Nissan is a brand that has managed to enter all the various market segments and this has gained them a deep understanding of people and the needs in each category. The Nissan Frontier is a midsize truck that stands strong in terms of reliability and it is also a very practically designed vehicle. The Frontier was sold to 51,700 buyers, which is a good number for its category. What’s really surprising is the fact that the truck only carries a total of 56 complaints with no recalls at all. This surely falls in favor of Nissan but the users have faced clutch failure as well as major quality concerns on the interior of the truck. Trucks that pose as alternatives to the Frontier are the Honda Ridgeline, the Toyota Tacoma, and the GMC Canyon.
User complaints and problems
Electrical Problems
- Acceleration – Users stated that the truck would take a few seconds to respond to the gas pedal after pressure was applied. One of the dealers claimed this to be normal and contact was almost involved in an accident due to this issue. Another dealer looked into the issue and found out to be a fault with the potentiometer. The vehicle was repaired and performed better than before.
Mechanical Problems
- Engine – User claimed that the engine lost power all of a sudden post which, the vehicle felt hard to maneuver. The car ultimately stalled and failed to start again. The user got the vehicle towed to the dealer where the issue was diagnosed to find out that the crankshaft sensor had failed. Trying to run the vehicle in this condition was said to be dangerous and the component was replaced.
- Powertrain – The truck was said to operate with a grinding noise that was hard to figure out where it was from. The clutch was said to slip while in motion, forcing the driver to pull the car over. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the clutch and the flywheel were replaced.
- Brakes – The brakes were being applied when the vehicle ran over a bump and the driver noticed the brake pedal to have lost pressure, leading the foot to go all the way to the floor. Pumping the pedal got back the braking power. This was explained to the dealers and they stated this to be a brake master cylinder fault and recommended getting it replaced.
Safety Problems
- Airbag – The user complained about the airbag sensor being too sensitive as they found the airbags to deploy without any collision taking place. Hard braking or driving over a bump roughly was said to trigger the airbags to deploy. Dealers had to re-program the sensor to fix the issue.
Interior Problems
- Seats – The quality of materials used for the interior is said to be poor and the users found the seat material to be wearing out way too early. Dealers replaced the seats as the vehicle was still under warranty but the users have started to notice the issue repeat again on the replaced set of seats.
2011 Nissan Frontier recalls
The 2011 Nissan Frontier does not have any recalls yet.
Should you buy the 2011 Nissan Frontier?
This particular market has very specific oriented buyers and it is hard to convince such a crowd. Nissan has managed to understand the crowd well and has made the right move with the Frontier. Most of the recorded issues have been very limited with this truck but the interior seat material was said to be cheap and that multiple users even wished that Nissan recalled the vehicles to replace the seats. Do make sure to inspect the drive character of the truck to find there is no clutch slippage or random power loss. There could also be rusk on the surface of the brake rotors and getting the checked can keep the brake performance ideal. There isn’t any major reason to avoid the 2011 Nissan Frontier and we highly recommend getting this truck
