Nissan Problems

Timing chain failures on the Pathfinder are relatively common, but that doesn't means it will happen to yours. Keeping up the service will help, and your mechanic should be able to keep an eye on it when it goes in for service.

That's bloody ridiculous. Nissan has a responsibility to fix your car, and while they do appear to be trying, they have failed abysmally. You have given them enough time, it would seem that you have been very patient, so I would recommend that you step up the pressure on the dealer and Nissan itself. Demand a timetable for the repairs, ask them why they haven't called in specialist help, even from Japan, and consider demanding a replacement car. I am usually loath to recommend asking for a replacement car, but I think in this case you would be justified in demanding a new car. If, as I expect, they refuse, press for a temporary replacement car while they find out what's wrong with yours.

There's no need to have it serviced before you go, get it done when you get back.

There are two ways of setting your car up to run on e85. One, the cheaper one, sees it tuned to run on e85 exclusively, in which case I don't believe it would actually run on 98-octane. The other, more expensive one is to fit a flex-fuel system, which is able to detect what fuel is being used and adjust the tuning accordingly to run on either fuel. The latter system requires the use of a sensor, the same used by GM in its flex-fuel cars, and an ECM to control it. That your car will run on 98-octane fuel leads me to believe that it could be fitted with a flex-fuel system. If it is there  is no danger in running your car on either fuel. To check take it to a mechanic with experience in Skylines and they should be able to tell you what has been fitted to your car.
 

The first thing is that it would seem that the so-called fix isn't a fix. Adjusting the idle would seem to be a stab in the dark in the hope it might alleviate the problem. Take it back to the dealer, and refuse to be stonewalled. Demand an answer, and an explanation of what they are going to do about it.

The ute is seven years old, a Nissan dealer hasn't serviced it, and you don't say how many kilometres it has done, so it's hard to make a judgment on the validity of your claim. The only thing I would suggest is that you attempt to convince Nissan to change its mind and come good with their goodwill assistance.

Early 3.0-litre turbo-diesel Patrols were trouble, but the engines of the later years are not giving any trouble to speak of. It's important to check for a service record, changing the oil regularly is critical to a long engine life. Also check the diff bushes. It's recommended that you have your chosen car checked by a mechanic with knowledge of Patrols.

The engine warning light was telling you that there is a problem within the engine management system. Going into 'safe', better known as limp home mode, is a fail-safe system that allows you to drive the car, albeit at a much reduced pace, until you can get to a mechanic to have it fixed. The error codes that have been found should assist the mechanics to find the cause of the problem and fix it. There is really no choice, but to press on with the mechanics and trust them to find and fix the cause of the problem. If you doubt their competence then take your car somewhere else. Today's cars are much more complex than cars in the past, and most problems seem to affect the computer systems that effectively control them. They're much harder to fix than the cars of old.

Talk to the dealer and request that Nissan send a tech rep to inspect the car with you, and then work out a plan of action for Nissan to address your concerns. Nissan cannot walk away from the problem; you are perfectly entitled to demand they fix the car. If it can't be fixed, then I think you have good justification for asking for your money back.

Yes, they do. It generally seems to happen at 80,000-plus km, so you should be safe for a while. In the meantime make sure you keep the servicing up to it, as some Nissan mechanics blame a lack of servicing for the failures, although it appears to be caused by wear to the chain and the tensioner.