"How reliable is the 1999 Nissan Pathfinder?"

"Based on 144 NHTSA complaints, the 1999 Nissan Pathfinder has a median complaint mileage of 130000 miles. The most common issue is Front."

"What are common problems with the 1999 Nissan Pathfinder?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1999 Nissan Pathfinder is Front, accounting for a significant portion of the 144 total complaints filed."

1999 Nissan Pathfinder: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 144 complaints

144

Total Complaints

130,000mi

Median Mileage

Front

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

80,000 25th Percentile

130,000 Median Mileage

160,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Front

Steering

Suspension

Frame And Members

Air Bags

Body

Automatic Transmission

Unknown Or Other

Tires

Frontal

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"DRIVETRAIN WINDS UP WITH A "CLUNK". TSB DOES NOT FIX PROBLEM, NO FIX CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. ANNOYING AND POSSIBLE DRIVETRAIN DAMAGE WILL EVENTUALLY OCCUR. NOT ON A PREVIOUS MODELS I HAVE OWNED. *AK"

"SEVERE FRONT END SHIMMY/ WANDERING AT SPEEDS OVER 55 MPH. VEHICLE FEELS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE ON HIGHWAY. NISSAN DEALER INFORMS ME THAT THIS CONDITION IS NORMAL, AND CANNOT BE FIXED.FOUR SETS OF TIRES HAVE BEEN INSTALLED ON VEHICLE, FINALLY CHANGING TO MICHELIN BRAND TIRES. FRONT END ALIGNMENT PERFOR..."

"VEHICLE SHIMMIES/VIBRATES AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 60-70MPH. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Front 22 complaints

25th: 123,750 mi Median: 153,125 mi 75th: 177,000 mi

Steering 15 complaints

25th: 125,662 mi Median: 140,000 mi 75th: 162,500 mi

Suspension 14 complaints

25th: 106,706 mi Median: 131,149 mi 75th: 163,722 mi

Frame And Members 8 complaints

25th: 126,000 mi Median: 162,125 mi 75th: 187,249 mi

Air Bags 7 complaints

25th: 73,622 mi Median: 80,000 mi 75th: 93,750 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

NY: 37 MA: 18 FL: 10 CA: 8 OH: 8 NJ: 7 IL: 6 NE: 4 TX: 3 GA: 3

Who Files Complaints?

20.1%

Original Owners

79.9%

Second+ Owners

Nissan Pathfinder — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1990	44	-	Automatic Transmission	1
1991	49	-	Automatic Transmission	3
1992	38	-	Automatic Transmission	2
1993	67	141,500	Manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe	2
1994	108	127,500	Manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe	9
1995	218	127,000	Manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe	13
1996	214	120,500	Suspension	24
1997	293	118,000	Suspension	20
1998	194	114,000	Suspension	31
2000	166	130,000	Suspension	13
2001	299	100,000	Suspension	21
2002	206	96,540	Suspension	19
2003	147	107,000	Exhaust System	16
2004	86	76,684	Air Bags	3
2005	1560	93,000	Power Train	21
2006	1224	96,000	Power Train	16
2007	843	101,000	Power Train	16
2008	458	107,310	Power Train	10
2009	51	90,000	Air Bags	2
2010	61	115,000	Air Bags	3
2011	59	45,500	Air Bags	0
2012	35	111,000	Unknown Or Other	2
2013	1202	14,000	Power Train	26
2014	737	47,000	Power Train	33
2015	424	42,500	Unknown Or Other	19
2016	125	49,000	Engine	14
2017	253	44,000	Engine	13
2018	120	17,500	Service Brakes	5
2019	116	34,000	Unknown Or Other	6
2020	67	46,569	Engine	2
2022	181	11,500	Service Brakes	7
2023	139	14,700	Unknown Or Other	7
2024	86	-	Engine	3
2025	61	5,000	Unknown Or Other	3

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28