2011 Nissan Pathfinder problems & reliability
45 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2011 Nissan Pathfinder, alongside 2 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2011 Nissan Pathfinder vehicles were involved in 21 fatal crashes with 12 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Air Bags → | 12 | 27% |
| Engine → | 10 | 22% |
| Power Train | 7 | 16% |
| Suspension | 6 | 13% |
| Service Brakes | 5 | 11% |
| Electrical System | 4 | 9% |
| Seat Belts | 3 | 7% |
| Unknown OR Other | 3 | 7% |
| Steering | 2 | 4% |
| Wheels | 2 | 4% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
All 15 reported components →Mileage when problems occurred
Among the 31 complaints that included a usable odometer reading, the median reported incident mileage was 46,000 miles (middle 50% between 20,554 and 99,858 miles).
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“Rear sub frame has significant rust, snapped while driving at slow speed, there was no injury but steering was affected, no harm done this time but it is a known issue, 2wd model has a recall for the same part with the same issue”
Suspension · filed Jun 11, 2025
“My airbag light and seatbelt light are on and the horn has stopped working. Frame and front suspension is making a horrible creaking sound and has been for months. Frame seems to be rotted … I’ve taken it to multiple places to have it looked at…. I’ve also seen other complaints on here of people having the same issue!…”
Suspension · filed Jun 9, 2025
“Through a check engine light for camshaft position sensor bank 1 so I replaced both of them well that cleared the check engine light for a min and was running good the after five min of running it started rough idling cutting off and throwing a check engine light for p0340 again I sent it to the Nissan dealer shop…”
Electrical System · filed Mar 5, 2024
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
104 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2011 Nissan Pathfinder. The 10 most recent:
CERTIFICATION LABEL AND VIN PLATE REPLACEMENT SERVICE INFORMATION Because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “Certification Label” or “VIN Plate/Label” may be needed. HINT: Certification Label =…
ITB09-063C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 13, 2026
CERTIFICATION LABEL AND VIN PLATE REPLACEMENT SERVICE INFORMATION Because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “Certification Label” or “VIN Plate/Label” may be needed. HINT: Certification Label =…
NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 13, 2026
CERTIFICATION LABEL AND VIN PLATE REPLACEMENT SERVICE INFORMATION Because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “Certification Label” or “VIN Plate/Label” may be needed. HINT: Certification Label =…
NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 13, 2026
VOLUNTARY SAFETY RECALL CAMPAIGN 2005-2013 FRONTIER, PATHFINDER, AND XTERRA; DRIVER AIR BAG COVER CAMPAIGN ID #: PC945 and PC948 APPLIED VEHICLES: 2005-2013 Frontier (D40) 2005-2012 Pathfinder (R51) 2005-2013 Xterra…
NTB23-081C · Service Campaign · issued Jul 8, 2024
VEHICLE KEY NOT DETECTED / AUTHENTICATED, ENGINE WILL NOT START This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
NTB13-107G · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 21, 2024
CAN COMMUNICATION – NETWORK DIAGNOSTIC FLOW CHART This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
NTB13-027D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 21, 2024
CAN COMMUNICATION CODES – DIAGNOSTIC TIPS AND GUIDELINES This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
NTB10-066C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 21, 2024
WINDOW GLASS WARRANTY INFORMATION This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
NTB17-019H · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 30, 2024
REMOVING FOREIGN MATERIAL FROM THE WINDOW GLASS This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
NTB13-028I · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 30, 2024
WINDSHIELD CRACKING This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
NTB09-081K · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 30, 2024
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2011 Nissan Pathfinder has 2 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2011 Nissan Pathfinder?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Among complaints with usable mileage, the median reported incident mileage was 46,000 miles. This does not predict when a particular vehicle will develop a problem.