Differential Unit problems of the 2008 Nissan Titan

Rear differential completely went out. Started out with a loud whining/grinding noise then a thump. Hoping it was just a pinion seal - but nope. Whole differential has to be replaced.

I purchased my 2008 Nissan Titan brand new in 2008, somewhere around 75000 miles my front differential came apart, fortunately my extended warranty I purchased covered the $5000. 00 replacement cost that Nissan wanted to charge. Here I am at 138000 miles out of warranty with the same issue. Nissan is no help at all, this truck has been used mainly on the highway, with minimal use to the four wheel drive system. I service everything myself using only what Nissan recommends. Im not impressed with my $40000 boat anchor, it will be the last time I ever purchase a Nissan. This is the second Titan I have owned, didn't have any issues with my 2004.

Last week, I drove 6 hours to start vacation with my family, August 2014, when I noticed that my Nissan truck would intermittently start to shake slightly and also made a noise like a "jake brake" does on a tractor trailer truck. This occurred when I was either driving 20 mph up to 65 mph. I arrived at my vacation location 6 hours from my home and took my Nissan Titan to a Nissan dealership first thing the next morning. After the mechanic diagnosed my problem, the service advisor called me and said my rear end differential was going out and needed to be replaced. As I was driving down, I knew I had a problem and could not drive my truck back home until this was repaired. Since car dealerships do not repair car parts anymore these days, they told me that the rear end differential would cost $3,200. 00 plus labor. The total repair came to $3900. 00. Ouch! it took the dealership 5 days to get the new rear end differential delivered from a Nissan parts house in the northeastern us and replaced since they did not have it locally. My issue is this. . . . . I have never owned a vehicle that had to have the rear end differential replaced at 79,000 miles, nor have any of my friends had this happen to them either! I even called Nissan corporate and they did not offer me any financial assistance either which tells me they don't really stand by their product!!! I understand if it were a water pump, radiator, brakes, tires, etc. But not a major component that should not go bad at 79,000 miles. One more thing in closing, I have never used a trailer to haul anything either with my Nissan Titan pick up truck.

The 4 wheel drive system on the Nissan Titan is inadequate or poorly designed. My truck has had the front differential replaced twice in the last 3 months, with minimal usage of the 4 wheel drive system, and under appropriate conditions. Grinding noises has been felt and heard from the front differential when engaging into 4hi, which is capabale of being shifted on the fly. When engaging into 4hi and experiencing noises such as this while already moving at speed- 20-30mph, it is rather unsettling. To the average consumer who is not a mechanic (which I am) this is probably even more frightening to experience. The differential installed in April of this year was a revised version, to have supposedly correct issues which many Titans have faced in earlier production years. This differential failed within 3 months. The truck was just fixed last week with another revised differential, we'll see how long this one lasts. Aftermarket warranty and dealer parts warranty have covered all repairs aside from a deducatable, however someone not with this warranty would have faced repairs in the thousands of dollars range. With miss-use I can understand pats failing, however this was not the case.

Dealer determined that there is a read end differential failure and needs replacement.