Vehicle Shudder problems of the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder - part 2

While driving the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder the vehicle will shudder during acceleration for unknown reasons. It is intermittent and makes a driver think they have gone off the road and you are riding on a rumble strip when you are not on a rumble strip. The event is very unpredictable. It frightens the driver when it occurs and is very distracting while operating a motor vehicle.

We have experienced intermittent problems with the vehicle shaking or vibrating while accelerating or decelerating, with temporary loss of power at low speed 10-20 mph. This has occurred several times, even after the recall reprogram was done. The most recent occurrence happened twice may 17, 2013, ten days after picking it up from the dealership after they drove it for 300 miles and did not duplicate the issue. We were told that the recall was to address the shaking issues with the vehicle and would be corrected by reprograming the computer (which was supposed to have already been done) and it did not resolve the problem. Some Nissan employees say there is no issues known with the Pathfinder and some will admit it there is, but say engineering is working on a fix for it, but claim it is not a safety concern. My wife almost ended up in a ditch on one occasion and then missed rear ending a vehicle while the vehicle was shaking and she was slowing down on another occasion. The problem is not easily duplicated, so it tough to show it happening, but does someone actually have to get hurt before it becomes a safety issue and is really looked into?.

The car shudders, periodically as you are accelerating anywhere from speeds of 20mph to 40 mph. It doesn't do this all the time, but when it starts to shudder is very nerve wracking. Concerned transmission is being damaged/or defective. Nissan doesn't seem to have a fix for this. I am told it is a problem with Pathfinders produced before Jan 13.

Whole family is in the car and I was driving . While we are entering to highway and merging to right line, shudder happens and we loose all engine power , gas pedal becomes useless and only thing I can do was to slow down. In that instant we are almost rear ended by semi truck. Cvt transmission put the car into shudder state. We were not able to speed up while merging to highway for almost 20 seconds.

I bought a new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder about 2 months ago with only 900 miles on it and the transmission started to have problem. After about 300 miles on the SUV I started to feel the shudder/jerking when I accelerate slowly from 0 to about 20 mph. On 2 occasions when I slowed down to make a turn the transmission jerk so hard that the whole car was shaking. I did not feel this jerkiness when I test drove the 2013 at the dealer or the 1st couple hundred miles on my SUV. It becomes very annoying for daily driving. I took to Nissan dealer couples time and Nissan dealer said that it's normal for a cvt transmission to act that way and Nissan does not have a software update to fix it yet. I do not think it is normal for a brand new car to act that way.

The contact owns a 2013 Honda Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the vehicle vibrated jerked and lost acceleration. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed; which located the failure at the transmission. The contact did not know the name of part that needed to be replaced within the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileage was 1,000.

Vehicle shudders as if driving over rumble bars for approximately 5 seconds when accelerating slowly -- usually around 40 mph.

I purchased a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder sl. The vehicle shudders and vibrates excessively from 20 to 30 mph and at low rpm's(1000 to 1,500 rpm's). Also, the vehicle has begun to shudder like this at speeds up to 50 mph. I tried switching to 2wd and to full time 4wd mode but without luck. I also tried to switch off the overdrive also without luck. The service advisor at the dealer told me that this is happening with all of the Pathfinders and that these new cvt transmissions operate this way. I asked to speak to the service manager, who repeated everything the original advisor stated, but stopped short of saying it is 'normal' for the vehicle to perform in this fashion. He also told me he is driving the same model as me and that he has gotten used to the vibrations. I hope Nissan comes up with a simple fix for this problem, until then I am unpleasantly surprised.

The vehicle shudders, as if going over a highway rumble strip, for approximately 2 to 3 seconds when accelerating from a slow roll. During this shuddering period the car loses all power and fails to respond.

Vehicle shudders (as if driving over a rumble strip) at various speeds, but most notably when slowly accelerating through approximately 40mph.

********basically we traded in our 2012 Pathfinder for the 2013 Pathfinder on April 2013. ************* we immediately noticed some flaws with the vehicle. My experience with the vehicle began to shudder at low speed every once in a while. Also the hood will shake while driving over 40mph. , as if it wanted to fly off. I called Nissan dealerships, spoke with service managers and they stated that Nissan is aware of the issue and working on issuing a recall. Their advice was to continue driving vehicle as normal, shouldn't result any damage. Oh, were they wrong! it's been about a year with this vehicle and the problem not only continues but, has become worse. I can't drive 5 mph without the vehicle shuddering recklessly, as if part of the engine wants to fall off. Well, now I have a new issue, on startup my vehicle throws white/gray smoke as if a bomb blew up. This is so embarrassing. I immediately took the vehicle to the dealer, they came back to say they found "sludge" in the engine, that it has to be replaced! ok, but according to Nissan they are not going to cover this, since they assume we are liable. We have maintained this vehicle properly and if this engine failed and covered in sludge, that has to be a recall. At, this point in time Nissan has communicated with me one time in a week. I spoke to the service manager, he's not very helpful in trying to resolve this issue. He just advised that we sell the vehicle back to Nissan. Unbelievable, this has become a total nightmare, I overheard some workers at the dealers discussing issues about the 2013 Pathfinder, they are aware of the issues this vehicles has, but their main goal is to sell. Not inform the consumers about this piece of crap!!!.

Starting around 1100 miles, our car shudders and shakes as if it is going to stall when being driven around 20 mph. It has happened between 15 and 20 times now over the course of 10 days. We purchased it April 11, it first happened April 17, and was in the shop from 4/22 until 5/10. We had it out of the Nissan service shop for less than 24 hours when it started happening again. Wow. Just thought I would add myself to the below list of similar scenarios. I hope Nissan figures out what is going on and takes good care of/compensates their paying customers.

I started driving up a small hill from a complete stop. It sounded like the car started shuddering, as if I was driving over a rumble strip. This happened on a number of occasions in different places but they were always around highways so I never payed attention. This time there was no highway, it was just a local street and there definitely were no rumble strips. Will have to take this to the dealer. Not expecting much as I see a lot of people are having the same problem. There must be a recall for this. . .

1. When the vehicle is started putting it to reverse wont engage the transmission, need to go back to park and back to engage the drive of reverse transmission 2. During driving at 0-40 mph the transmission slips, the shifting is erratic, sometimes shifting can vibrate as if the whole vehicle was vibrating, the rpm also fluctuate during this time. 3. There was no problem until April 8th 2013, I had taken this on snow, all sorts of terrain, bought the vehicle from columbia, mo from the dealership was performing excellent prior to this. 4. Only thing I did was leave the SUV parked for a while (1 week) before this started in early April. 2013.

Purchased vehicle Jan 2013. Vehicle shudders continuously when traveling at constant speed around 40 mph. Also shudders violently and loses power when turning at low speed, approx. 5 to 10 mph. Source feels to be transmission. Happens every time driven. Took back to dealership where purchased may 2013. Technician drove it and said they couldn't feel anything wrong. Took to another dealership in October. They reprogrammed the abs system because they said there was going to be voluntary recall issued soon. That had no effect on problem, still as evident as ever. Now faced with third trip to shop to try to get something done. Seems to be common complaint based on what I read.

It happened 3 times already, car started shaking and it stop all of a sudden, all transmission fluid and coolant drained out. Luckily we did'n get hit from the back because the first time was when we stop on a red light and it didn't move at all we tow it to the nearest Nissan dealer and they said that it was a factory defect but that was fixed. I had a bad feeling and took it to puente hills Nissan where we bought the car. But they told to comeback next day so on my way home on the freeway it started again we just had seconds to pull aside from the road and the car didn't moved at all, fluids drained out again and this time the smoke was even worst I had a panic attack because I thought it was going to catch on fire so I've jumped out of the car "on the freeway" without thinking that I could get killed. The car got towed to puente hills Nissan and "they fixed it". When they were testing it it happened again!! they towed the car back and now after a week they said that they already fixed the problem that it was the radiator that had too much pressure so was heating up and shooting the hoses off so they now replaced the radiator and told me to go and pick up the car. I don't feel safe driving around with my family this situation can cause an accident. Nissan dealer won't replace the car even though there is the lemon law that states that after 3 repairs from the same issue the car has to be replaced and even more because it was a brand new car and we only had it for 6 weeks. And there was also 2 recalls on this particular vehicle one on the electric system and other one on the air bags so now I don't know what else is going to happen with this vehicle.

I am having trouble with the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder's transmission that I purchased in January 2013. I have approximately 2,800 miles on my vehicle at this time, September 2013. Nissan is replacing the transmission at this time. The problem that occurred was when the vehicle would shift around 25-30 mph and/or between 40-45, the vehicle would shudder and also give the noise of "running over a rumble strip. " I believe Nissan should recall this transmission and replace it with a "fixed" transmission. I also believe Nissan should us of those who have these vehicles a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty on the transmission, if not a "lifetime" warranty, or they should return our money and take the vehicles back! we have purchased a "lemon" in my opinion and we should not have to forfeit $35,000-$48,000 (depending on the vehicle a person purchased) of our hard-earned money to Nissan. Our vehicles are basically not worth any of the money we paid for them. Who would want one? do you want to buy my vehicle from me? I'll sell it to you. Thank you!.

Shortly after purchasing my 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, I noticed a shudder when accelerating at low speeds. This has randomly happened at least 10-15 times in the past year. After a stop or slow to around 10 miles per hour, the car shudders on acceleration. Many times it happens during a turn with acceleration but it also has had the problem during straight acceleration at low speeds. The dealership was made aware of the problem during multiple services but techs were not able to duplicate the problem and did no repairs.

During slow acceleration from full stop, the vehicle would vibrate/shudder for a couple or seconds somewhere between 15-25 mph. It feels like the transmission would slip and catch and slip and catch. This happens 3-5 times a day. I drive mostly city driving so its mostly stop and go driving from one light to the next. There has been a recall to reprogram the transmission computer but my vehicle is not part of that recall and exhibits the same issues. Even after the reprogram, other owners I've talked to still experience the same issue.

I purchased a brand new 2013 Nissan Pathfinder on 02/16/2013 and steering wheel off balance. 2 days later, I took the car back to henderson Nissan but it was just a patch up to the problem. Today 02/26/2013 a new problem occurs when I drive at 15mph the transmission jerk cause a big vibration to the car and I'm afraid this will lead to a major problem. I purchase this car to transport my 4 years daughter and I don't want this car transmission to break down on freeway which could cause a major pile up. Please consider a safety to our family and many others family own this Nissan Pathfinder by investigation into this matter. Sincerely.

Vehicle shudders as if driving over rumble bars for approximately 5 seconds when accelerating slowly -- usually around 40 mph. Dealer duplicates but has no fix. Dealer indicates Nissan aware of issue -- believes to be in programming for the cvt -- but does not have a fix at this time.

During slow acceleration from a full stop, the vehicle will vibrate/shudder as if driving over rumble strip for a second or two usually somewhere between 15-25 mph. The vehicle stops accelerating during this shutter. This happens 3-5 times a day. It has also occurred around 40 mph, but much less frequently. I took it to the dealer who deemed the shuttering characteristic for the cvt design. The dealer also indicated that Nissan has not issued any service bulletins addressing known concerns for either the transmission or engine in the 2013 model year Pathfinder. I have not been able to consistently reproduce the problem. If this shuttering were to occur as I pulled into traffic, I fear this may lead to an accident.

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 mph, the transmission began shifting hard. When driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle would vibrate excessively. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis however, the technician was unable to diagnose the failure and advised the contact that the failure was not safety related. The technician reset the transmissions computer but the failure continued. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 1,600.

I purchased my Pathfinder in November 2012. At about 1000 miles into ownership (less than a month, my vehicle started shuddering and acting like it was going to stall. When I took it in for the first service they told me they checked for it and couldn't find anything. Then they asked me to bring it back in for a computer update. It still shuddered. At the next service repeat the same scenario and they couldn't find anything again. The shudder is progressively getting worse at this point. When I took it back for the 3rd service I told the dealership again and was told the same thing again. Repeat one more time in 9/13 and they told me I needed a new transmission. A new transmission was put in on 10/7 and I picked it up on 10/8. I left for a beach 800 mile trip on 10/9 and the shuddering is still happening and now when I turn my wheels while slowing down (entering my garage/braking in a curve) the brakes will not hold and the vehicle will surge as if out of control. If I leave it running for a 10 or so minutes in park then try to put it in drive the vehicle tries to surge away from me as if I cannot control it unless holding the brakes down. Last week the vehicle jumped across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic then quit. I quickly started it again and jumped into a parking lot. The dealer picked it up and told me they could not duplicate the problem and would do anything to help me. In fact they said it was driver error. The last I heard when you press the gas the car should go and when you press the brakes the car should stop. It is now sitting in the dealer parking lot because I am extremely afraid of it. They told me it was just fine and to come and get it. I almost died last week in it and it is not safe. The dealer will not help me nor consumer affairs at Nissan are helping me. No one should be driving this vehicle. So now I am out $44,000 for an unsafe car.

I bought this vehicle in November 2012 because I had heard all great things about Nissan. The first week of owning the vehicle I had issues with the driver side power window. It would either go down extremely slowly or not at all. I brought it back to the dealership and they "fixed the problem". The window is still very slow but better than it was. A couple weeks later, the passenger air bag light started going on and off all the time. It didn't matter if there was a person in the seat or not. I brought it back to the dealership and they "fixed the problem". It still goes on once in a while but very rarely. Biggest problem, since I bought the vehicle it has been shuddering (almost like going over a rumble strip) when I am driving low speeds. (around 20 mph) I dropped the vehicle off at the dealership this morning and they told me that they are aware of the problem and they will either need to do a software update or possibly give me a new transmission. I am not happy!! when you spend $35,000 on a vehicle you do not expect all of these problems. I will never buy another Nissan.

Drivetrain software issue: when I bought the 2013 Pathfinders, like any new owner I was thrilled. . Unfortunately there were a few things I did not anticipate. . So when my Pathfinder began shuttering and shaking at 900 miles, I contacted Nissan consumer affairs, who said they had no knowledge of the problem, who then referred me to the dealership service department, who with all of there up-to-date computer diagnostics could not fit the problem. The shuttering & shaking continue every few days. The more mile I put on the car, the worst the shakes and shutters became. Sometimes the car would shake so violently, that the engine would bog down and loose all power. So, after multiple trips to the service repair department, I finally got a straight answer. . Apparently, software that controls the drivetrain, and was designed to improve the vehicles milage, actually ends up damaging the belt drive. Not something Nissan was expecting, but knew about before I bought the car. What has happened to my vehicle, also was reported by other people earlier in the year. "the shuttering is actually the result of damage to the drivetrain from the glitch in the software". So if the shuttering occurs to the vehicle, the drivetrain is already damaged and needs to be replaced.

While driving at a speeds of 40 or below the vehicle will begin to shake/shudder. It will continue for approximately 5-10 seconds. It also appears to loose power. The dealership has looked at it and reprogrammed it but shortly after leaving it began to do it again.

Most of the time that I am accelerating between 20 - 25 mph, the vehicle is shaking. The amount of shake or "shudder"varies from slightly noticeable to very noticeable. The concern here is the reliability of the transmission (cvt) which seems to be slipping. I believe this should be investigated to prevent failure of the transmission while driving in freeways thus preventing a possibility of a crash.