AutoUtility currently tracks 77 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Nissan Pathfinder. Brakes & Traction Control issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 25 complaints (32.5% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 77 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Brakes & Traction Control (25 reports • 32.5% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (18), Electrical System (13)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 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
77
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
2
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2018 Nissan Pathfinder

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

#1 Problem Area 32.5% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

25 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
#2 Problem Area 23.4% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

18 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign 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.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 16.9% of complaints

Electrical System

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 15.6% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

12 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#5 Problem Area 15.6% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

12 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%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Nissan Pathfinder

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

Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11755553
Filed: 08/07/2026

"The vehicle veers towards the right, even though a wheel alignment was completed on 7/1/26. On 7/28/26 when driving the vehicle, it wouldn’t accelerate properly, it felt sluggish and although the gas pedal was depressed it was struggling to pick up speed. As the vehicle was attempting to shift..."

Incident Date: 07/29/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11728330
Filed: 03/31/2026

"The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while reversing, the back over prevention camera screen display malfunctioned, and there was a black image displayed, creating a hazard for the driver. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. Additionally, while..."

Incident Date: 01/11/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11724368
Filed: 03/14/2026

"Infotainment system stopped working. Now radio, no climate control visible and NO backup camera most of the time. Very dangerous without the backup camera"

Incident Date: 10/23/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11709224
Filed: 01/06/2026

"The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera displayed a blank screen. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact referenced an unknown recall that had a similar failure description;..."

Incident Date: 01/02/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11702980
Filed: 12/04/2025

"The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The failure persisted, and there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine with the check engine warning light illuminated...."

Incident Date: 07/01/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE
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 185 7 2 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Nissan Pathfinder Current Page 77 3 3 Current
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 2018 Nissan Pathfinder

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 44 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 5 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 5 0 0 0 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 4 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 4 1 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 1 0 1 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 3 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 2 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
CHEST CLIP, BUCKLE, HARNESS,INSERT, PADDING 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
PARKING BRAKE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 1 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 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 (77). 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.