehicles shouldn't have problems just because they haven't been made before.
Oh I agree, however I have to hand it to Honda with the Pilot, at least you can move the 2nd row forward & backwards to help find a happy medium.
With the PF you're stuck with the setup, and it just too tight even for small ones.
I don't have a big need for a 3rd row, however it nice if it is there (folded down) just in case.
Engine: Powerful and fun, but thirsty and not as smooth as the engine on the 2003 Pilot we have. The engine idles a bit roughly and the exhaust/engine note is loud for such an upscale feeling (with the LE package) vehicle. Avg. MPG is about 14-15 mpg, the way I drive (car comes with digital odometer than can spit-out mpg figures). Did get 18-20 on a long highway stretch, as advertised, though.
Brakes: smooth and powerful, although they squeak annoyingly when I back down my driveway. Nissan dealer checked it out and, surprisingly, "could not replicate the problem".
Controls: very good, all around.
Dashboard: very good, all the right info, very readable. Like the amber-hughed backlighting.
Controls: generally very good, but the climate control functionality takes some getting used to. Also, temp control starts at 60 degrees and ends at 90 degrees. Goes in 1 degree increments except from 60, where it skips to 65. Guess what? Inevitably, you are too cold at 60 and too warm at 65. Honest. Can't dial it in just right.
Seats: same thing. Heated leather is nice, but I just can't seem to adjust the seats to my liking, comfort-wise. I'm 5'10" and 190lbs, but can't find the right combo of settings. Pilot seats were much better for me, fit-wise.
3rd Row Seat: smallish, but a God-send with two small children. An adult would shrivel up and die here, though. Very difficult to pull third-row seats, from stowed position, if you're standing at the back of the car. Nissan needs to add a pull-strap or something.
Carpets: cheap quality, surprisingly lame.
4WD System: flawless and auto is very good in snow. As good as my '92 Cherokee with Selectrack, which is a good system.
Internal noise levels: as noted, exhaust is loud. So are rear tires. Wind noise is fine.
Stereo: have the Bose 6-in-dash cd system. Works well, sounds good, easy to use controls on steering wheel, more than good enough for me.
Windshield washer: with -30 degree fluid, still freezes up when temps drop below 20 degrees F. Must have a very small dia line from the tank to the sprayers, but Nissan should investigate and fix.
Ride: taught and a bit truck-like, which is my preference. I did not want a hybrid SUV on a minivan chasis. Good feel for road, but truck shimmies surprisingly hard on washboard road surfaces. Also, I found the shocks felt like the bottomed out on bigger bumps with four passengers. I don't like that.
Interior panels: hard, cheap polystyrene plastic like I had on my abyssmal 1980 T-Bird. Again, surprising for a car of this quality. Within a few days, I noticed a crack in the hard plastic kickplate near the rear-hatch door jamb. It got worse with the cold weather and Nissan is replacing it.
Interior lighting: okay a pet peeve, but when I use the dealer-installed remote-start, the interior light dims out before I can get the key into the ignition switch, leaving me probing around in the dark with the key. At 6:20 am, I hate that.
Tranny: smooth as butter and awesomely seamless on shifts.
Fog/Running lights: can't turn them on unless the headlights are switched on. Don't know if this is typical, but I'd rather have the option of turning them on by themselves.
Overall impressions: Okay, the punchline. The truck is everything I want in an SUV. It's somewhat refined, but not girly, I mean, overly "soft" like the Pilot. The engine is the real deal and with the smooth 5-speed tranny and wonderful 4wd system, it's fun to drive. The handling, again, is fine, more trucklike than carlike. I have the champagne gold (they call it granite, but don't know what they were drinking) and the tan leather, a combo I always wanted. The car looks great and drives almost great. MPG is disappointing and the seats and heating a bit quirky. I drove all the competitors and no other SUV out there hit all my sweetspots as did the 05 Pathfinder. It's too soon (thankfully) to gauge it's reliability, but I'm optimistic. Anyway, I'm pleased with the car thus far and am happy with my purchase. Good luck and I hope this was helpful.
"Goes in 1 degree increments except from 60, where it skips to 65."
almost every auto temp control in the industry does this.
"Very difficult to pull third-row seats, from stowed position, if you're standing at the back of the car."
the idea is that, if you need to raise the seats, you are most likely raising them for people to enter from the 2nd row. once you get some time under your belt with this 3rd row, you will see that you rarely RAISE the seat from the back.
BTW...the pilot is exactly the same.
"could not replicate the problem"
i find that, when i back down a 'downhill', that both my cars brakes squeak. when i back up on a level or uphill surface, they are fine...maybe its a problem, maybe not, but i wouldnt worry too much about it.
As for the 3rd row seats, I've almost always opened them from the back of the car. That may be because until recently we had car seats for the kids in the 2nd row and, thus, didn't ever enter the 3rd row from the 2nd. We always pull up the seats from the back and a small pull strap would do wonders from this position, for what it's worth. I'll have to compare the two cars when I get home, but from memory, the Pilot seats are easier to pull up from the back, again, for what it's worth. Same for the brakes; I don't notice the squeal with the Pilot. I'm just noting the noise because it's annoying in a new car (my '92 Jeep didn't do it either). But, like you, I'm not worried about it function-wise. Thanks again for the reply.
In fact, a proper fog lamp setup has the two front lamps and a third rear lamp. The rear is very bright and red (to ensure you don't run into a car you can't see due to the fog). In that case, it's illegal to have the fogs on unless it's foggy as the rear lamp is, well, very bright. ;-)
As for the interior lights dimming too soon, my 2001 LE is ok that way, but I am unimpressed by the key lighting. When I lean over to see the key slot I shadow the interior light on the key switch. They need to install a key switch light like most cars have!
I'm considering purchasing a 95 Nissan Pathfinder XE-V6. Vehicle is in great condition, clean engine and interior, original paint in excellent condition and power everything. Has 118,000 miles and may need exhaust soon (I saw sign of rotting) and will need tires within the year. Dealer is asking $4,000. I really like it and am considering taking it for a test drive. Was 95 a good year for the Pathfinder? Is this a good deal?
Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Scott
A set of tires & an exhuast is what -- $800? Three (well, two most of the time) car payments in today's world.
Buy it -- and hold it. You have to maintain it too, but for what a car payment (or worse yet, a lease payment) costs, you're way ahead.
Enjoy.
http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-45-20050131CarIm- mobilzerChipsCracked.html
Steve, Host
If we file these complaints with Nissan (1-800-NISSAN1), then eventually they will have to admit that there is a problem. I heard from a stereo dealer that Bose is investigating the problem, however that may not help those who already are stuck with the current malfunctioning model...
I've disconnected my battery thinking I could reset the computer but still the orange light comes on. I'd rather get advice as to what is wrong before going to the dealer, I my last experience there wasn't a good one.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
1. Is long distance towing a threat to the longevity of my Pathfinder?
2. Should I install a transmission cooler? I prefer not to, and I won’t drive faster than 70mi/hour when towing.
3. Should I turn off over-drive all the time? When should I turn on/off O/D?
I appreciate your inputs. Once the trip is done, I'll follow-up my experience and how my pathfinder hold up.
k.b.
Steve, Host
2. not necessarily
3. not on the highway
give yourself extra distance for stopping, and extra distance for accelerating, and PLEASE stay in the right lane as much as you can.
also keep in mind that, if your engine gets hot, your xmission is as well...keep an eye on that when you go through the mountains.
Your 2003 will do fine. It is rated to tow 5000lbs. It already has a transmission cooler OEM. I towed with my 01LE pulling 4000lbs Uhaul (8'x12' I think, surge brakes included) very safely within Texas. Albeit, not as long as your distance but with half the weight I think you are good.
Just change your fluids (oil, ATF, diff.) before and after your trip. I use Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF and Castrol Synthetic blend 10w-30. Make sure you ATF is topped off. That will be the most stressed fluid on your trip.
Using O/D is fine. Turn off only when it fluctuates too frequently. i.e, going up steep hills. You prob won't even feel your trailer most of the time. You got plenty of torque.
Get used to towing a trailer, especially if the trailer does not have it's own brakes. Early braking and safe distance from vehicles ahead are essential.
If your rear end sags, try loading cargo area with as little weight as possible so it can support the tonque weight of trailer without rear end sag. Move heavy items to trailer if possible. Pathies rear end sags easily.
and...follow the UHaul towing manual they posted on their website.
Good luck!!
The key brian found has not been programmed into the immobilizer. It takes just a few minutes, and you should take all your keys in at the same time so if they bump one out of the computer they can put it back (when programming them the new key replaces the first one programmed once you exceed the number of keys possible (6).
Be aware a new key is not inexpensive! Last I heard they were upwards of $50.
Keys have unique RFID and must be accepted into anti-theft system. I tried the program sequence with the dealer over the phone once and it was tricky. Almost got it to work. Had to ultimately come in to get it done. I will try to get the instructions from another web site and paste it here. I hope it still exists.
.....
Ok, researched and it is a dealer thing to do. Not a DIYer job, See link below:
http://www.infinitihelp.com/Ownership/Bulletins/Nissan/2003/NTB03- -031.htm
My bad, it was my key fob that dealer tried to help over the phone. RFID Keys need the dealer to program into system..
http://www.infinitihelp.com/Ownership/Common/CD%20Player%20Error%- 20Code.htm
Had to get mine exchanged under warranty.
Diesels are awesome for towing, but in this country you have to move to full size vehicles to get diesel. And once you step up to a full size vehicle - the fuel savings of a diesel are much less because of the size of the vehicle. I would recommend the new 2005 Frontier pickup for occasional towing and daily driving (Especially the smaller KingCab version). The new Tacoma and Dakota are also good occasional towers for less than 6500 lbs. The new Frontier is rated for 6500 lbs max tow rating (it's for a basic KingCab 2x4 version).
2FastDre.
I have a 2001 Pathfinder LE with AWD with 49k miles on it. I recently had the brakes done at the dealer. Immediately after that I noticed the steering wheel feels jittery and vibrates more than usual when I hit 65-70 mph. Its not consistent so I am not sure if I can replicate that but it does happen 3 out of 5 times when I start out to work. Once on the road even if I slow down to 55 and come back to 70 I cannot replicate it all the times. Has anyone had similar problems ? Would highly appreciate your response.
-----
If a 1999.5-2001 Pathfinder exhibits steering
and/or body vibration while driven (without
braking) at speeds between 60 and 70 MPH, the
cause(s) may be:
- Road input (road surface imperfections)
- Out-of-balance front or rear tires/wheels
- Insufficient steering rack sliding force
adjustment
- Tire flat spotting
- Excessive tire Radial Force Variations (RFV)
The last part (RFV) is where they look to index or
match balance your tires and if that still doesn't
work, they replace your tires.
-----------
Thanks for posting this.
HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM. IS IT A WARRANTY ISSUE?
I'm looking to purchase an XE in the next weeks. Care to share pricing/options?
I recently bought a 1999 SE Ltd - has the Bose stereo which has good sound.... but
I may have overlooked it, but I cant find a way to make a CD song repeat. And there's no button that will advance to the next song.
Even my 98 Camry had those features.
Does anyone know ?
Other than that, I love my 99 PF.
Thanks, John
When the PROG button is pushed while the
compact disc is being played, the play pattern
will change as follows:
no mark: All the programs will be played
repeatedly in sequence.
1: Only one program (the one being played
when the PROG button is pushed) will be
repeated.
RANDOM: Programs will be played at random,
not following the sequence on the compact
disc. The same program may be repeated
twice.
When the compact disc is ejected, the
play pattern will automatically change to No Mark...
---------------------
The above is from the 99 Path manual I downloaded a while back. Hope it'll be a little help.
Other car players have always had a 'RPT/Repeat' button - I didn't even think about trying the Program button.
I just now tried PROG - It worked.
Cool. John
Can you just wash these fabric floor mats on gentle cycle in a washing machine ?
How do you clean yours ?
Thanks, John
I then lay them flat on my deck, get them wet with warm water, sprinkle laundery detergent on them and scrub with a stiff bristle brush. Hose them off well (easiest when they are hung vertically), let them dry vertically so they can drip properly, and I'm done. Not sure putting them in a machine is a good idea as they will be folded/bent and beaten with force and that may abrade the stitching or damage the backing.
Steve, Host
I beat the mat, then poured a mixture of water and detergent on the carpet side. Scrubbed it with a brush intensely.
Poured water over it to rinse.
Then put it in a dryer on low heat. Hanging outside to dry would be better but it is raining today.
This worked out well, but I agree that using a washer or dryer several times will destroy the mat.
Now I'll wrap some sturdy clear plastic around the driver's side mat to protect it.
Thanks, John
The intake manifold was relaced, however, the noise still exsists.
The gas mileage is a horror, and I consider the engine noise to be inordinate (for a new SUV).
I am not happy at all.
Full Test: 2005 Nissan Pathfinder (Inside Line)
Steve, Host