Frame Rust problems of the 2000 Nissan Pathfinder

We purchased a new 2000 Nissan Pathfinder in March of 2000. The vehicle has 116,000 miles on it and has been driven exclusively on urban roadways and highways (no off-road usage). There has been no unusual usage of the vehicle. We have not used it for towing or transport of heavy or corrosive materials. The vehicle has never been involved in any accidents. The vehicle has been maintained per the manufacturer requirements. When not in use, the vehicle is stored in a garage. The vehicle has been regularly evaluated and inspected by Nissan mechanics during the free inspections offered by Nissan dealerships. They never reported any serious problems with the vehicle. About a month ago, we developed a noise in the front end when turning the vehicle. We took it to a dealership for an evaluation. The dealership determined that a portion of the frame was severely corroded and had cracked. I immediately requested that they inspect the rest of the frame for corrosion. They refused and told me that any repair would have to be made by a body shop. They said the vehicle was no longer under warranty. . After picking up the vehicle I immediately drove the vehicle to an auto body shop for evaluation and repair. The auto body shop removed the engine from the vehicle and inspected the frame. They found extensive corrosion of the frame. There are many locations in the frame where it has rusted completely through. The vehicle manufacturer must have improperly or inadequately applied anti-corrosive materials to the frame. It is obvious Nissan is aware of corrosion issues with Pathfinder frames. Nissan repaired a corrosion related problem with the strut housing while the car was at the dealership. There are numerous references to Pathfinder frame corrosion on the internet.

The contact owns a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the steering wheel became abnormally loose and hard to maintain. The contact took the vehicle to a private mechanic and was advised that the front end frame was rusted completely. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they stated that the vehicle could not be repaired due to the rust failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 57,400.

I own a 2000 Pathfinder. The front strut tower has separated from the car's frame due to rust. This represents a serious safety issue. As near as I can tell it occurred after I hit a pothole. I was fortunate that I was not on the highway.

My 2000 Nissan Pathfinder seemed excessively bumpy and the steering seemed very stiff at times after hitting a pothole. I took it into a Nissan dealership and was told that the frame has rusted through where the wheelwell is attached to a strut mount. The strut is loose (causing the bumpy ride) and the strut is pressing against the steering system causing the steering to be stiff. The Nissan shop told me they could not fix it and referred me to a body shop for an estimate. The body shop told me that they have seen this same problem with several Nissan and/or lexuses (Lexus Pathfinder model - I think it is the rx330). I was told that if I continued to drive it and went over a bump, the strut could plunge through the hood. I feel that this is a safety issue that could cause a serious or fatal accident if I were to hit a pothole at on a highway at a high rate of speed. I contacted my insurance company (state farm) and was told that if a pothole caused the damage they would pay for it. However, after investigating the incident, they informed me that this is a structural defect issue with Pathfinders and the Lexus rx330 and the cause was that the frame rusted through and the pothole would not have caused this damage to a non-defective frame. I have never driven the Pathfinder "off-road. " I contacted Nissan and they told me that they would not assist with any repairs due to the age of the car. The estimate for repairs is about $1,800. I am having it repaired at my own expense.

The steering in my 2000 Pathfinder seemed to be rubbing. I took it to a trusted mechanic who said that there was rusted metal rubbing against the steering column and that I needed to have a body shop look at it. I took it to the body shop and he said he'd never seen anything like it before but my frame was rusted out and would cost more to fix it than the truck is worth. He advised me not to drive it because my wheels could literally fall in causing a bad accident. I just paid the truck off last year and now unless Nissan does something I just own it but will not be able to drive it.