29th Aug 2007, 04:56

Original poster here again - 1100 hard miles camping in Wales in the last 2 weeks. Highlighted the first negative - the brakes get a bit spongy after protracted use, and the handbrake pulls up pretty high if its going to hold on a steepish hill.

I'll not book it in yet though, this was under pretty extreme usage.

On the positive side, the huge, flexible luggage space took 6 of us and a dog and all our picnic gear to a remote swimming hole in the mountains without any complaint. Handled the rocky trail with utter ease that my old Rav 4 couldn't manage very well at all.

Still very comfy, now averaging 28 mpg in overall pretty hard use. This dropped to 26 with hard use in the mountains, but acceptable IMO.

Still loving it, highly recommended!

2nd Oct 2007, 05:17

Another six weeks, another 2000 miles, and this car still hasn't coughed.

The first cold snap of the autumn made me test the heating and its fine indeed. Takes a while to warm up, but once warm it is toasty and comfortable. The heated seats work very well.

The Pathy was used as a car-boot sale mule and crammed a whole attics worth of stuff into without complaint. It did identify the need for a rigid " dog guard" or similar to stop the loaded boot contents sliding onto the passengers in front. I'll check out Nissan's rip-off priced accessories list to see if I can get one.

Still comfortable, commodious and a great cruiser, it gets better and better. Town MPH down to 25 but most of my driving is long distance so not a huge problem.

A smashing car.

10th Dec 2007, 12:36

Mid December now and 10,000 miles, this car just gets better.

Fuel economy now 26 MPG in town and 36 mpg on a run.

My neighbour reversed into my Pathie the other day - dented the rear hatch in on her car, hardly a ding in the Pathie!

Trim holding up very well to medium / heavy country usage, carrying horse tackle and silage without complaint or problem across horrible fields.

Very highly recommended.

4th Jan 2008, 19:07

Probably the worst car I have ever had the misfortune to drive! The seats are uncomfortable, you get backache after an hour or so, the driving position is poor (I am 6 foot and can't see the end of the bonnet!!) Rear door handles snap off, I've had 3!!! the vehicle does not like going in reverse (the retarder on the auto box kicks in!) its sluggish (I've got the Diesel version), poor economy, and worst of all the a/con is either hot or off, despite many visits to the garage its still not working. BUY ANOTHER NISSAN PATHFINDER NEVER AGAIN!!!

7th Jan 2008, 13:45

Just returned from a holiday in the US where we rented a Toyota Highlander.

That 3.3 litre V6 was so weak compared to the diesel pathie its untrue!

Lovely to come back from holiday to have the pathy waiting there for my family.

** To the previous commenter, I read reviews before purchase that the auto pathy was slow. Did you not read these before choosing a car?

Also did you not test drive this car? I found the auto clumsy and less powerful on a test and so chose the much nicer manual box. And I could tell from a test drive that I wouldn't be able to see this large cars extremities.

If it was important to you that you can see the cars extremities, why would you choose a car like this?

I can't comment on the breakages you have experienced as I had none.

I am surprised to find you complaining about attributes which would have shown up on the shortest of test drives though.

Isn't that what test drives are for?

2nd Mar 2008, 14:28

12000 miles now and I'm still very happy with this car. It loves hard work and has been used for so many purposes. Filthy from farm runs too. Still comfortable, no noticeable problems.

A month of mostly town driving has revealed a 24mpg average which is pretty low, but these cars weren't made to drive in town only.

Still very pleased with it!

14th Mar 2008, 18:23

To the original reviewer - you were discussing the benefits of manual vs. automatic in your Pathfinder. I am also considering this model. However, in Canada the Pathie is not available in manual (we are seemingly more geared towards the 'big-fast-and-easy' philosophy..) Would you still get the auto if you did not have the choice of manual - just wondering... I happened to be a manual transmission driver up to now.

16th Mar 2008, 10:28

Hi!

I probably would NOT choose an auto with the 4 pot turbodiesel engine.

The 2.5 litre engine has a lot of torque but is peakier than a six or eight pot would be, and the gearbox " hunts" for the right gear a lot. Manual box, this doesn't matter at all, and the six speed box with dual ratios makes for very flexible driving on and off road.

Test drive one and see what you think, but if I needed an auto, I would probably get a Patrol, or even a Landcruiser 6 pot diesel.

Good luck!

17th May 2008, 10:17

Ten months and another 6000 miles now on the pathfinder.

To be honest its still pretty difficult to criticise this fine car. The air con gets a bit confused when you want a temperature under 16.5 degrees but not polar ice-cap cold, and the engine's a bit growlier than it was when brand new but this is a very fine car.

Its used every week as a tractor, a pet box and limousine without complaint. Averaged 34 mpg on a couple of long runs last week. No rattles or failures whatsoever. Leather rear seats still creak a bit but that's just the leather!

Sat Nav is great, audio is great, the general drive is quite excellent for a big heavy jeep with a separate chassis.

Still looks magnificent when its clean (which isn't very often!).

Highly recommended!

23rd Jun 2008, 05:22

OK my pathie is a year old next week. First "problems" have raised their head :

1) The handbrake is now very feeble. Needs adjusting.

2) The sunroof has developed an annoying buzz

3) If you want the interior of the car less than 16.5 degrees, the A/C blows like an Arctic gale and you have to manually fettle the settings to make it OK.

Pretty small beer in a year of hard work and many miles. Still very comfortable, the interior has stood up to hard use very well indeed. Still "exec" beating comfort and luxury in the cabin. Drive is still composed and at a cruise the engine is subdued and capable.

Interior flexibility is amongst the best I have ever known, even the rear row of seats big enough for adults in comfort.

Averaging 28 mpg overall, which is great for a heavy old barge like this.

Off-road capability far exceeds the "farmyard-and-ploughed-field" demands I place upon it.

Can hardly fault this fine, go-anywhere family car. Still looks FINE scrubbed clean too! Highly recommended!