Let's start there with the seats. I could fit four child seats in the Nissan Pathfinder; three in the second row and one in the third row. There are top tether anchorages in the back of all three second-row seats and one in the back of one third-row seat, plus ISOfix points in the two outer second-row seats.
The seat behind the driver can slide forward with a child seat installed using ISOfix and allow a nice big access to the third-row seats, although I did find this worked better with two child seats in the second-row so that it doesn't hit against the central child seat.
Leg and headroom is good we could sit a 180cm passenger in the front, a rear-facing child seat in the second-row and I could sit behind in the third-row and I'm 162cm.
There are air vents in both rear rows of seats, which is excellent for keeping rear passengers cool in summer.
Storage is really good in the Nissan Pathfinder, with ten cup holders throughout the car! Two are in the second row doors and I've found them really useful for holding my daughters drink bottle so she can easily reach it and for adults my new reusable Luxey Cup fits well in them too.
The glove box and central console box are both generous in size to house the headphones and controller for the two DVD players in the back of both front headrests.
We did find the DVD players pretty helpful on long journeys but my daughter becomes obsessed and I started to wonder how we would ever live life without it!! You can control these individually from the front media screen which is helpful.
Storage in the boot of the Pathfinder is very good. As a five-seater it held twenty shopping bags; that's two more than the Ford Everest and the Mazda CX-9.
When using all seven-seats I could still fit all types of pram or stroller in the boot with a little shopping which is excellent.
The media system in the Nissan Pathfinder is a bit outdated, it doesn't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and is controlled by a lot of buttons on the dash that are within the touch screen in more modern cars. The screen is quite basic, which at least makes it quite easy to navigate.
You can control the rear climate from the front which is excellent.
The reversing camera image is quite pixellated but you do get a handy overhead image too.
One of my favourite features is you can mute the parking sensors with a button on the steering wheel, making it very BabyDrive friendly when you don't want to disturb sleeping children!
However, the Nissan Pathfinder is generally quite a loud car to drive, the visibility is tricky out of the back when it's loaded up with four child seats and you realise it is a large SUV.
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the Nissan Pathfinder? How good is the interior storage?
The Nissan Pathfinder has a very generous size boot. When using five seats, I could fit 20 shopping bags in there, which is two more than the Ford Everest and the Mazda CX-9.
The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted in the boot with ten shopping bags.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted in the boot with thirteen shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted in the boot with twelve shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted in the boot with seventeen shopping bags.
Or a large dog would easily fit too!
The boot floor is nicely carpeted so you could comfortably do an emergency nappy change!
When using all seven seats eight shopping bags fit in the boot.
Or the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller, with one wheel removed, fits with two shopping bags.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits, with a wheel removed, but no shopping would fit in with it.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fits, with a wheel removed, and two shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fits with five shopping bags.
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.
How good is storage inside the Nissan Pathfinder?
Storage in the cabin of the Nissan Pathfinder is excellent, it is practical and functional and there are a very generous ten cup holders!! There are two cup holders in the central console that will hold my new re-usable Luxey Cup, a disposable coffee cup and large refillable water bottle fit in them nicely too.
The central console storage box is a good size and has two levels, the top little shelf and below that a deeper lined space with 12V, USB and AUX sockets. This was deep enough to hold the headphones and controller for the rear DVD Players.
In front of the cup holders is a phone well that has two 12V sockets too.
The glove box is a good size, it holds both pairs of headphones and the manual with my wallet and the iPad would fit in the storage in the side of the central console.
There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling and both front visors have lit vanity mirrors in.
The front door bins are a good size and would hold a large refillable water bottle and a smaller bottle, and there are storage wells in the door handles.
In the back, the door bins are the same; they will hold a large refillable water bottle and a 600ml bottle. They too have the storage wells in the handles and THE BEST feature are the cup holders in the arms of the doors. They are perfect for little passengers' water cups where they can reach them while forward facing. My daughter loved this during our week with the Pathfinder, almost as much as the DVD screens!!
There are two cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seat back that would hold a large refillable water bottle and my new Luxey Cup fitted in there nicely too.
In both front seat backs there are map pockets that will hold but not conceal an iPad.
In the third row there are two cup holders on either side! They will hold a large refillable water bottle or a disposable or re-usable coffee cup, my new Luxey Cup fitted nicely 🙂
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the Nissan Pathfinder?
The Nissan Pathfinder is a bit of a noisy BabyDrive.
The media system in the Nissan Pathfinder doesn't Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It is an old school system that is pretty basic.
It did connect to my phone quite easily when plugged in with a USB and treated my phone as an iPod for music which was good.
There are so many buttons underneath the media screen and on the dash it is a bit mind-boggling and overwhelming and it really needs minimising.
This model did have sat-nav unlike the previous bottom spec model I tested previously. Typing in a destination was quite simple too.
The screen image was nice and clear and a true representation of this beautiful blue sky and sea!
The reversing camera image is quite pixellated, but it does seem clearer in this newer, higher-spec model. You do get the handy overhead image too which is great.
You can mute the parking sensors with this handy button on the steering wheel which is a really good BabyDrive feature.
The Nissan Pathfinder has blind spot monitoring which can be turned off with a button down by the driver's right knee.
The cruise control buttons are on the right hand side on the steering wheel. They are simple to use and I found the cruise control to not be all that accurate on undulating roads, but mostly fine on the motorway.
The indicators are nice and quiet in the Nissan Pathfinder and wouldn’t disturb my sleeping baby.
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 doors and windows can both be locked from the driver's door control panel.
I found the doors are nice and quiet to open but they do slam shut. You can come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the car without sounding any alarms but it does give you a warning on the screen that you have your door open.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The Nissan Pathfinder is a bit of a noisy car to drive and it is very large so visibility when parking and manoeuvring needs concentration.
There is a seatbelt removal alarm for all three rows of seats and a really good visual that comes up on the screen in front of the steering wheel to let you know exactly which passenger has removed their seatbelt.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the Nissan Pathfinder?
There are three top tether anchorages in the back of the second-row seat backs. They are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to.
In the third row there is a single top tether anchorage in the driver's side seat back. It is in a plastic guide and nice and easy to connect to as well.
There are ISOFix points in the two outer second-row seats. They are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to connect to.
I could fit three child seats across the second row and because the back seats are lovely and big and flat it makes installation easier.
In the third-row seats I could easily install a child seat using the adult seatbelt and top tether anchorage.
The Nissan Pathfinder has great access to the third row when you have child seats installed in the second row. The second-row seats are split 60:40 and the single seat moves forwad with a child seat installed using the ISOFix (using an adult seatbelt does not allow the mechanism to work) far enough for you to be able to climb through to the third-row seats, which is fantastic!
I did find it tricky with three child seats installed across the second row and the seat collided with the central child seat.
Legroom was good in the Pathfinder; we could sit a 180cm passenger in the driver's seat with a rear-facing child seat behind it in the second-row and I could fit behind that in the third row (I'm 162cm).
Posting bub into their child seat from outside the car is really nice and easy in the Pathfinder because the doorways are generous in size. From inside the ceiling is high enough that posting Bub into their seat from inside is good too. There are handles above the second-row doors to hang a child's toy from.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is plenty of room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 2019 Nissan Pathfinder? And How good is the 2019 Nissan Pathfinder to drive?
In the front of the 2019 Nissan Pathfinder, the seats are very comfortable and they can be adjusted using the electric adjustments on the side.
They are black leather with perforated central panels for the heated and cooled seats, so they are not so easy to wipe clean.
The headrests are not adjustable but I found I couldn't have a ponytail in the driver's seat.
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
The rear seats are also heated and perforated in the central panels. I discovered while driving along that my little girl could reach the controls on the back of the central console box with her toes while we are driving along and the first thing I knew about it is her, red in the face and shouting ‘too hot mummy!!' Well you wouldn't be if you kept your feet to yourself!!
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable at the sides, but as with most cars I could feel the hardness of the drop-down armrest in the central seat back.
There no hump in the central footwell, which is really good as it gives good access and legroom across the second row and is much more comfortable for someone travelling in the central seat. I found I could sit between two child seats in the second-row seats.
For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
There are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors, they are very deep and extendable too which is good for blocking out low sunlight while you are driving. Something only a mother would know but their soft chunky feel remind me a little of those afterbirth sanitary pads! 🙁
There are two sunroofs in the high-spec Nissan Pathfinder I tested, one above the front row seats and another large one over the second and third-row seats which is excellent for giving light and a feeling of space into the rear seats too.
The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
The cruise control buttons are on the right side of the steering wheel and are nice and straight forward to use. I did find the speed quite accurate in motorways driving but at 60km/h on undulating roads it ran away with itself going down hill especially.
The Nissan pathfinder doesn't have a digital speed display which is CRAZY in this day and age and so you can't trust the cruise control when driving because of speed cameras.
There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and a small round one at either end.
In the second row there are two vents in the back of the central console box and controls there as well.
In the third-row there are vents in either side which is fantastic as it can get pretty hot in the back of seven-seaters.
All the air-conditioning can be crontrolled through the media screen in the front, which is excellent for giving the adults ultimate control to stop any arguing in the back and so you can control the climate for little passengers too.
The rear interior lights are located above the rear doors along side the grab handles and I wasn't able to reach them from the driver's seat while driving.
I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
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.
Visibility in the 2019 Nissan Pathfinder is tricky out of the back and sides, especially with all four child seats installed. The Pathfinder is a big seven-seater so manouvering it in tight parking spaces you do rely on the reversing camera for visibility at the back of the car.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Nissan Pathfinder wasn't too bad to park using the rear and overhead camera.
Aesthetically the Nissan Pathfinder has quite a cluttered dash wth all the buttons and controls but it is very comfortable and the DVD players, legroom and third-row access make it a great family SUV.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2019 Nissan Pathfinder?
The Nissan Pathfinder got a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2013, so Child Occupant Safety was not tested. The Nissan Pathfinder has six airbags as standard and a very good seatbelt removal visual for all three rows of seats.
Scoring a total of 35.73 out of 37. Which is broken down into 14.73 out of 16 for the frontal offset test, full marks for the side impact test and the pole test and whiplash was rated Good and pedestrian protection Marginal.
Six airbags come as standard; there is a driver’s knee airbag as well as dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side head curtain airbags for the front and both the second and third-row side passengers.
As standard, all models of the Nissan Pathfinder come with seat belt pre-tensioners in the front seats only, anti-lock braking system (ABS), automatic headlights, electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), daytime running lights (DRL), hill launch assist, rear collision avoidance and tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) all come as standard.
Available on non base varients are adaptive cruise control (ACC), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for the city, Interurban and VRU, and blind spot monitoring (BSM).
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
I would love to see the cars tested with 0-8 car seats (infa grandeur, maxi guard etc), 3 across, FULLY EXTENDED, as I’m shopping for a car right now that will fit my bigger (still young enough for car/booster seats) kids, and a lot of cars won’t work because, while they fit three across while car seats are lower, once the side two seats extend up the head rest bangs in to the top of the door frame/roof where they curve together. Turning out to be very difficult to find what will fit.