2005 Nissan Xterra Problems and Recalls (841 Complaints)
The most-reported problem on the 2005 Nissan Xterra is Fuel system (35% of 841 owner reports). There are 6 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Fuel system — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-09-07 841 complaints · 6 recalls
What problems show up on the 2005 Nissan Xterra?
294 of 841 filings named Fuel system (35% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.
Second is Transmission / driveline (286 reports).
There are 6 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Airbags and Suspension. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.
The 2004 has 82 reports on file; this year has 841. Older years collect more reports just by being on the road longer. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.
What owners reported
System named most often: Fuel system 294 complaints · 35.0% of the file
Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:
- Crashes 7
- Fires 6
- Injuries 8
- Deaths 0
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
Which systems owners named
Share of owner complaints filed against each vehicle system. These shares are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold.
“Unclassified NHTSA leftover” is not a car part. It is a filing bucket and always sits last.
View component data as a table
| System / Component | Complaints | Share of Reports | Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) | 294 | 35.0% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) | 286 | 34.0% | 0 crashes · 2 fires |
| Engine (ENGINE) | 160 | 19.0% | 0 crashes · 1 fires |
| Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) | 25 | 3.0% | 0 crashes · 2 fires |
| Airbags (AIR BAGS) | 14 | 1.7% | 3 crashes · 0 fires |
| Suspension (SUSPENSION) | 6 | 0.7% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Cruise / speed control (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) | 6 | 0.7% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Steering (STEERING) | 4 | 0.5% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Body / frame (STRUCTURE) | 4 | 0.5% | 1 crashes · 0 fires |
| Unclassified NHTSA leftover | 388 | 46.1% | 4 crashes · 1 fires |
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
When reports and recalls showed up
When owners filed reports, and when recall campaigns showed up.
- Campaign 08V690000 was reported 1,125 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 10E019000 was reported 527 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
| Date | Record type | Count | Record identifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-Q4 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2006-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2006-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2006-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2007-Q2 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2007-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2007-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2008-Q2 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2008-Q3 | Owner reports | 11 | |
| 2008-Q4 | Owner reports | 14 | |
| 2009-Q1 | Owner reports | 17 | |
| 2009-Q2 | Owner reports | 18 | |
| 2009-Q3 | Owner reports | 19 | |
| 2009-Q4 | Owner reports | 22 | |
| 2010-Q1 | Owner reports | 49 | |
| 2010-Q2 | Owner reports | 48 | |
| 2010-Q3 | Owner reports | 33 | |
| 2010-Q4 | Owner reports | 28 | |
| 2011-Q1 | Owner reports | 31 | |
| 2011-Q2 | Owner reports | 23 | |
| 2011-Q3 | Owner reports | 32 | |
| 2011-Q4 | Owner reports | 24 | |
| 2012-Q1 | Owner reports | 22 | |
| 2012-Q2 | Owner reports | 23 | |
| 2012-Q3 | Owner reports | 33 | |
| 2012-Q4 | Owner reports | 25 | |
| 2013-Q1 | Owner reports | 27 | |
| 2013-Q2 | Owner reports | 35 | |
| 2013-Q3 | Owner reports | 31 | |
| 2013-Q4 | Owner reports | 25 | |
| 2014-Q1 | Owner reports | 25 | |
| 2014-Q2 | Owner reports | 20 | |
| 2014-Q3 | Owner reports | 19 | |
| 2014-Q4 | Owner reports | 9 | |
| 2015-Q1 | Owner reports | 14 | |
| 2015-Q2 | Owner reports | 17 | |
| 2015-Q3 | Owner reports | 15 | |
| 2015-Q4 | Owner reports | 14 | |
| 2016-Q1 | Owner reports | 8 | |
| 2016-Q2 | Owner reports | 13 | |
| 2016-Q3 | Owner reports | 14 | |
| 2016-Q4 | Owner reports | 6 | |
| 2017-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2017-Q2 | Owner reports | 9 | |
| 2017-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2017-Q4 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2018-Q1 | Owner reports | 7 | |
| 2018-Q2 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2018-Q3 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2019-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2019-Q2 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2020-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2020-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2020-Q3 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2020-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2021-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2021-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2021-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2022-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2022-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2023-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2023-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2025-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2025-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2026-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 05E062000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 05V458000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 07E046000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 08V690000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 10E019000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 10V517000 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | DP12004 |
Safety Recalls (6)
Official campaigns. Each one says what could go wrong and what the dealer was told to fix.
In short, these campaigns were filed about Airbags and Suspension.
-
Recall campaign 05E062000
Safety recall 05E062000
- Report date
- Component:
- Not available in the source record
- Consequence:
- THE TRAILER OR ITEM IN TOW MAY RELEASE PARTIALLY OR WHOLLY FROM THE MOTOR VEHICLE, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
- Remedy:
- VALLEY INDUSTRIES WILL NOTIFY ITS CUSTOMERS AND REPLACE THE TRAILER HITCHES FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON NOVEMBER 3, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT VALLEY INDUSTRIES AT 209-368-8881.
-
Recall campaign 05V458000
Safety recall 05V458000
- Report date
- Component:
- Not available in the source record
- Consequence:
- THIS COULD RESULT IN THE TRAILER SEPARATING FROM THE VEHICLE AND CAUSE A CRASH WITHOUT WARNING.
- Remedy:
- DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE TOW HITCHES. ON OCTOBER 17, 2005, OWNERS WERE SENT AN INTERIM LETTER ADVISING THEM NOT TO USE THE TOW HITCH UNTIL IT CAN BE REPAIRED. ANOTHER LETTER WAS SENT OUT ON NOVEMBER 21, 2005, NOTIFYING THEM TO BRING THEIR VEHICLES IN FOR REPAIR. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
-
Recall campaign 07E046000
Safety recall 07E046000
- Report date
- Component:
- Not available in the source record
- Consequence:
- THIS HARNESS WOULD RESULT IN POWER FROM THE TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLLER GOING TO THE TOWING VEHICLE DASH LIGHT CIRCUIT RATHER THAN THE TRAILER BRAKES. THIS RESULT WOULD BE THE LACK OF TRAILER BRAKING WHEN THE TOWING VEHICLE BRAKES WERE APPLIED. IT WOULD ALSO RESULT IN THE TOWING VEHICLES DASH LIGHTS BEING ACTIVATED WHEN THE VEHICLE BRAKES WERE APPLIED. THE FAILURE OF THE APPLICATION OF THE TRAILER BRAKE COULD RESULT IN REDUCED ABILITY TO STOP AND CONTRIBUTE TO A POSSIBLE CRASH.
- Remedy:
- HOPKINS WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE ORIGINAL HARNESS WITH A REVISED HARNESS FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN AUGUST 17, 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT HOPKINS AT 800-835-0129.
-
Recall campaign 08V690000
Airbags
- Report date
- Component:
- Airbags (AIR BAGS)
- Consequence:
- THIS ISSUE COULD RESULT IN THE NON-DEPLOYMENT OF THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER FRONT AIR BAGS IN A CRASH, INCREASING THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.
- Remedy:
- DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FRONT CZS WITH A REDESIGNED SENSOR. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 26, 2009. OWNERS IN THE OTHER STATES WILL RECEIVE EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE FOR THE SENSOR TO 10 YEARS. THESE OWNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THE WARRANTY EXTENSION BY MAIL AND WILL RECEIVE A STICKER TO PLACE IN THEIR WARRANTY BOOKLET EXPLAINING THE EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
-
Recall campaign 10E019000
Suspension
- Report date
- Component:
- Suspension (SUSPENSION)
- Consequence:
- IF THE COLLAR WELD SEPARATES, THE VEHICLE HANDLING WILL DETERIORATE, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
- Remedy:
- NISSAN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE ANY AFFECTED LOWER LINK FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 12, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
-
Recall campaign 10V517000
Safety recall 10V517000
- Report date
- Component:
- Not available in the source record
- Consequence:
- THIS COULD CAUSE ENGINE STALLING INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
- Remedy:
- DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE ECM RELAY INSIDE THE IPDM ASSEMBLY. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON DECEMBER 6, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
What owners actually wrote
Short excerpts from the public NHTSA file. Look for the same symptom repeating.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-09-07
Showing 7 of 841 complaints · page 1 of 34
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled inadvertently on several occasions. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road on several occasions. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted, and the contact continued driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the Intelligent Power Distribution Module (IPDM) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 10V517000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the VIN was not included. The dealer and the manufacturer were not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The front airbag crash sensor on my 2005 Nissan Xterra failed and is currently unavailable due to an extended backorder. Firestone Auto provided a work order confirming the need for replacement. The airbag warning light has been flashing continuously for the past four months, indicating a system malfunction. My advisor contacted Nissan dealers three times, and they confirmed the part remains on backorder. This ongoing issue poses a significant safety risk, particularly with the increased driving expected during the upcoming winter season. The sensor has not been replaced or inspected by Nissan, a technician, insurance representatives, or other parties. The part failure has been confirmed by Firestone, but not inspected directly by the manufacturer. I would love to have it solve so I can take my wife to DMV road test.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle was losing motive power. The service engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle stalled with the accelerator pedal depressed. The contact stated that the vehicle moved forward and stopped suddenly intermittently. On another occasion, the A/C became inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and unknown repairs were performed. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was not insured due to the several failures, and the not being able to be repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23E012000 (AIR BAGS). The vehicle was not repaired for the recent failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Xterra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23E012000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the part for the recall repair was not yet available. No information on parts availability was provided. The contact stated that the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The plastic on my sun visor broke and with the use of it the wires inside the mirror light become exposed and almost caused a fire
CrashFireInjuryDeath
I have a 2005 Nissan Xterra and the transmission failed due to my transmission fluid and radiator fluid mixed
CrashFireInjuryDeath
I have a 2005 Nissan Xterra. I am the original owner and have been driving it over 16 years. Two years ago, in 2020 while driving my car on the road and with kids inside (with a 1 year old and a 6 year old child), the car began to shake and turned off (we were stranded in the middle of the road, at a traffic light). Since it was my only means of transportation I kept driving it (no kids inside anymore--which was another HUGE inconvenience having to coordinate and at times pay for babysitters). During my continued usage, it will continue to fail to accelerate causing great danger on the freeway and or on public roads. After a while, I managed to drive it to a transmission shop, who told me they had to either hold onto the car or have it towed--as it was deemed unsafe to drive. Upon inspection, the transmission shop confirmed "coolant bypassed into transmission," among other issues (vehicle does not accelerate, chick engine light is on, etc.) I paid with credit card, $4359.34. Once paid and transmission shop fixed issue, I continued to drive the car with family inside. Now two years later July 2022--I am experiencing the same "vehicle does not accelerate" issue.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems on the 2005 Nissan Xterra?
Owners named Fuel system most often — 294 of 841 reports (35%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.
Are there recalls for the 2005 Nissan Xterra?
NHTSA lists 6 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Airbags and Suspension. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov; a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific vehicle.
What should I inspect before buying a 2005 Nissan Xterra?
Look up the VIN for open recalls. Check for fuel smell, leaks and whether it starts and idles cleanly. Then skim owner filings for the same symptom and take that list to a mechanic.
Does a high complaint count mean I should skip this year?
No. Counts are reports people chose to file and they are not adjusted for sales volume. YearTell does not publish scores or a list of years to skip. Inspect the vehicle.
Estimated Ownership Cost
EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates
Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Adjacent Model Years
Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
Methodology & Data Integrity
Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-09-07. YearTell is not a government agency.