Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2014 Nissan Pathfinder owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I was experiencing shaking and guttering during acceleration. I was coming from a full stop (red light, stop sign). It shakes, and I have back off the accelerator. When it happened, I had my children in the car on a busy roadway. I would hate to think of what could have happened if my vehicle had stopped on the busy road or crossing railroad tracks. Thankfully, we were close to home, roughly 2-3 miles away. I took the truck to the closest service center to have it looked at. It turns out it is a CVT failure. The service technician could reproduce the same guttering I explained and received various error messages. I have not had the vehicle taken to the dealer yet, as I would have to tow it because I fear driving the truck. I didn't experience any warning lights before the CVT failure. Now my airbag warning light comes on. …
While driving on the parkway several times for traveling to work, my car would suddenly and violently shudder and drop speed much lower than the posted speed limit. My RPMs would race from 1.5 to 5 but no increase in speed when the accelerator was pushed. I had to put my emergency 4 way lights on and drive in the far right lane. Nissan dealership kept saying the vehicle was working fine when I complained about it. I took it in for service at least twice, nothing found. Then when my whole family was with me, the car shuddered violently, and would not respond at all with the accelator pedal and was unresponsive and the brakes difficult to engage and hard to steer. I had to glide into the shoulder to make a full stop. Then the engine would not turn off. All I could do was put my emergency flashers on and put the windows down for air. I had to call for help. …
CVT TRANSMISSION ISSUES. JUDDERING, LOST SPRRD DOWNSHIFT JERKS. GOING 70 ON HIGHWAY IT LOST SPEED JERKED ME AROUND LIKE I AM GETTING HIT. COULDN'T EVEN GO UP RAMP ON HIGHWAY. Its hard to believe that NHTSA dose not have a ban on these vehicals. There are many complaints and Nissan letters within Nissan that have been issued out to dealships ect. no to mention the law suits. NHTSA would be the first i would think to post and force these off of the road. Insted people like me are just forced to junk them and write them off. or spend your life savings on trans replacement.
Car started to shutter, doing 55 mph and stop pulling..all lights were flashing then shut down, was able to coast into some business parking lot. Had to get towed to shop where was told needed alternator, replaced that and replaced battery...car would start but put in gear and same thing happened shut down and didn't get but a couple of miles from shop..still no fix. Contacted a Nissan dealership was told maybe transmission. Told no recalls, which it should be.
Experience judder and stall of vehicle while driving, pulling off and coming from a complete stop. Vehicle will lose power while driving which is unsafe when getting on the freeway or driving in high traffic areas. Vehicle has been taken to the Nissan twice and to other repair shops for related concern and all have stated that the trans needs replacing. There were no lights or warnings before problems started it all occurred simultaneously.
As I am accelerating once the car reaches 30-60 mph there is a very distant shuddering that occurs that cause the engine to lose some power and turns the check engine light on. This appears to be a common problem as I have found many complaints on forums describing very similar symptoms.
From time to time, my 2014 Nissan Pathfinder will not accelerate on full throttle while driving. I noticed this for the first time when the mileage was around 22K, and now around 34K, it is happening more frequently. I took it to the dealership a week ago to address this issue. They changed a brake relay and did some recall-related software updates. Since then, it is happening more frequently. I almost got hit by another car in the interstate ramp as I could not accelerate. I looked up online and found that this was the major issue among the 2013-2014 pathfinders and they have recalled close to the million vehicles for this. However, according to the manufacturer's tag on my car, this batch was built after the recall date (August 2014). It looks like Nissan probably have not yet found the real solution for this issue, or, their CVT transmission design is fundamentally flawed. …
1) my drievr side door level broke unable to exit vehicle. 2) vehicle sometimes takes a long time to stop without warning. 3) on a curve while brking or from brake to acceleration the vehicle stutters or hesitates to go. Almost hit several times because as I lightly hovered the brake while turning or in straight line it hestiates to provide acceleration. (dealer said nothing they can do for this)they need codes I was told. 4) all brake pads and rotors both went bad before 25,000 miles. 5) right front bearing went bad at approx 6000 miles causing accelerated tires wear (I had to buy new tires) at 10K miles on a 60-75K tire. 6) passenger side air bag warning light stays on all the time(currently had car in they said they were getting a part) I average 10-12K a year and park in a large open driveway.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 Nissan Pathfinder. While the accelerator pedal was depressed and driving at low speeds, the steering wheel jerked until the accelerator pedal was released. The contact stated that he felt a vibration and a rattling noise was heard from the steering wheel. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to bommarito Nissan west (14747 manchester rd, ballwin, mo 63011, [phone]) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle needed new tires and brake pads. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that someone would contact him. No further assistance was offered. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
While stationary and moving my vehicle brake lights have stayed on even when I am out of the car and the car is off. I had an incident in which the ignition button was able to be turned on without my foot being on the pedal, as if the brake pedal was already pressed. The car stutters to accelerate after braking. I worked to have this addressed through Nissan after seeing a recall with similar issues on this year and model. Nissan rejected fixing the problem due to my VIN number not being associated with that recall. I had a diagnostic run by my local Nissan dealer which stated that the brake control and push button stater switch need replacing. I reference NHTSA campaign number: 16V380000 as similar to my case.
Acceleration complaints in other Pathfinder years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2014 Nissan Pathfinder?
NHTSA has 26 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2014 Nissan Pathfinder, 5% of the model year's 575 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2014 Nissan Pathfinder acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2014 Nissan Pathfinder, though it has 11 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2014 Nissan Pathfinder acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 52,000 miles, and 42% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.