The Lemon Index$1,600 middle bill · most between $1,500 and $1,900
Lower than the $2,500 middle bill owners of all 63 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 72,000 miles (10 reports).
Nissan Frontier owners reported paying a median of $1,600 for a timing chain replacement, with the middle half of bills between $1,500 and $1,900. That's from 10 owner reports (10 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,500100%
- $2,500–$5,0000%
- $5,000 and up0%
Share of the 10 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2005 Nissan Frontier3$1,700 middle bill
- 2006 Nissan Frontier1too few for a middle
- 2007 Nissan Frontier2too few for a middle
- 2008 Nissan Frontier4$1,800 middle bill
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2006 Nissan Frontier21 complaints name it3% of that year's complaints
- 2007 Nissan Frontier16 complaints name it3% of that year's complaints
- 2005 Nissan Frontier13 complaints name it2% of that year's complaints
- 2008 Nissan Frontier8 complaints name it6% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a timing chain. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Engine codes that can lead here: P0016 P0017 P0008 P0018 P0019. A code is where a shop starts, not proof the part failed.
Keep going
- Nissan Frontier reliability by year
- Timing chain replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Nissan Frontier owners reported
Radiator replacement (36) · Transmission replacement (30)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11311562, 10949139, 10920639, 10820004, 10811732, 10779556, 10702543, 10563028, 10497860, 10492112.
Quick answers
How much does timing chain replacement cost on a Nissan Frontier?
Nissan Frontier owners reported a median of $1,600, and the middle half paid $1,500 to $1,900, from 10 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Nissan Frontier timing chain replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Nissan Frontier middle bill of $1,600 is lower than the $2,500 owners of all 63 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Nissan Frontier repair costs come from?
From 10 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Nissan Frontier years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2006 (21), 2007 (16), 2005 (13) Nissan Frontier named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.