2012 Nissan XTERRA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 Nissan Xterra SUV RWD does not have an overall safety rating available. However, it received a 3 out of 5 rating for rollover possibility, indicating a moderate level of rollover risk. This model comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, which is a beneficial feature for maintaining control on slippery road conditions. It does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which could have improved its safety features.

In terms of complaints and recalls, this vehicle has had 12 complaints reported and has been subject to 2 recalls. It is important for potential buyers to consider these factors when evaluating the overall safety and reliability of the 2012 Nissan Xterra.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

12

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2012 Nissan Xterra SUV RWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Nissan Xterra SUV RWD

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

2012 Nissan Xterra SUV RWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Nissan Xterra SUV RWD 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 2012 Score 2015 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 Not Rated Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2015 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 Not Rated 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 2012 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 2012 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:
"1) rubber stopper under clutch pedal has failed multiple times, preventing vehicle from starting in various locations, usually parking lots and mostly after dark which presents potential safety concerns. this is a rubber part that allows vehicle to start only when clutch is depressed. i request that several/multiple of these be provided at no cost to keep in glove compartment since the poor quality of part manufacturing will most definitely cause future failure of each in the future. in addition, an explanation and instructions for removing broken part and replacing with new part is difficult for one person since you have to crawl up under the dashboard, locate the part, remove the broken part and correctly replace with a new part. i have purchased 7 pieces which have all broken and been charged approximately $7 each. the first time was the date of purchase and there have been more than 5 additional incidents since. rubber stopper 46512-9bp1c purchased 9 between 10/14/12 and 4/6/22. photos of those purchased just in the last couple of years"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2013-02-10
Complaint:
"clutch burnt out with 5 min between 1st incidence of barely slipping and total failure leaving me stranded on roadside with little notice and nowhere safe to pull off."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2022-10-12
Complaint:
"premature clutch failure on my manual transmission. less than 48000 miles on the odometer and the clutch is gone. this is far too little travel for the clutch to be failing at. degradation has advanced rapidly over a matter of weeks and days and now i fear having my family ride in the vehicle in case they becoming stranded or need to avoid a crash and cannot due to loss of power. general consensus is that the clutch is too small for this truck. nissan claims this is a wear item and will not cover replacement under warranty, or admit there is an issue at all. nissan is quick to blame driver's for 'riding the clutch' as the reason for the failure. this is a cop out, particularly when one considers the number of xterra owner's experiencing this issue."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2019-04-07
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2012 nissan xterra. the contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost acceleration power. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the clutch and flywheel needed to be replaced. the vehicle was being repaired. the manufacturer was contacted about the failure. the failure mileage was 23,633. the vin was unavailable."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2014-02-02
Complaint:
"i first noticed my clutch start to slip upon leaving a stop sign. 15 miles later i was stranded on the side of the road with no gears. my clutch had gone out on a brand new xterra with 1800 miles on it. it was towed to the concord, ca nissan dealer where i purchased it. i was badgered on abusing the car since it had some mud on the tires and they insisted i did not no how to drive manual. i had to replace the clutch and "blued" flywheel since they did not cover it with the warranty. they said this was the worst flywheel the shop has seen. here i am with 22,000 miles on the car and the clutch is severely slipping again. i will bring my car in to nissan tomorrow. i bought a nissan because i expected high reliability standards but i was wrong. this is the last nissan i will buy and i will certainly pass on the word to my friends. there have been lots of people with the same problems so i am not the only one. *tr"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2014-06-04

Recalls for the 2012 Nissan XTERRA

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"nissan is recalling certain model year 2011 infiniti fx, model year 2012 infiniti m, model year 2011-2012 nissan frontier, model year 2011-2012 nissan xterra, model year 2011-2012 nissan pathfinder, and model year 2012 nissan nv vehicles. some of the bolts that connect the engine oil cooler and the engine oil filter to the engine in these vehicles may have been manufactured to below specification strength. as a result, the bolt may break at the oil filter attachment point and can cause an engine oil leak."
Consequence:
IF THERE IS AN ENGINE OIL LEAK, THE ENGINE OIL PRESSURE WOULD DROP AND THE ENGINE COULD SEIZE, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:

NISSAN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE CONNECTOR BOLTS FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 30, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.

Component(s) Involved: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Date of incident: 2011-12-19

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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