2009 Nissan XTERRA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2009 Nissan Xterra has received a mixed safety rating based on the available data. While it scored highly in side crash tests with a 5-star rating for both the driver and passenger sides, its front crash rating was average at 4 stars for both the driver and passenger side. The car received a 3-star rating for rollover risk, indicating a moderate level of risk in rollover accidents.

One notable safety feature that the Nissan Xterra is equipped with is electronic stability control, which helps maintain control of the vehicle during challenging driving conditions. However, it does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the 2009 Nissan Xterra has had 18 complaints reported and 5 recalls issued. It is important for owners to stay informed about any recalls and address them promptly to ensure the safety of the vehicle.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

18

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2009 Nissan Xterra 4-DR w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2009 Nissan Xterra 4-DR w/SAB

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2009 Nissan Xterra 4-DR w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2009 Nissan Xterra 4-DR w/SAB Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2009 Score 2015 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2009 Score 2015 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2009 Score 2015 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 3 3
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2009 Nissan XTERRA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"a faulty radiator caused my transmisson and coolant to leak together causing damage to the transmission. now my transmission needs to be replaced"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2021-11-06

Complaint:
"i purchased this 1 owner trade in 4/11/19. as of 5/9/19 i started to experience pronounced issues with losing power around 40 mph . diagnostics confirmed that it was due to a leak in the cooling coil which resulted in coolant in my transmission fluid which damage the transmission. i have filed a claim under the class action required extended warranty. as i was unaware of this issue and didn't know what was happening and honestly afraid to find out since i still owe 5000 dollars on the car i put off getting the diagnostics. the final straw came when i was merging onto the highway and lost power trying to merge into fast traffic. i finally called a local repair shop for diagnostics on 5/31/19 and took the first available appointment on 6/4/19. i was told there may be an extended warranty and to call the dealership. the dealership confirmed the diagnosis the next day 6/5/19 and nissan is reviewing my claim. i am praying they won't deny it because the diagnostics were completed a couple business day after the extension expired on 5/31/19."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2021-06-05

Complaint:
"purchased this vehicle for my wife, while she was driving down the freeway in rush-hour in august in phoenix, the vehicle started smoking and lost all power to the transmission, i noticed the transmission cooler had failed and sprayed fluid all over the engine,-this all happened with zero warning and no service indicator lights were activated. i towed the vehicle to my house and inspected further, called the dealership and they said at 120k i no longer qualify for a warranty covered repair even though the service department is very much aware of this problem. i'm now facing a repair by myself or pay a mechanic to fix an obvious design flaw."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2017-04-08

Complaint:
"premature clutch failure in 2nd generation nissan xterra. clutch burnt out at under 5000 miles without warning while driving in snow in 4wd lo. i have 20 years manual driving experience, and have never burned out a clutch. dealership refused to pay for it because it is a wear item. many others have had same problem - some with transmission disengaging without any notice which could be very dangerous on a highway. many have described clutch as "exploded" or "totally shredded" when taken apart. we believe this is because nissan dumped the 350 z clutch, which is made for a lightweight sports car, into a heavy and powerful 4wd. this clutch is underpowered for the 265 hp xterra. nissan refuses to acknowledge this problem, yet it continues to happen. more info and details of the frequency of this failure can be found at edmunds.com under the nissan xterra clutch problem post. nissan has been totally inconsistent in its partial, complete, or lack of reimbursed for this problem. *tr"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2011-03-01

Recalls for the 2009 Nissan XTERRA

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"nissan is recalling 242,720 my 2005-2009 pathfinder, frontier and xterra vehicles originally sold in or currently registered in the states of connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin, and the district of columbia. in those areas of the country which use heavy concentrations of road salt in the winter, a mixture of snow/water and salt can enter into the front crash zone sensor (czs) housing. if this occurs, the czs may internally rust resulting in a signal interruption. if this happens, the red air bag warning light will illuminate to alert the vehicle operator."
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.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL
Date of incident: 2008-12-29

Recall:
"nissan north america, inc. (nissan) is recalling certain 2008-2011 titan, frontier, xterra, pathfinder, armada, and 2008-2009 quest vehicles. the resin emblem on the driver's air bag cover may develop cracks and detach during air bag deployment."
Consequence:
A detached emblem can become a projectile during air bag deployment, increasing the risk of injury to vehicle occupants.
Remedy:

Dealers will replace the driver’s airbag cover. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed April 7, 2023. Second letters will be mailed once the remedy is available, anticipated December 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall are PC944, PC945, and PC946.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL
Date of incident: 2023-02-10

NISSAN Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

NISSAN ranks 5 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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