Nissan Pathfinder vs Dodge Avenger: which is more reliable?
The Nissan Pathfinder and the Dodge Avenger are level on the federal record — 71/100 against 74/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Nissan Pathfinder
- 14 model years scored
- 2,708 owner complaints on record
- about 30 complaints per year on the road
- 49 recall campaigns, 30 safety-critical
- best year 2012 (95/100) · worst 2013 (26/100)
Dodge Avenger
- 4 model years scored
- 1,515 owner complaints on record
- about 30 complaints per year on the road
- 12 recall campaigns, 9 safety-critical
- best year 2014 (89/100) · worst 2013 (60/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Pathfinder against Avenger
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Nissan Pathfinder
- Power Train — 782 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 471 complaints
- Engine — 467 complaints
Dodge Avenger
- Air Bags — 367 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 341 complaints
- Engine — 286 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Pathfinder's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Avenger's in Air Bags. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Nissan Pathfinder — avoid: 2013, 2014.
Dodge Avenger: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2011, 2014.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Nissan Pathfinder prices at about $40,800 and a Dodge Avenger at about $15,400 — the Dodge Avenger is roughly $25,400 less, and they return 23.0 against 24.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Nissan Pathfinder or the Dodge Avenger more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Dodge Avenger scores 74/100 against the Nissan Pathfinder's 71/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Nissan Pathfinder and Dodge Avenger years should I avoid?
Nissan Pathfinder: 2013, 2014. Dodge Avenger: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Nissan Pathfinder and the Dodge Avenger?
The largest complaint group on the Nissan Pathfinder is Power Train (782 complaints); on the Dodge Avenger it is Air Bags (367).
Is the Nissan Pathfinder or the Dodge Avenger cheaper to own?
A recent used Nissan Pathfinder prices at about $40,800 and a Dodge Avenger at about $15,400, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.