When you are only using five seats the boot of the Pathfinder is enormous! You can fit 18 shopping bags in the boot which is a fantastic amount of storage.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
There are also two cup holders on either side of the boot, for the third-row seats, which are fantastic to have in the boot when the third-row seats are not being used.
When I head out on a journey with Tulsi I usually take my water and a travel cup of tea with me! Mainly because I’m tired and need the caffeine like most new mums! Also in case she falls asleep so I pull over and have a few minutes still time with a cuppa! Or I have water bottles that although they all say they don’t leak inevitably after they have been dropped a few times they all leak so it is a juggle to keep vessels upright and away from bubs or interested toddlers!
So I go to the boot of the car with bub, bags, drinks, snacks and I hope the boot has automatic opening as I don’t have a hand free and basically dump everything in there whilst I strap bub into her seat and organise everything. Having drinks holders in the boot helps so much as you can just pop your drinks hot and cold in there out of the way. Knowing they are not going to spill or fall over or burn anyone!
With the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller in the boot, I could get 11 shopping bags in around it, when only using the five seats in the car.
With the Britax Flexx tandem stroller in the boot, only using five seats, I could get 14 shopping bags in around it!! That's AMAZING!!
The Britax Flexx single stroller fits into the boot with 14 shopping bags too.
With the very compact Britax Holiday stroller in the boot, only using five seats, I could get 18 shopping bags in with it.
The Britax Holiday compact stroller is so small you could put it in a footwell in front of a rear facing child seat in most cars.
When all seven seats the boot space is still a good size!! On either side of the boot, there are hooks for bags and one on each of the seat backs, which I thought was a thoughtful feature.
There is a 12V socket on the left and a huge underfloor storage area where a spare wheel would have been and in the Pathfinder is an inflator kit. It provides you with a huge plastic storage area great for wet gear, beach stuff etc, keeping things separate from the carpeted area of the boot and would be easily cleaned.
The boot floor is carpeted and I found big enough even when using all seven seats to do an emergency nappy change!
With all seven seats in use, I can get 8 shopping bags in the boot of the Pathfinder! That is impressive for a seven-seater car!!
The Britax Holiday compact stroller fits in the boot with six shopping bags.
The Britax Flexx single stroller fitted in the boot with three shopping bags and the Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted in the boot with one shopping bag. I found it impressive that a tandem stroller could fit in the boot at all!!
The Mountain Buggy Duet would not fit in the boot with 7 seats in use.
Loading and unloading the boot is comfortable, the floor is a good height and you don't have to bend down into an awkward shape or anything.
Storage in the cabin of the Pathfinder is ample, especially if you need cup holders!!
In the front of there are two cup holders in the central console, they are very big and round and I found they would hold a disposable coffee cup, a travel mug and large refillable water bottle also fitted well. They were too big for a 600ml bottle, they just rattle around in there.
The front door pockets will hold a small 600ml or Pigeon baby bottle. They are not big enough for large refillable water bottles but could hold two small bottles. Or my wallet fitted in them with a 600ml bottle.
The glove box in the Pathfinder is cavernous! I could easily get my wallet and iPad in there and room for much more it's a really good storage space!
There is a rubber lined tray in front of the gear lever which has two 12V sockets and I found a good place for my phone as it wouldn't slide around.
The central console storage box is another good storage compartment, it has an upper and lower section, the upper has felt lining so you can put your phone, keys, glasses in there and they won't rattle around when driving.
The lower section has another 12V socket, two USB sockets and audio and video in sockets. The lid doubles as your armrest.
There is a glasses case in the ceiling that is lined and there are lit vanity mirrors in both sun visors and the visors are nice and deep and extendable, which I find really helpful with a low sun.
All the doors have lovely big wells in the Pathfinder which I find really handy for keys or little things my daughter has in her hands when I'm putting her in and out of the car.
Either side of the central console there are grooves in the footwells where I found an iPad or a slim book both fit really well.
In the second row, the passengers have the same wells in the doors alongside a really well-positioned cup holder on the arm of the doors. This a perfect size for a Pigeon baby bottle or a 600ml bottle.
Down in the door bins, there is space for two vessels, a 600ml and Pigeon baby bottle fitted too.
There are map pockets in the back of both front seats, they are solid so whatever you put in them will not show. They are deep enough to conceal an iPad which is great!
In a fold-down armrest in the central seat back are another two cup holders and a well that would be useful for holding iPads or phones and I found teething sticks fitted well too!!! The cup holders held a disposable and reusable coffee cup well. A large refillable water bottle was too big and a 600ml rattled around.
The third row of seats has two large cup holders on either side. I found them a good size for a disposable and reusable coffee cup. Large refillable water bottles fit in them nicely too. The smaller 600ml bottle rattle around in them.
The cabin of the Pathfinder has a lot of generous storage and I think for a family car with five children onboard they could find a spot for everything!
The Pathfinder has a rear camera and rear parking sensors. The image quality of the camera is not great, it is quite grainy and blurry.
You can turn the parking sensor sound off within the digital display infant of the steering wheel. It is a bit fiddly to do it is not a simple touch screen mute button!
The Pathfinder does not have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and I found connecting my phone wasn't very simple, it took a while to work out how to get nursery rhymes playing on my phone to come out of the car speakers.
I was testing the most basic model the Pathfinder ST which had not got inbuilt sat-nav, but the ST-L model does come with sat-nav.
The Pathfinder does have a loud and annoying, constant ‘beep, beep, beep, beep' if the boot is open or one of the doors is open when you are stationary. This I found was a bit much on my own testing, I think with five children added to the mix it would drive me mad!
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The indicators are relatively quiet, it is not a shrill sound and I don't think it would disturb sleeping passengers.
Road and engine noise were good and I didn't really notice them being a problem when I tested it.
The Pathfinder has two ISO Fix points one in each of the second row outer seats. I found them easy to locate and to connect to.
To my surprise, there are four top tether points in the Pathfinder! Fantastic BabyDrive feature! There is one in the back of the backrests of each of the second-row seats and one in one of the third-row seats too!
This allowed me to install four child seats into the Pathfinder! In the third row I had the Britax Maxi Guard Pro booster seat and in the second row.
I fitted the rear facing, Britax Unity infant capsule and the Britax Platinum Pro in each of the outer seats and the Britax Graphene in the central seat forward facing, although it would have fitted rear facing too.
Fitting the child seats I had to use seat belts rather than ISO Fix in order to get the three across the second row and I found it not too difficult to instal them all, the only problem I came across was the central seat headrest, as it was difficult to get the top tether strap through the headrest bars because they are so close together. I think the Pathfinder is definitely well designed to cater to families.
The second row of seats is split 60:40, ONLY if you use the ISO Fix for the outer seats in the second row, can you then slide the second row of seats forward, to climb through to the third row of seats, WITH a child seat installed!! This is a fantastic BabyDrive feature!
The third row of seats was easy to put up to collapse from standing outside the boot using the pull tabs provided.
Legroom in the Pathfinder is pretty fantastic! The second row of seats slides so you can distribute the legroom between each seat row. Also, the seat split of 60:40 allows you to do it differently on each side of the car. I am 162cm and could fit in the third row with the second row of seats in their furthest back position which allows the front seat to also be in the position for a tall driver too!
The front seats and the third row of seats I found much more comfortable than the second row in the Pathfinder, all the seats are firm and fabric covered. The front seats do allow for a ponytail which is good!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
The third row is very spacious and these headrests also allow for a ponytail!
It is quite a step up into the Pathfinder, there are side steps and grab handles to help passengers with that.
The windows in the Pathfinder are tinted. Visibility is good in the Pathfinder, the windows are all nice and big, letting a lot of light in and giving a good view out for all passengers. There are no straps coming from the ceiling so the third-row passengers do not have their visibility obstructed by them. The ceiling is nice and high so third-row passengers do not get a tunnel effect either. For the driver, the visibility is very good too.
The cruise control in the Pathfinder does not hold the set speed well when on undulating roads. It is very simple to use the three button controls on the steering wheel.
The central console is a splattering of buttons and dials, the air-conditioning controls are in amongst them, and once you locate them they are easy to use! There is also a button there for controlling the rear air-con which is fantastic so you can take over if there are any disputes with rear passengers!!
There are vents in the third row and vents for second-row passengers in the back of the central console storage box which are reachable by the driver too!
The flow of air is good, it does have a loud blow to it and I found it actually felt a few degrees cooler than the set temperature so I found I didn't need to have it on as strongly.
I found the air-conditioning fan in the Pathfinder very noise and when you are parked with the air-conditioning on there is a loud whirring sound that you can feel underneath your seat too which is quite disturbing!
Driving the Pathfinder it feels like a BIG car but it is nice to drive. It's actually quite nippy and accelerates well out of junctions which I wasn't expecting with such a big vehicle!
There are deep and extendable visors in the front for both the driver and front passenger too.
There are two, small interior lights in the front and there are one on either side above the second-row doors, these are press on and there is one in the third row above the boot opening too. The second-row lights are not reachable from the front seats.
I often will reach back to turn on the interior light if I am driving at night time, I find my little girl gets less distressed traveling at night that way. It helps if I can reach the interior light from the drivers seat so I can turn it on and off whilst driving. I often find my daughter will need it on as we start our journey in the dark but once she falls asleep I can turn it off.
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
There are handles above the second-row doors that are well positioned to hang a child's toy from.
This entry-level Pathfinder ST has three 12V sockets. One in the central console storage box and two in the tray in front of the gear lever.
The Nissan Pathfinder scored five-starar ANCAP safety rating in 2013.
It got an overall score of 35.73 out of 37. Getting 14.73 out of 16 for frontal offset test, 16 out of 16 for side impact and pedestrian protection was rated marginal.
The Pathfinder comes with 6 airbags as standard, dual front, front-side and side curtain SRS airbags.
As standard the Pathfinder also comes with vehicle dynamic control (VDC) with traction control system (TCS) tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), 3 point emergency locking retractor (ELR) for the front and rear seat belts, driver and front passenger occupant seatbelt warning and alarm, 2nd and 3rd row seatbelt warning and reminder and speed-sensitive door locking system.
The ST-L and Ti models come with rear cross traffic alert and intelligent emergency braking with forward-collision warning.
There are four top tether anchor points in the back rests of all three second-row seats and there is one in the right-hand third-row seat! This was fantastic and allowed me to install four child seats using the seat belts and top tether points. In the third row I installed the Britax Maxi Guard Pro forward facing booster seat.
Thank you so much for all your reviews. They’ve been really helpful. I was scanning a lot of other sites for information to help us decide which car would fit 3 car seats for children under 3 and best suit our general needs and budget.
In addition to your information, I have measured the back seats of some of these models to test which seats will fit based on measurements. I’ve found that really useful in determining combinations of car seats for different vehicles. I’m just a little unsure of how the middle seat will be fitted without the isofix option.
Hi Rebecca, I’m glad you’ve found the reviews helpful 🙂 You would use the cars seatbelt and the top tether anchorage to fix the child seat in place. You use either the ISOFix or seatbelt when instaling a child seat but you always use the top tether anchorage.
I loved this review. Thankyou. I just puchased a new pathfinder this week and am struggling with the top anchor belts staying in place. The other of the seats slopes too much and the belts slide off the side no matter how firm I have them. I read in your comments something about threading through the headrests? What are your suggestions for a safe installation?
Hi Rachel, I had it explained to me like a bra strap, if the straps can fall off the sloping shoulders or in this case the car seat shoulders slope, then thread it between the headrest posts. But I would suggest you could check with the ACRI, whose link is on the right-hand side of our website because they are the best people to answer installation questions for you 🙂
Hi I’ve recently bought a pathfinder and need to fit 3 baby seats across and would ideally like to use the isofix for rear access. What baby seats do you think this would work with? Thanks
I haven’t tried all seats but I’ve listed dimensions of the ones I use here, if that’s of any help: https://babydrive.com.au/articles/will-my-child-seats-fit-in-my-car/