2003 Nissan X-Trail T Spec from UK and Ireland - Comments

Update on my previous comments. X trail now just over 3 years old and up to 114000 miles. Has recently been a real so n so to start, but does eventually start, but then won't tick over. My heel n toe brake n throttle skills are now F1 standard. Put it in to new Nissan dealer in area to be told it needs new injectors and pump at a cost of...wait for it...4 grand, yep, 4 grand!! The cars only worth 5. I repeat again, think very, very carefully before you buy an X Trail, it could be the worst decision you ever make.

Bought 2 x-trail 2.2 aventura's in Kent April 2006, both went for first service at 12000 miles in Aberdeen as I relocated. At 14000 miles both sets of front tyre's 1/4 outside are bald, 1 now needs discs all round and replaced pads even though they are less than 25% worn. Nissan have said brakes are not warranty, read the warranty book. As a good will gesture they have agreed to pay for the discs, but not the labour or the pads. Dealers very curt and rude, Nissan not willing to admit that there is a fault, as a HGV driving instructor, brakes should not need to be replaced at this low mileage. I am printing the hit list of your complaints and seeing if I can take this further.

My 2004 Almera DCI 136 (same engine as X-trail and Primera) has recently developed a whistling turbo. The noise has gradually worsened, and it now smokes under acceleration. Its done less than 50k, with a full service history, and has even had the boost sensors and intercooler pipes replaced under recall.

Its now out of warranty, and I'm dreading the repair bill of a new turbo.

Surely Nissan should be contributing towards the cost, if not paying in full?

X Trail Sport (3 1/2 Years Old - 39000 Miles)

The Turbo on my X Trail failed spectacularly at the weekend. It has never been driven hard, nor has it ever towed a caravan or trailer. I have just received a quote for parts and labour (which includes the inter-cooler) for £1700. Sounds low, but it's just out of warranty. I don't know if I'll get any response, but I intend to take this up with Nissan directly; watch this space!

We have a Feb04 X-Trail that has done 37500miles.Extendd warrany ran out Sept 07.

CD player failed 6 months ago and took Nissan 5 months to fix it... under warranty. Service was bad - had tokeep chasing them.

Now engine has developed a whine on acceleration. From reading comments this would be the turbo then. Have it booked in to a Nissan dealer this am for them to take a look - am expecting a high cost - poor service etc... is the turbo problem a recall issue and anyone had any success ingetting Nissan to pay?

Just got back from Nissan Dealer and am in shock. It took them 75mins to listen to the whine noise when I accelerate, and I had told them I think it might be the turbo/intercooler. They then quoted me £1675 to replace turbo and intercooler including labour time of 3.3hour.

I also asked if it is safe to drive - Technician told me oh yes it is, however if the turbo completely fails. then oil will rush into the engine, lots of black smoke will come out of xhaust and th ecar will stop!..apart from that it's OK to drive! Realy filled me with confidence...

He also said that this problem is a known one with Xtrail Diesels and has been known for some time.. so why havn't Nissan informed al Xtrail owners of this fault before warranty expires!!

As our for warranty - I bought an extra 12 months manufacturuers warranty when we bought car (manufactured Feb 2004) in Oct 2006...guess what, it has expired Oct 2007!

I find this outrageous - I am expecting a cal from the warranty managr tomorrow - welcome any other comments.

Owned an x-trail for three years come march, it's an 04 2.2dci

It's done 46,000 miles has full Nissan service history and has had turbo replaced, inter-cooler replaced, stereo replaced (which still jumps). And now the second turbo has just developed a whine, this requires a replacement at 1350 pounds. We contacted Nissan direct who denied any knowledge of a turbo problem, but offered us a non negotiable goodwill payment of 30% this was matched by our local dealer without any coercing at all. Will be asking some hard questions tomorrow of the service manager, will let you know what I find out.

Hello x-trail fans.

Here in Belgium we also have problems with these diesels of Nissan. The inter-cooler was also replaced under warranty. No complaints, but we were still amazed that the engine has problems to start at temperatures below 0° and on warm days. Also when accelerating on highways or towing a caravan the power falls down from time to time.

This could be dangerous in certain situations. When we went to our dealer, he checked it with the diagnostics machine, but found nothing. They also asked Nissan Belgium, but no such problems are known. (Strange...) As I also speak German, I already consulted German forums. So, these problems are also known very well in Germany! I thought Japanese constructors were able to make reliable cars. Now, I hope they won't let us owners in the cold...

Wish I'd seen this site before we bought our 2.2 diesel X-Trail.

November 2004, 6 months old and it has been driven hard, but at 3 years and 2 months old (and 65k miles), it developed a deathly rattle; just out of warranty! It has been serviced religiously at the same Nissan main dealer who inspected it. From listening, he diagnosed worn timing chain tensioners assuring my wife it was safe to drive home. It didn't make it, stalling on the A1 and never recovering.

While arranging a tow truck, I found a recall for faulty tensioners, ours was JUST outside the chassis range, so in the dealer's view could not possibly be affected, so it was down to yours truly to foot the bill.

When they stripped it down, the chain had stretched, causing it to slap against the housing, approx 300gbp for the tensioners, 200 for the chain and 550 for the new housing. I complained that this should never have happened, to no avail. I tried Nissan directly, but the best they offered was a "goodwill" payment of 150 gbp as we'd been faithful in our servicing.

When the garage phoned to say they had further bad news - a bearing had failed in the fuel pump, another 300 gbp (I think, I was in shock) I hit the roof. In desperation, I mailed the managing director of Nissan GB with all the details and told the garage not to touch the car as I wanted an independent engineer's opinion before throwing more money at them.

The garage foreman insisted the whole episode was caused by the fuel pump failing, causing the chain to stretch, causing the tensioners to fail and the resulting chain slap. Yet no warning light, no loss of power and the dealer telling me this must have been ongoing for a long time due to the depth of the scoring inside the housing. I smelt a rat and have my own theory on the chain of events, but am not sure I am allowed to detail them here as I'm no expert. Suffice to say, it's the exact reverse of the Nissan dealer's explanation.

Amazingly, I got a response from Mr Frigo, the Nissan MD. Thanks to his intervention, the repairs were carried out free of charge. I was mightily impressed with his attention, but upset that it took this sort of action to get any help from either Nissan or the dealer. I would have gladly contributed, I wasn't looking for a free fix. It was the principle! The dealer told my wife it was safe to drive and within 20 miles the chain jammed. The recall on the tensioners detailed the symptoms - the exact symptoms ours suffered, even warning that the chain would jam.

Yet still I was fobbed off and they attempted to extract an awful lot of cash to fix the problem.

Also - turbo ECM replaced (under recall), heater motor jamming, passenger window fell out (honestly!), seatbelts failed to recoil and the cd has never worked properly from the day we bought the vehicle.

Apart from that, it's been problem free...

I chose to leave the 2.2 tdi model alone and went for a 2.5 petrol automatic instead.

No problems at all.. (2004 model, with about 40k miles on it).

I feel that the diesel option is becoming less attractive these days. Diesel prices are rising, and diesel cars aren't as "clean" as we once thought.

I wonder why other nations haven't picked up on the gas/petrol hybrid solution that is so common in Germany and Holland.

We have recently had problems with our Nissan T 30 X Trail to say the least!! It experienced problems, and engine management lights came on, under 600k mileage!

It was taken to Nissan garage in Portugal, update was as follows, head had to come off, valves were damaged! Told something was sucked up into engine!! The car has never been off road!! Drive of a lifetime it certainly was!! Never again please after a bill for 1400 + euros, ongoing dispute with Barcelona!! Quite scared to attempt to take it off road after this experience! Anyone else had similar??

My November 2004 2.2 DCI XTrail, 48,000 miles and 7 months out of warranty, has just cost me £2,300 for a new turbo, intercooler and cat. Car has been serviced by a main dealer in accordance with the warranty. Nissan UK refused to help ("because it's an import".. hey it's a Nissan isn't it?) and the 2 dealers I checked with both tell me that this is a common problem. One said that the problem was so common that he thought that all XTrails should have been subject to a recall for this!

I would rather eat my own arm than buy another Nissan product after this. Anyone considering Nissan... think carefully about doing business with this company.

Norway

Bought my new X-Trail April 2005.

I've had a ratlling noise from the engine at approx 2500 rpm from day one. I was told the noise came from the air intake and I accepted this.

My X-Trail T30 broke down 4 weeks ago, timing chain broke, the housing was destroyed, valves and guides needs to be replaced. Nissan Norway is offering me 50% of spare part costs, but I have to pay for the labor myself.

The car's mileage is 61900 km, and it's 4 months off warranty. Anyone else with 2005-2006 models with a similar failure?