2018 Nissan Pathfinder Problems & Recalls
Comprehensive defect analysis based on official US Federal safety databases.
2018 Nissan Pathfinder Top Failure Categories
Distribution of driver complaints across vehicle components according to federal taxonomy.
Official Safety Recalls for 2018 Nissan Pathfinder (3)
Defect Summary: 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.
Safety Hazard: A brake fluid leak on the circuit board may result in an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire.
Free Remedy: 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.
Defect Summary: 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.
Safety Hazard: A brake fluid leak on the circuit board may result in an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire.
Free Remedy: 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.
Defect Summary: 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."
Safety Hazard: The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
Free Remedy: 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.
Verified NHTSA Owner Complaints
Excerpts of actual incident reports submitted to the federal Office of Defects Investigation (ODI).
"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 th..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while reversing, the back over prevention camera screen display malfunctioned, and there was a black image displayed, creating a hazard for the driver. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. Additionally, while operating the vehicle, the infotainment screen display ma..."
"Infotainment system stopped working. Now radio, no climate control visible and NO backup camera most of the time. Very dangerous without the backup camera"
"The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera displayed a blank screen. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact referenced an unknown recall that had a similar failure description; however, the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer wa..."