2008 Nissan Quest Problems: 6 Known Issues

On the 2004-2017 Nissan Quest 3.5L VQ35DE V6, the Quest's power sliding doors suffer from motor failures, broken cables, and latch mechanism issues. The electric motor that drives the door wears out, leaving the door stuck partially open or unable to power-close. The latch assembly also fails, preventing the door from staying closed. In some cases, the door opens unexpectedly while driving, creating a serious safety hazard.

On the 2007-2009 Nissan Quest VQ35DE, nHTSA opened preliminary evaluation PE14-012 in May 2014 after complaints that 2007 Quest vans ran out of fuel with the gauge still showing fuel remaining; by the time it closed, the agency had counted 136 unique complaints. Nissan traced the fault to one of two resistors in the combination meter's voltage-divider circuit for the fuel sender opening or lifting, which makes the gauge and the distance-to-empty display read high once the tank drops below about a quarter. Owners reported the DTE readout showing more than 70 miles of range immediately before the engine stalled from fuel starvation - a genuine safety exposure, because the stall happens without warning in traffic. Nissan's own investigation found the same circuit in 2008 and 2009 vans, and the agency closed PE14-012 on Nissan's agreement to run a service campaign covering approximately 68,003 model year 2007-2009 Quest vehicles.

On the 2004-2017 Nissan Quest VQ35DE, both the V42 (2004-2009) and V43 (2011-2017) Quest use the VQ35DE 3.5L V6, and this engine family has a well-documented timing-drive wear pattern discussed at length in Nissan owner communities. Three distinct parts fail: the plastic primary chain guide cracks and breaks up, the secondary (bank) chain tensioners lose their hydraulic bleed-down control, and the primary tensioner plunger sticks. The signature is a loud rattle or buzz for a few seconds on cold start-up as oil pressure builds, plus a rattle on throttle between roughly 1,500 and 2,500 rpm; worn secondary tensioners instead produce a constant whine from the front of the engine. It is a mileage-and-oil-quality failure, most often surfacing past 120,000-150,000 miles and much earlier on engines run on extended or neglected oil changes. Left alone, a disintegrating guide can let the chain jump timing.

On the 2008-2009 Nissan Quest VQ35DE, nHTSA campaign 10V072000 covers a manufacturing defect in the brake pedal assembly on 2008-2009 Quest vans: the end of the brake pedal pivot pin was not spin-formed to specification during production. A pivot pin that is not properly formed can allow the pedal to shift on its pivot, and the resulting misalignment reduces the braking force actually delivered to the master cylinder for a given pedal effort. Owners experience a pedal that feels wrong or a van that does not stop as it should - a straightforward crash risk. This is a build defect at the pedal box, entirely separate from the hydraulic ABS-actuator problem that affects the later V43 generation.

On the 2004-2009 Nissan Quest, the V42 Quest offered the SkyView roof - four fixed glass panels over the second and third rows - plus a powered front moonroof, so one roof carries five glass openings. The drain tubes route down the pillars under the headliner and are prone to kinking and to plugging with debris; when they back up, the water tray around the glass overflows into the headliner rather than out the rocker. Owners report soaked headliners, wet carpet in the second and third rows, and - because the drip path runs down onto the overhead and center electronics - killed radio, amplifier and HVAC control units. The seals around the fixed SkyView glass can also perish independently and let water in between the glass and the roof panel. Nissan addressed water leaks from the SkyView roof in a service bulletin issued in September 2005.

On the 2008-2009 Nissan Quest, nHTSA campaign 23V067000, filed in 2023 and covering 404,690 vehicles including 2008-2009 Quest vans (alongside 2008-2011 Titan, Frontier, Xterra, Pathfinder and Armada), addresses the resin Nissan emblem on the driver's airbag cover. The emblem, supplied by Autoliv, can develop cracks with age and heat cycling and detach during airbag deployment - launching a hard plastic fragment directly at the driver's face at deployment speed. This is a separate defect from the Takata inflator recalls and is not resolved by any Takata remedy. Owner letters were mailed December 8, 2023, so many owners of these older vans - especially second and third owners whose address is not on file with Nissan - have never been notified.