2005 NISSAN PATHFINDER User Comment / Complaint

I began having problems with my 2005 nissan pathfinder with 38,958 miles 2 weeks ago when my 'dte' (distance to empty) indicator began messing up. the suv is running fine like it always has. my dte indicator showed ------ and the gas gauge showed zero gas and the light was on. i knew i had at least 1/2 tank of gas. after filling up, everything went back to normal. thursday evening, 8/16/07, the dte showed -------, but then corrected itself and was fine. on 8/17/07, the 'service engine soon' light came on. i replaced the gas cap, had the oil changed, and it still stayed on. my husband took the suv to autozone to have the codes pulled from the computer. the code is p0463: definition-fuel sending unit condition. she indicated if the car is running fine, which it is, the fuel pump is fine, there could be a bad spot on the fuel level sensor. of course, we cannot just purchase the 'fuel level sensor' without purchasing the entire fuel pump assembly. this will be a pricey repair at $420.00 for the part only available through nissan due to the newness of this body style. in april of 2005, i chose to purchase a brand new 4x4 suv for dependability and no worries taking my kids to school and after school activities. a repair of this magnitude on a less than 2 year old vehicle is not what i had in mind when purchasing this vehicle. every mom panics when the 'service engine soon' light comes on, hoping you and your children make it to where you are going safely. i feel this is a manufacturing defect and nissan should be responsible for repairing this on all newer nissan pathfinders. this is part of the gas tank we are dealing with. i doubt i will ever purchase a nissan again. this is obviously a manufacturing issue and not due to operator error, however, i will have to pay to have this fixed.