AutoUtility currently tracks 185 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Nissan Pathfinder. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 82 complaints (44.3% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 7 filings cite a crash, 2 cite a fire, 4 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 185 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (82 reports • 44.3% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Powertrain & Transmission (34), Electrical System (27)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 7 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 4 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
185
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
7
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
4
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Nissan Pathfinder

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 44.3% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

82 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
#2 Problem Area 18.4% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

34 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
#3 Problem Area 14.6% of complaints

Electrical System

27 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#4 Problem Area 7.6% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

14 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report
#5 Problem Area 4.9% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Nissan Pathfinder

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 5.4% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

10 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Nissan Pathfinder

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11756766
Filed: 08/13/2026

"SLUDGE IN ENGINE- UNDER 100,000 MILES We had been keeping up with all recommended services, and it is cosmetically perfect, but the car is now a total loss. A Check Engine light came on, and we began to notice a tremor/shake and took it to Southern Team Nissan. The Nissan dealer diagnosed sludge in..."

Incident Date: 08/12/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11752982
Filed: 07/27/2026

"My 2017 Nissan Pathfinder was making noise - I brought it to my mechanic and he said it is not safe to drive that the rear frame assembly has rotted and on one side was not even connected to anything. I have 110,000 miles on it. I asked Nissan to stand by there vehicle and was told it’s past..."

Incident Date: 06/23/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Steering System NHTSA ODI ID: #11724266
Filed: 03/14/2026

"Constant whine from under the vehicle while in park or idle. Even after having the rack replaced"

Incident Date: 03/14/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11709306
Filed: 01/07/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving in a parking lot at unknown speeds, the vehicle began jerking and stalled. The battery had become inoperable. The TPMS message was displayed. The failure was linked to Technical Service Bulletin: NTB15-015h. The local..."

Incident Date: 10/01/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,TIRES,ENGINE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11705791
Filed: 12/18/2025

"The transmission is failing. The car has about 117,000 miles on it. The transmission issue is a known problem with this vehicle and is causing safety concerns while driving it due to acceleration problems."

Incident Date: 12/01/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Nissan Pathfinder

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Nissan Pathfinder 320 11 5 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Nissan Pathfinder 107 10 2 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Nissan Pathfinder Current Page 185 7 2 Current
2018 Nissan Pathfinder 77 3 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Nissan Pathfinder 75 4 2 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Nissan Pathfinder 52 1 0 View 2020 Problems →
2022 Nissan Pathfinder 133 3 5 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Nissan Pathfinder 102 4 1 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Nissan Pathfinder 73 1 2 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Nissan Pathfinder 48 2 1 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Nissan Pathfinder 0 0 0 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Nissan Pathfinder

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 48 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 53 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 25 1 2 4 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 16 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 7 1 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 6 1 0 2 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 5 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 4 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 3 1 0 1 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 3 1 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,TIRES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (185). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.