Rent Nissan Pathfinder 2023 in Dubai

The Nissan Pathfinder 2023 is the seven-seat SUV we'd hand you for the long Dubai drives, the airport runs and the day out to Hatta with the family aboard, and we bring it to your door in one to two hours with 250 km a day included. The 2023 car is the current-generation Pathfinder, so it swaps the old CVT for a 9-speed automatic and a properly sorted all-wheel-drive system. Our argument here is simple: if your week involves real highway miles with six or seven people and luggage, the strong 3.5-litre V6 and the planted high-speed cruise are what make this worth the fuel over a smaller crossover. Below we'll be straight about where it shines and where it asks you to pack lighter.

The V6, the gearbox and the open road

This is where the 2023 Pathfinder earns its keep. The 3.5-litre V6 makes 284 hp, and the new 9-speed automatic gives it cleaner, more decisive shifts than the old CVT car ever managed. Loaded with a full cabin and a boot of bags, it still pulls hard onto Sheikh Zayed Road and overtakes on the E11 without you planning the move three cars ahead.

At a steady 120 it sits quiet and stable, which is exactly what you want for a run to Abu Dhabi or a collection at DXB or DWC. For families who actually use the highway, the difference between this and a four-cylinder crossover is felt the first time you merge with the car full.

Spec at a glance

What the V6 costs you at the pump

A 3.5-litre V6 hauling a two-tonne SUV is never going to sip fuel, so plan around it. In mixed Dubai driving expect somewhere in the region of 11 to 13 litres per 100 km, climbing when you're full, on the highway and running the AC hard through summer. The 70-litre tank still gives you a genuine week of school runs and errands on a fill, and petrol here is cheap enough that the absolute cost stays reasonable. The V6 thirst is the price of the easy highway power, and most families decide that's a fair trade.

Seven seats and the luggage trade-off

The Pathfinder seats seven, and the third row is one your kids and teenagers will actually use on Dubai-length trips rather than a token bench. The second row slides and tilts to make climbing into the back easy, which matters at a crowded mall car park with children in tow.

The honest catch is luggage. With all three rows up, cargo space is around 470 litres, fine for a few soft bags and the airport shop but not seven people's suitcases. Fold the third row and you open up roughly 1,300 litres, enough for five passengers and a proper holiday's worth of cases. So the rule for a DXB run is the one every big-SUV renter learns: if you need the seventh seat, pack light; if you need the luggage, you're carrying five or six.

Where all-wheel drive helps and where it doesn't

The 2023 car runs all-wheel drive with selectable modes and 180 mm of ground clearance. That's not a dune-bashing setup, and we wouldn't send it deep into soft sand without dropping tyre pressures and knowing the terrain. For a graded desert track, a gravel campsite approach or the climb up to Hatta with the family loaded, though, the AWD and the clearance give you grip and confidence a front-drive crossover can't match. For most renters the real value is stability with a heavy load, not extreme off-roading.

Parking, size and staying cool

There's no pretending this is a small car. At just over five metres long and nearly two wide, tight Marina bays and older multi-storey ramps need care, and you'll lean on the cameras and sensors rather than your mirrors. U-turns want a wider sweep than a sedan. The high seating position pays you back with a commanding view, and the 180 mm clearance shrugs off speed bumps and mall ramps.

Cooling a cabin this big in a Dubai summer is a real test, and the Pathfinder is built for it. Parked in 45-degree sun it gets hot like anything, but the climate system has the capacity to pull a large interior down quickly once you're moving, and there are vents for all three rows so children in the back aren't left baking. Those rear and third-row outlets are the detail that makes a full-family summer trip bearable.

A few Dubai basics: Salik tolls run on your account during the rental and any RTA fines come back to you, so mind the gantries and the speed cameras. Belts are mandatory in every seat, the back rows included, and children under four need a child seat by law, which we can fit on request.

Who should rent it, and who shouldn't

Rent the Pathfinder 2023 if you're moving six or seven people, want a V6 that handles the highway with the car full, and value AWD for a Hatta day or a graded track. For a family holiday or a group trip with real distances involved, this generation's gearbox and refinement make it the right tool, and the third row is one you can genuinely use.

Skip it if you're two or three people on a city-only week, where you'd be paying for fuel and size you don't need; a smaller SUV or a sedan would cost less and park more easily. And if you need maximum luggage with all seven seats filled every day, plan for a roof box, because that's the one thing even a car this size can't fully solve.