In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Pathfinder are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Model X doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Pathfinder Platinum has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Model X doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Pathfinder has standard Rear Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Model X doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Pathfinder 4WD’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Model X doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The Pathfinder Rock Creek/SL/Platinum has a standard Around View® Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Model X only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Pathfinder’s standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Model X doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
The Pathfinder SV/Rock Creek/SL/Platinum has standard NissanConnect Services, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model X doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the Pathfinder and the Model X have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available all wheel drive.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Nissan Pathfinder is safer than the Tesla Model X:
|
|
Pathfinder |
Model X |
|
|
Front Seat |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
84 |
101 |
| Abdominal Force |
138 lbs. |
157 lbs. |
|
|
Into Pole |
|
| STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
| HIC |
234 |
274 |
| Spine Acceleration |
37 G’s |
39 G’s |
| Hip Force |
466 lbs. |
625 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The Nissan Pathfinder has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Model X has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.