2008 Nissan Xterra
The Verdict
The 2008 Nissan Xterra has 118 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are engine (46 complaints) and transmission (29 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 70/100, it earns a "Solid Pick" rating. If you're shopping for a Nissan Xterra, consider the 2013 model year which has 96% fewer complaints.
Safe Bet
The 2013 has 96% fewer complaints
View the 2013 Nissan Xterra dashboard →
Klunk Score: Solid Pick
Fewer complaints than most vehicles. Generally dependable, but check the top problems below.
How is this calculated?
The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.
Recalls 2
Active safety recalls from NHTSA for this vehicle year.
ON CERTAIN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES, THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM/VEHICLE DYNAMIC CONTROL (ABS/VDC) ACTUATOR IS DESIGNED WITH ONE BALL IN THE VALVE SECTION. SOME ABS/VDC ACTUATORS WERE MANUFACTURED WITH...
Risk
IN ABS/VDC ACTUATORS WITH MORE THAN ONE BALL, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT FLUID FLOW COULD BE BLOCKED AND CAUSE A REDUCTION IN BRAKE FORCE IN ONE OR BOTH FRONT WHEELS OR AFFECT OPERATION OF THE ABS AND/OR ...
Remedy
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE ABS/VDC ACTUATOR WITH A NEW ONE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON DECEMBER 31, 2007. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
Reported Apr 11, 2026
NISSAN IS RECALLING 5,523 MY 2008 TITAN, FRONTIER AND XTERRA VEHICLES FOR FAILING TO COMPLY TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 110, 'TIRE SELECTION AND RIMS FOR MOTOR ...
Risk
THIS STANDARD SPECIFIES REQUIREMENTS FOR TIRE SELECTION TO PREVENT OVERLOADING.
Remedy
NISSAN WILL MAIL A CORRECT TIRE PLACARD AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS TO OWNERS OF THE AFFECTED VEHICLES. THE RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 25, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
Reported Apr 11, 2026
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Under the Hood
Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.
By Category
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Worst Problems
Complaints
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the contact shifted the vehicle into drive, and the vehicle unexpectedly went into reverse with no warning light illuminated. The contact restarted the vehicle, and the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that the instrument panel displayed that the gear shifter was in reverse while shifted into drive. The instrument panel also displayed that the gear shifter was in neutral while shifted into reverse. The contact stated that to prevent the vehicle from rolling away, the wheels were chocked, and parking brake was engaged. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 225,000.
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Xterra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V067000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Xterra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V067000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Xterra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V067000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available
The contact owned a 2008 Nissan XTerra. The contact's son was driving the vehicle at approximately 25 MPH when he hydroplaned on a wet road and crashed into a wall built along the side of the road. The contact stated that her son crashed into the wall head-on. The contact stated that the driver's side air bag had not deployed, and the passenger side air bag had. The contact's son had broken his left thumb and had an injury on his left leg below his knee that produced some nerve damage. The passenger had suffered four cracked ribs. Both driver and passenger were transported by ambulance to the emergency room. The police were on the scene and wrote a report. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The contact was informed by her insurance that the vehicle was a total loss. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.
driving and transfer case locked up sending me in to oncoming traffic and guardrail
A leak developed in the radiator that allowed engine coolant into the automatic transmission and visa versa. Engine coolant in the automatic transmission can cause sudden failure of the transmission which could cause an accident. This is a known design flaw of Nissan transmissions. Nissan has refused to issue a recall and class actions have been successful, but are not extensive enough to cover all Nissan buyers. I have filed a complaint with Nissan and they offered zero help in covering repairs. They just say that it is out of warranty. I had my Xterra worked on at the dealer 18 months ago and they could have recommended a new part be installed to keep the transmission failure from occuring, but said nothing. The result is that now I have to replace the transmission and radiator at a $9,000.00 price tag out of my pocket because they refused to recall the parts (<$1000.00) involved and will not give owners any warning or guidance on how to prevent this totally preventable catastrophic transmission failure. Nissan Case # 46218952.
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH and making a right turn, she heard an abnormal sound while depressing on the brake pedal. The contact stated that the Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) & the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) warning lights were illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. A dealer was not contacted. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 07E105000 (Service Brakes, Air) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.
The brake master cylinder failed multiple times, leaving the system in bypass mode. The resulting delay in braking led to potential collision on multiple occasions.
Total transmission and radiator failure. a dealership "fixed" the coolant contamination problem when nissan offered the warrantied coverage for what's known as SMOD. all the dealership did was flush the transmission and radiator. they did not repair or replace any components even after being berated by my husband to do so and to do it under the covered warranty.($5k for tranny replacement that we couldn't afford) they claimed the flush had fixed the xterra. less than 3,000 miles later I was driving on the highway with my 2 children in the car and the vehicle just shut off. no warning lights or behaviors just shut off at 70+mph on the highway. while sitting broke down [pulled off highway edge as far as I could after vehicle died and before it coasted to a complete stop] we were then rear-ended and my 2 kids spent 2 days being monitored in a children's hospital. 1 of which had a concussion. although the xterra only needed a new rear hatch and bumper and etc insurance didn't consider it totalled so it was cosmetically repaired. after reaching out to nissan about the incident they refused to even offer us any sort of discounted repair costs on tranny replacement[car was still under extended coverage warranty] nor would they offer any kind of anything regarding a discount on a replacement vehicle. so here we were still paying on a car loan for a car that was still under warranty, but could not be drove. or even starred for that matter. it ended up wrecking us financially. the car never showed any signs of any mechanical problems prior to dealer flushing trans. the car didn't show any signs of anything afterwards until that day on the highway. the problem ended up being metal pieces from coolant contamination shorted out something in transmission and I guess shorted so strong that it blew the trans fuse and blew fuse links on positive terminal which caused car to just shut off. nissan needs to take responsibility for their bullcrap.
THE RADIATOR HAS TAKEN IN FLUIDS FROM THE TRANSMISSION OR? THE RADIATOR FLUID APPEARS MILKY AND LOTION LIKE CONSISTENCY FROM THE RADIATOR AND OVERFLOW TANK IT HAS BEEN SHIFTING VERY LOUD AND HARD..
I HAVE AN 08 XTERRA AND WHEN I WAS DRIVING IT ONE DAY IT FELT LIKE IT WAS HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING UP HILLS AND ALMOST FELT LIKE IT WOULDNT DOWNSHIFT. THEN FINALLY WHEN AT A LIGHT HAD TO REALLY GAS IT TO GET THE CAR GOING. LIMPED THE CAR TO A FAMILY MEMBERS HOUSE TO LET IT SIT UNTIL I FIGURED OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT. AFTER RESEARCH FIGURED THE CAR PUT ITSELF INTO LIMP MODE SO I DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY TO DO A FULL RESET ON THE COMPUTER. WAS ABLE TO GET IT HOME 25 MILES AFTER RESET. WE HAVE A SPARE/COMMUTER CAR SO I WAS ABLE TO LET IT SIT IN MY GARAGE FOR A FEW MONTHS WHILE I TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT WHEN I HAD TIME. FINALLY AFTER NARROWING IT DOWN TO THINGS THAT I HAD NEVER DONE BEFORE, I DECIDED TO TAKE IT TO NISSAN. THEY TOLD ME THE NEXT DAY THAT IT WAS THE RADIATOR FAILURE AND PROCEEDED TO QUOTE ME $7000 FOR THE REPAIRS........OUCH ON A CAR THAT WAS NOW 11 YEARS OLD WHICH I HAD PURCHASED FROM THAT DEALERSHIP BRAND NEW. I DECIDED TO TAKE IT HOME BECAUSE IT WAS A BIG DECISION TO MAKE RIGHT AWAY. SO HERE I AM WITH A CAR THAT MISSED THE LAWSUIT AS I HAVE AN XTERRA THAT IS 11 YEARS OLD [!@#$%] NEAR 200000 MILES. I DID MY OWN MAINTENANCE, WHEN REPLACING MY HEAD GASKET I NOTICED I HAD THE NO CARBON BUILD UP ON THE HEAD, BASICALLY LOOKED LIKE A CAR THAT HAD 20000 MILES ON IT. SHAME ON NISSAN FOR NOT DOING A RECALL OR NOTIFYING OWNERS OF THIS ISSUE. I LOVE MY XTERRA BUT I'M SURE THE COST OF THE FIX IS ROUGHLY WHAT THE CAR IS WORTH. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TT
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 NISSAN XTERRA. WHILE OPERATING THE VEHICLE, THE FUEL GAUGE DISPLAYED FALSE READINGS. THE GAUGE SHOWED THAT THE FUEL TANK HAD LESS FUEL THAN WHAT WAS ACTUALLY PRESENT. ALSO, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVELED TO THE FLOORBOARD WHEN IT WAS DEPRESSED AND THE VEHICLE DID NOT IMMEDIATELY STOP. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, BUT NO FAILURES WERE FOUND. LATER, WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE STALLED AFTER DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALER WERE NOT NOTIFIED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 73,000.
COOLANT LEAKING INTO TRANSMISSION CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION TO FAIL
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 NISSAN XTERRA. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE VEHICLE DECELERATED. THE CONTACT COASTED THE VEHICLE TO THE SHOULDER AND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO HIS HOME. IN ADDITION, THE CHECK ENGINE AND 4WD WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC CAME TO THE CONTACT'S HOME AND DIAGNOSED THAT THE VEHICLE NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION AND RADIATOR. THE CONTACT INSTALLED THE RADIATOR. THE TRANSMISSION WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND DID NOT ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 133,316.
AIRBAG LIGHT IS BLINKING. I'VE RESET THE ALERT AND THEN AFTER DRIVING FOR A FEW MINUTES, IT RETURNED. DEALERSHIP WAS UNSURE IF THERE WAS A RECALL OR IF NISSAN WOULD REPLACE THE AIRBAGS. I FOUND THIS SITE AS I WAS LOOKING FOR INFORMATION. THE AIRBAG LIGHT BLINKS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN PARK OR IS RUNNING.
TURNS OFF. BLINKS. DOESN'T TURN ON UNLESS CAR IS RESTARTED.
WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE SURGES AND SPUTTERS AND RPMS SKYROCKET AND THE VEHICLE LOSES POWER AND SHUTS DOWN. THIS HAPPENS AT VARIOUS SPEEDS ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, TOWN STREETS AND COUNTY ROADS. THE VEHICLE WILL ALSO LOSE POWER AND SHUT DOWN WHILE IDLING AT A STOP SIGN OR TRAFFIC LIGHT. THERE IS NO WAY TO STEER OR RESTART WHEN THIS HAPPENS AND I HAVE DEPENDED ON HAZARD FLASHERS TO WARN OTHER DRIVERS OF DISABLED VEHICLE UNTIL I CAN GET ASSISTANCE TO GET VEHICLE OFF OF HIGHWAY. AFTER 20 MINUTES OF BEING DEAD, VEHICLE WILL SOMETIMES RESTART AND GO A FEW MORE MILES BEFORE SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN. AFTER 3 WEEKS AT A DEALERSHIP AND A COST SO FAR OF $3,000, THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN PINPOINTED AND FIXED. DEALERSHIP HAS CONTACTED NISSAN CUSTOMER SERVICE WHO HAS TWO OPEN CASES OF THE SAME ISSUE WITH THE SAME MODEL VEHICLE. I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS OTHER COMPLAINTS IN ONLINE FORUMS OF THE SAME ISSUE SAME MODEL AND STILL NO FIX FOUND FOR THE ISSUE. I HAVE NOW OPENED MY OWN CASE WITH NISSAN NORTH AMERICA CUSTOMER CARE AND AM AWAITING FURTHER INVESTIGATION FROM THEM. MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD.
THE VEHICLE KEEPS STALLING AND RUNNING ROUGH WHILE DRIVING AFTER NUMEROUS REPAIRS AND SEVERAL TRIPS TO THE DEALERSHIPS THE PROBLEM CONTINUES TO PERSISTENT. THE MECHANICS SEEM NOT TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE ISSUE ANY ASSISTANCE WOULD BE APPRECIATED
VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION (HIGHWAY DRIVING). I BEGAN TO HEAR A WHINNING SOUND AT ANY RATE OF SPEED.THE SOUND NEVER WENT AWAY. IT BECAME LOUDER DURING ACCELERATION. I CHECKED ANY RECALLS ON THE XTERRA MODELS AND FOUND OUT THAT IT HAS A FAULTY TIMMING CHAIN ISSUE. I HAD THE VEHICLE SERVICED AND INDEED, THE PROBLEM WAS THE TIMING CHAIN.
118 total