2000 Nissan Xterra

MY CAR STALLED AT HIGH SPEED (60 MPH) ON AN INTERSTATE. I WAS ABLE TO START IT AND TAKE TO DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED ISSUE AS BAD SPEEDOMETER CONTROLLER. DASHBOARD FAILURE SENT MESSAGE TO TRANSMISSION THAT CAR WASN'T RUNNING, CAUSING A STALL. VERY UNSAFE!!! THE DEALERSHIP ORDERED THE PART ON 8/10 AND TOLD ME THE CAR WOULD BE READY FOR PICKUP ON 8/13. AT THAT TIME I HAD SOME MAINTENANCE WORK DONE AS WELL, AFTER BEING INFORMED MY CAR WOULD BE READY ON 8/13. ON 8/13 I WAS INFORMED THAT THE DEALERSHIP HAD DONE THE OTHER WORK ON MY CAR (120K MAINT, BATTERY, AND FIXED KNOCK SENSOR) BUT THE SPEEDOMETER CONTROLLER WAS ON BACKORDER. IT HAS BEEN OVER A MONTH. I TRIED DRIVING THE VEHICLE BUT AGAIN THREE TIMES EXPERIENCED A STALL, ALL WHILE DRIVING ON INTERSTATE SO CONSIDER THE CAR NOT DRIVABLE AND WAS LUCKY TO NOT HAVE BEEN HIT. I REPORTED THE DELAY IN GETTING THE PART TO NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS, AND THEY ARE UNCONCERNED. THEY TOLD ME PARTS ONLY NEED TO BE MADE AVAILABLE DURING WARRANTY. WHO THESE DAYS W/ PRICE OF CARS CAN AFFORD NEW CAR W/I 3 YEARS? CAR IS ONLY 7 YRS OLD AND FOR ALL I KNOW, LATER MODELS COULD BE USING SAME PART. I SUSPECT PART IS UNAVAILABLE BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SAME ISSUE, WHICH IS A VERY UNSAFE STALL, NORMALLY AT HIGH SPEED. DEALERSHIP EVEN TOLD ME NOT TO DRIVE CAR. CAN YOU DO ANYTHING TO NISSAN TO GET PART IN SO I HAVE TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM MY JOB? *JB UPDATED 12-12-07. *KB UPDATED *JB

DT: THE CONTACT EXPERIENCED SEVERAL PROBLEMS WITH VEHICLE. FIRST PROBLEM CONCERNED POWER STEERING. THE STEERING WHEEL WAS HARD TO TURN. THIS WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A GRINDING NOISE. THE DASHBOARD PANEL LIGHTS DID NOT ILLUMINATE. THEY SIMPLY STOPPED WORKING WITHOUT ANY PRIOR WARNING. THERE WAS TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN 10001332 CONCERNING THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. IN ADDITION, THE POWER WINDOW ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE WAS DIFFICULT TO CLOSE. IN ORDER TO GET THE WINDOW TO AUTOMATICALLY ROLL UP IT MUST BE MANUALLY ASSISTED. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN SEEN BY A DEALER. *AK

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WOULD INTERMITTENTLY CEASE INDICATING SPEED, RPM'S, FUEL LEVEL, & TEMPERATURE WHEN OPERATING WITH THE LIGHTS ON. THE PROBLEM WOULD CORRECT ITSELF AT DIFFERENT INTERVALS WHILE OPERATING. PROBLEM COULD NOT BE REPRODUCED FOR REPAIR AT DEALER. SOLUTION: I REPLACED THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD LOCATED ON THE BACK OF THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THIS REQUIRED THE DEALER TO ORDER PART & HAVE ODOMETER READING PROGRAMMED INTO THE NEW BOARD. THIS SEEMED TO HAVE CORRECTED THE PROBLEM. *JB

I SAW A NEWS RELEASE TODAY WHERE HONDA IS RECALLING SOME VEHICLES DUE TO HEAT BUILDUP IN THE IP CAUSING THE IP LIGHTS TO GO OUT. THIS HAS BEEN A PERSISTENT PROBLEM FOR YEARS IN BOTH MY 1996 NISSAN 200SX AND MY 2000 NISSAN XTERRA. USUALLY I JUST HAVE TO FIND THE DIMMER DIAL ON THE DASH SOMEWHERE ON THE LEFT UNDER THE STEERING WHEEL AND ADJUST IT A BIT TO GET THE LIGHTS TO COME BACK ON, BUT THE SWITCH IS ALWAYS VERY HOT WHEN I TOUCH IT. NO ACCIDENTS OR FIRES HAVE RESULTED IN MY EXPERIENCE.*AK

WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED VEHICLE WOULD JERK, AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WOULD FAIL. *AK WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLES GAUGES (TACHOMETER, ODOMETER, SPEEDOMETER AND TEMPERATURE) RANDOMLY WENT OUT. THIS PROBLEM ALSO APPEARED TO AFFECT THE CRUISE CONTROL AND OCCURED AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS. WHEN THE GAUGES GO OUT THEY STAYED OUT FROM 3-20 MILES. *NLM

THE FOLLOWING GAUGES DO NOT WORK ON MY DASH: SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, ENGINE TEMPERATURE, FUEL, ODOMETER, AND OIL GAUGES. THE CRUISE CONTROL DOES NOT WORK AND THE ANTI-THEFT DEVICE ARMS ITSELF AT ANY TIME IT WANTS TO, THE HAZARDS LIGHTS RANDOMLY FLASH AS I AM DRIVING. ALL OF THE PROBLEMS OCCURRED WITHIN ONE YEAR OF PURCHASE. THE CAR HAS BEEN SERVICED SEVERAL TIMES CONCERNING THESE PROBLEMS AT KENDRICK NISSAN, YET THEY STILL CONTINUE TO OCCUR. NOW I AM BEING TOLD THAT I HAVE TO PAY, AGAIN, TO HAVE IT DIAGNOSED FOR THE SAME PROBLEMS I HAVE BEEN HAVING FOR PAST TWO YEARS. *JB

WHILE OPERATING VEHICLE IT WOULD STALL THEN RESTART,IT FINALE QUIT AND WAS TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. WAS TOLD IT SOUNDED LIKE THE FUEL SENDING UNIT,TWO DAYS LATER RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM DEALER AND TOLD PROBLEM WAS ECU/ECM WHICH FAILED BECAUSE A/C DRAIN HAD CLOGGED AND CONDENSATION RUINED CONTROL UNIT WHICH IS NOT COVERED UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY BECAUSE IT IS DETERMINED BY THE DEALER AND NISSAN CORP. TO BE COLLATERAL DAMAGE. HAVE READ OWNERS MANUAL COVER TO COVER AND AT NO TIME DOES IT SAY TO MAKE SURE DRAIN IS CLEAR OR IT COULD CAUSE THIS CONDITION WHICH THEY CLAIM IS MY FAULT, AT THIS TIME I HAVE FILED A REPORT WITH THE BBB AS PER THEIR MANUAL AND AM WAITING FOR AN ARBITRATOR TO BE ASSIGNED. *NLM

X-TERRA STOPPED WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE 4 TIMES IN TWO DAYS. FINALLY HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED TO NISSAN DEALER AFTER 5TH TIME IT STOPPED, THIS TIME IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. MECHANIC COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG EVEN ON COMPUTER, THEN ON SECOND DAY DECIDED IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP, AND REPLACED IT, AND THEN DETERMINED THAT IT WAS NOT THE FUEL PUMP, BUT A WIRING PROBLEM THAT BURNT OUT THE FUEL SENDING UNIT. COST WAS OVER $700.00, PLUS TOW BILL, AND RENTAL CAR. ALSO MANIFOLD IS CRACKED, AND WAS BEFORE WARANTY EXPIRED, BUT DEALER WHERE IT WAS BOUGHT SAID THAT THE WARANTY DID NOT COVER IT AND ADVISED US TO HAVE A LOCAL MECAHNIC TO FIX IT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE CHEAPER. HAVE NOW LEARNED THAT BOTH FUELD SNEDING UNIT, AND MANIFOLD ARE A PROBLEM ON MANY XTERRAS. *AK