Complaints fall by more than half from the 2017, but three recalls and a blank-screen dashboard problem make this a verify-everything year.

The most-repeated owner complaint specific to the 2018. The Display Control Unit — Nissan's name for the centre touchscreen module that runs the infotainment system — fails and the screen goes permanently dark. Owners report losing the radio, the visible climate controls and the backup camera image simultaneously, with the steering-wheel controls going dead alongside them. One filing names the vehicle by its factory code, calling it 'my 2018 Nissan Pathfinder (R52 model)'. It is not covered by a recall and it is not the same fault as recall 19V654 — this is the whole unit dying, not a settings problem. Because the reversing camera goes with it, treat a flickering or intermittently blank screen on a test drive as a real fault rather than a software quirk, and price a module replacement.

Recall 19V654 is a fleet-wide Nissan campaign covering 2018–2019 vehicles across almost the entire range, the Pathfinder among them. The defect is a software one: the backup camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible, and the system then remembers that setting the next time the car is put in reverse — so the camera simply never comes back. NHTSA treats this as a failure to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 on rear visibility. Dealers update the camera settings software free of charge. The campaign began in November 2019 and NHTSA's payload notes all affected VINs should be activated, so there is no parts-availability excuse for an unrepaired car.

A smaller cluster than the 2017's but a serious one. One owner reports the engine starting to knock at 75,000 miles and worsening daily; another describes the engine failing catastrophically for the second time on the same vehicle, with the family in the car; a third attributes failure to inadequate breathing through the crankcase causing high crankcase pressure and heavy oil consumption. This generation's 3.5-litre V6 is otherwise well regarded — a community source describes it as a proven, strong engine good for well over 200,000 miles with proper maintenance — but its timing chains ride on plastic guides that wear when oil changes are stretched, and a metallic rattle from the front of the engine on a cold start is the warning sign. Ask for oil-change records rather than taking the mileage at face value.

The 2018 is the final model year inside the class-action settlement that extended CVT coverage on 2015–2018 Pathfinders from 60 months/60,000 miles to 84 months/84,000 miles. The CVT — a continuously variable transmission, which uses a belt between variable-width pulleys instead of fixed gears — still judders, hesitates and fails here, though less often than on the 2017. One owner reports the engine having to be replaced because of what the transmission did to it; others describe the vehicle hesitating without warning at 60 mph. On a 2018 sold in 2017 or 2018 the 84-month clock ran out in 2024 or 2025, and 84,000 miles is long past on a typical example, so budget as though nothing is covered. Nissan's judder bulletins for this family look for fault codes P17F0 or P17F1 in the transmission control module and were extended to cover model years through 2019.

Reassurance rather than alarm, and specific to this model year. Nissan ran a Voluntary Service Campaign — a free customer-satisfaction repair rather than a safety recall — under code PC661 to reprogram the electric intake Valve Timing Control module on certain 2018 Pathfinders. In Nissan's own words the original software 'may allow the Malfunction Indicator Lamp to illuminate improperly if certain cold start conditions are met,' and affected customers see the check-engine light with no driveability concerns. The related bulletin ties it to fault codes P34A5 and P34A9 appearing when the outside temperature is near or below freezing. It superseded an earlier dealer-inventory action that replaced the module outright on 2,194 cars. If a 2018 has a check-engine light that appears only in the cold, this is worth asking the dealer about before assuming the worst.

Two smaller electrical annoyances that recur. One owner traces a stop-lamp switch fault to silicon off-gassing from silicone-based grease used in surrounding components — and Nissan does publish a general warning that silicone-based lubricants can damage electrical components. Separately, several 2018 owners report the forward-collision system braking or warning with nothing ahead, and the traction-control and collision warning lights illuminating together. Nissan has a bulletin covering intelligent cruise control going inoperative with an emergency-braking warning light or a radar obstruction message on 2017 and later Pathfinders. Neither is a common cause of failure, but note any phantom-braking history.