49 Total complaints
1 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
0 Injury reports
Quick answer: The 2020 Nissan Pathfinder has 49 consumer-submitted complaints in our database. The most common complaint categories are engine, electrical system, power train. Enriched records show 1 crash report, 0 fire reports, and 0 injury reports.
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.

Buyer interpretation

How to use these complaints before buying

Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.

Complaint volume

49 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.

Pattern to inspect

The most common categories are engine, electrical system, power train. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.

Severity flags

Enriched records include 1 crash report, 0 fire reports, 0 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.

Mileage clue

Mileage is available on 7 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 29,335 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.

Questions to ask the seller

  • Have you had any problems related to engine, electrical system, power train?
  • Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
  • Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
  • Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Nissan Pathfinder?
Used-car checklist

Use these complaints before the test drive.

Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.

2020 Nissan Pathfinder
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.

How severe are the 2020 Nissan Pathfinder complaints?

Enriched complaint indicators from official bulk records.

1 Crash
0 Fire
0 Injury
0 Fatality
0 Towed
0 Medical attention

Mileage at failure is available on 7 complaints ; average reported mileage is 29,335 miles.

Most common incident states: IL (1), IN (1), PA (1).

What are the most common 2020 Nissan Pathfinder complaint categories?

49 total complaints on record

Latest complaints

Showing 26-49 of 49 complaints.

Date Component Summary Severity Mileage
Jan 2024 POWER TRAIN At recommend 60k interval transmission was having issues and advised the Nissan Dealership concerning issue. After consulting with Master tech on site and Corporate Nissan service was completed and still have issues. Transmission slips at all different intervals for the known cvt transmission that is in vehicle. Nissan suggested to have a ecm/tcm update to possibly diagnose the problem wanted to charge $150 for no guarantee of any results. Did ride alone with shop Forman. Still have issues and no check engine light or other lights are showing on dash.
Incident: Jan 2024
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Dec 2023 ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM There's been a loss of power when accelerating, engine has made an odd noise during startup and occasionally a knocking noise when driven longer than a 10 mins. Dealership said there's metal in the oil pan. I saw an article today that said only nissan three and four cylinder vehicles have these issues but my pathfinder has the same problems. Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Nov 2023 ENGINE Engine misfiring on left side due to faulty timing chains. Car would not start at times, and engine light flashing. Safety was at risk due to engine being unreliable, misfiring, and we were advised it could possibly stall/cut-out while driving. Problem confirmed by independent service center. Dealer service center would not diagnose without taking engine apart at our expense, they recommended replacing the whole engine, and the car is only 3 years own. There is a know issue with the timing chains on this model of vehicle, yet they did nothing to resolve the problem. Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Sep 2023 UNKNOWN OR OTHER I have a Sun roof with panoramic roof. Driving on highway, with no warning sunroof exploded and shattered. No debris came through the roof just sunroof exploded and glass cut my foot and my husbands hand who was driving. Glass in hair and clothes. No issues before incident. Purchased special edition vehicle brand new in 2020. Next edition released 2023 and 2024 and it is not equipped or offered with either sun roof or panoramic roof. I reached out to manufacturer and was advised to go through insurance and that there was nothing that they could do as per the headquarters in Tennessee. Pictures have been sent to Insuramce adjuster. Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Aug 2023 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated while parked in the driveway, the key fob was left in the cupholder, and the contact went to unlock the vehicle, and all the doors were inadvertently locked. The Police were called to assist in unlocking the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the battery and the key fob were replaced. After the battery and key fob were replaced, the failure reoccurred again with the key fob in the purse of the contact’s wife on the passenger’s seat. The contact stated that his daughter was inside the vehicle at the time and was able to unlock the door from inside the vehicle. The contact stated that his wife pushed the button to unlock the doors and all the doors locked. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle could not be diagnosed. The failure mileage was unknown.
Incident: Jan 2023
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jul 2023 UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE Back in nov 2022 my car had to go in the shop due to its jerking, shuddering, shaking while accelerating. Then suddenly just stopped wouldn’t let me accelerate turn break nothing locked up luckily I was able to pull over and shut off the car because it was still on during this time. I had just picked my young kids up from elementary school. The dealer ship had us pay the deductible and told us it was the ecm they replaced it and we were 0 dollars out of pocket due to warranty. Well 2023 may it started showing low oil pressure light then it would go off the engine light comes on then goes off and while the lights are coming on and going off the car with shake and studder. Got an oil change it it had stopped. Now July 2023 the engine light is one constantly as well as low oil pressure vehicle is constantly studderling making a clanckung noise when accelerating but stops when breaks are hit. Lags when turning on and off vehicle hard to take in and out of gear. White exhaust comes out of exhaust pipe when stoppped at stop lights. It’s so unsafe to travel with all 5 of my kids because the vehicle is so unpredictable. We can drive it and have no problems then turn around the next time it is making all these sounds and having problems We are to the point it’s not worth paying for It and just want to do a voluntary repo because the deal else ship won’t take it back so we can get another vehicle.
Incident: Jul 2023
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jul 2023 SERVICE BRAKES On multiple occasions now, but not consistently, you go to start the vehicle and the lights turn on, radio comes on, seat moves into position, ac blows cold, everything fine, except the car doesn’t start. The brake is harder to push when this does occur, and most times a 2nd or 3rd try, it finally turns the car on. Went to have car checked, the battery, starter, and alternator checked 100% fine. One time it took nearly 30 minutes for it to start.
Incident: Jul 2023
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Apr 2023 ENGINE I drove from Pine Bluff, AR to Memphis, TENN in pouring rain. There were many tractor trailers on the highway throwing water back on my vehicle. When I got into Memphis, my vehicle shut down and would not re-start for several hours. I believe this to be a safety issue because if I had driven a little farther and it suddenly shut down in traffic, this would have caused a terrible accident.
Incident: Apr 2023
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Mar 2023 POWER TRAIN The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate. The contact stated that after several minutes, the vehicle operated as designed. While approaching a stop sign, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact depressed the brake pedal desperately to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that no failure was found. The dealer also stated that the manufacturer was aware of the rough transmission shifting, but no recall had been issued for the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Incident: Feb 2023
Crash: No Fire: No 80,000
Jan 2023 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION Back up camera issues hardly works
Incident: Jan 2023
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jan 2023 UNKNOWN OR OTHER My backup camera continues to glitch/black screen in the middle of me reversing or as soon as I place my vehicle in reverse.
Incident: Oct 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Dec 2022 VISIBILITY/WIPER Defroster does not work properly. Will allow my vehicle to warm up for 15 to 20 minutes to allow proper heating as this has been an on going issue. While driving in colder temperatures the front windshield will freeze over a on the inside of the vehicle only effecting the drivers side. There will be a distinct line up the middle of the windshield where the drivers side is frosted over and the passenger side is clear. We have taken to a local Nissan dealer where they state everything works as it should and that even the owners brand new Nissan pick up also does this. This is a major safety concern!!! We are forced to continue to drive as once you pull over you will loose all heat causing the entire windshield to freeze over. This has been happening since we purchased the vehicle Dec 2021
Incident: Dec 2021
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Nov 2022 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM No defroster and no heat. Can't defrost or de-fog windows. Fan doesn't turn on failing to defrost windows. No heat, no air conditioning, no air movement. Powering off and on the pathfinder didn't solve it, turning on and off heat, defrost doesn't work. All fuses are OK.
Incident: Nov 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Nov 2022 UNKNOWN OR OTHER I was driving at highway speed and heard a loud bang. Sounded like an explosion. I quickly moved to the slow lane and noticed my sunroof had exploded outward with pieces of glass on me when it shattered.
Incident: Nov 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Aug 2022 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING Moisture ingression into the passenger side front lighting assembly (head light). Visable water droplets and some accumulartion . 1st indication was an errror message along with reduced visibility. 2nd indication was failue of that headlight.
Incident: Aug 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Aug 2022 ENGINE Engine failure while driving. Abnormal engine oil consumption. Oil level dropped without warning and without any warning lights from the vehicle. The vehicle oil level as checked 1 day prior to failure.
Incident: Jun 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jul 2022 SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM When braking anywhere from 50 mph to 25mph rpms increase whe braking, engine and transmission still pushing vehicle until torque converter disengages at 20mph. If you need to slow down quickly it requires extra braking force until the car reaches 20mph.. if you put the car in neutral it will slow down much faster because transmission and engine aren't still pushing the truck. This hot much worse after Nissan changed the transmission program a few months ago.
Incident: Jul 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jul 2022 ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM Engine pinging/knocking and engine hesitation / surging most obvious in second gear steady throttle around 2k rpm. Doesn't matter what gas is used. Engine hesitation and pinging/knocking is getting worse. NISSAN states its normal operation.
Incident: Jul 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jan 2022 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION We rented this vehicle from Budget for about two weeks. On two separate occasions the backup camera went blank and the rear parking sensors quit working. I stopped the vehicle and shifted from reverse to drive and back but the rear view camera and sensors did not come back on. After I shutdown and restarted the vehicle, they started working again. We turned the vehicle in on 1/3/2021 and mentioned the issue to the lot attendant.
Incident: Jan 2022
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Mar 2021 ENGINE TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 NISSAN PATHFINDER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO COURTESY NISSAN (1777 N CENTRAL EXPY, RICHARDSON, TX 75080, (972) 231-2600) AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE OXYGEN SENSOR FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 19,700.*DT
Incident: Dec 2020
Crash: No Fire: No 19,700
Dec 2020 ENGINE WHEN DRIVING OR IDLING YOU GET A SMELL OF ANTIFREEZE INSIDE THE DRIVERS COMPARTMENT. DEALER SAID THE ONLY WAY TO FIX WAS TO GET THE HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM ON RECIRCULATING AND NOT FRESH AIR. THIS IS CONSTANT PROBLEM NO MATTER THE TWHAT THE TEMP AT URGE ISOUTSIDE.
Incident: Dec 2020
Crash: No Fire: No 7,000
Oct 2020 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM PERIODICALLY THE BACK UP CAMERA SHORTS OUT AND YOU ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO USE IT.
Incident: Oct 2020
Crash: No Fire: No 8,144
Sep 2020 SERVICE BRAKES WHILE DRIVING ON AUGUST 30 APPROXIMATELY 7:45ON MY VEHICLE'S BRAKES APPLIED BY ITSELF WITHOUT ME APPLYING THE BRAKES.AT THE TIME I WAS ONLY YOU 20 MPH.I NOTIFIED NISSAN,AND I'M STILL WAITING FOR THEM TO GET BACK TO ME ABOUT THIS SAFETY ISSUE.THE VEHICLE IS ONLY 6 WEEKS OLD.MY VEHICLE IS A 2020 NISSAN PATHFINDER.I NEED HELP.THANKS.I WAS DRIVING ON A LOCAL STREET.
Incident: Aug 2020
Crash: No Fire: No 798
Jun 2020 SERVICE BRAKES WHEN I WAS DRIVING IN A PARKING LOT I HEARD A VERY HIGH PITCH NOISE. I PUT MY WINDOW DOWN TO HEAR WHAT IT WAS. THE SOUND WAS VERY CONCERNING ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I HAVE LESS THAN 3K MILES ON MY CAR. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY SAID THEY WEREN'T SURE WHY IT WAS MAKING THE NOISE... (IT STOPPED ABOUT A MILE AWAY FROM THE DEALERSHIP) BUT THEY SAID MY CAR WAS LEAKING BRAKE FLUID. I WOULD OF NEVER KNOWN MY CAR WAS HAVING THESE ISSUES IF I DIDN'T HEARD THAT NOISE. I HAVEN'T HAD THE CAR EVEN FOR 3 MONTHS YET & IT ALREADY HAVING PROBLEMS. *TR
Incident: Jun 2020
Crash: No Fire: No 2,700

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