Nissan Xterra questions

[G-Rex]

I have a 2000 model V6 4x4 automatic in my stable. It's got 175k, and they've been pretty trouble free save a few small things that just happen with miles.

I enjoyed it until about 120k when I gave it to my mom. She loves it and it has turned her into a type a personality driver.

If I had it to do over again, I'd buy another one. It's been a good truck and I have enjoyed driving it.

I haven't driven a newer one, so I can't comment on the power, other than to say even though they rate it for 5000 pounds of towing capacity, I wouldn't. As soon as I hitched anything up to it, mileage went down to 10mpg and it did drag the truck down power-wise.

If your primary use was towing, I wouldn't do it, but for your needs, sounds like it would be perfect.

[Quick281]

I worked at a Nissan dealership for about a year in my college town. The town was literally crawling with ton's of Xterras so one would assume that I saw a lot of them.

From the dealership view point, they were the least likely to come in for any major work. They always just needed regular maintenance like rotations, oil changes and filters.

The Altimas and Sentras were usually in there with many off the wall problems.

My point is based on what owners here have said and what I saw in my time at the dealership, they are good reliable cars that can take you most of the places you want to go! They also have a huge following so that helps too.

[nhgunnut]

Ok I owned a Titan purchased new for 4 years, not an Xterra but I feel like I should warn you Nissan is by far the absolute worst company(the callous disregard for the customer service was uniform at every dealer) for service after the sale I have dealt with in the past 20 years. Getting them to honor their warranty was required on average a week or more of multiple phone calls to the dealers, usually at least 2 phone calls to Nissan America and on several occasions calls to Japan. As a result of having purchased a Nissan Truck, I will never purchase another new Nissan Product including their Infinity line.

[Tmall]

I've wanted one for some time. But, everybody I know who has one says they're gutless, gas pigs.

Seems like they fixed that with the 4.0. You have my interest peaked now..

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by 101lifts2

Did you wash it yet?

washed it in fargo.... and sprayed it off yesterday as I was washing the uhaul to return it... I'll give it a proper wash today though...

Originally Posted by canibeyou

I had a list of the ones I liked and the Hyundai Santa Fe and Saturn Vue were on that list. When we went to the dealers I just wasn't impressed with the size of them and they seemed more... "luxurious" than the "rugged" I'm looking for. I was REALLY impressed with what Hyundai had to offer and when I'm in the market for a nice SUV, I'll be taking a second look at Hyundai's Veracruz. VERY nice car indeed. I didn't pay much mind to the Vue as the size seemed even smaller than the Santa Fe and the inside of the ones we saw weren't anything to get excited about. Seemed rather cheap. As with Hyundai, I'm not too familiar with the Saturn brand and hearing that GM is dropping that soon, I'm just not gonna bother.


I liked the truck feel of the Xterra. The size appeals to me too. I really have no need for the 4WD and the 2WD gets a little better gas mileage.



Thank you, G-Rex and Quick281 for the comments too. Good to hear things like that!

Ok... yeah like I said... it's your money and your choice... the Xterra is a great rig so far in my opinion... but as I've preached here about toyota... reliability is key to me... will it still be running after 150000 miles? I think/hope so... but who knows

Originally Posted by Tmall

I've wanted one for some time. But, everybody I know who has one says they're gutless, gas pigs.

Seems like they fixed that with the 4.0. You have my interest peaked now..

I drove an 02 back in 02... and remember it not having much power... but rest assured.... the 4.0 has enough.... well... enough for me...

[James]

Originally Posted by nhgunnut

Ok I owned a Titan purchased new for 4 years, not an Xterra but I feel like I should warn you Nissan is by far the absolute worst company(the callous disregard for the customer service was uniform at every dealer) for service after the sale I have dealt with in the past 20 years. Getting them to honor their warranty was required on average a week or more of multiple phone calls to the dealers, usually at least 2 phone calls to Nissan America and on several occasions calls to Japan. As a result of having purchased a Nissan Truck, I will never purchase another new Nissan Product including their Infinity line.

I have a 2004 titan, and have had the exact opposite experience.

1) brake rotors - replaced under warranty for warping w/o any trouble at all - no charge.

2) bed liner bubbled up - they got me a rental car and had a new liner put in by Rhino Liner, including complete removal of OEM - no charge.

3) stock rear end was leaking a little, took it in and they put a completely new rear end in place, 2007 rear end at that w/the aluminum cover etc. No charge.

None of these problems ended up with any struggle with the dealership at all. They've been great, actually.

[nhgunnut]

Originally Posted by James

I have a 2004 titan, and have had the exact opposite experience.

1) brake rotors - replaced under warranty for warping w/o any trouble at all - no charge.

2) bed liner bubbled up - they got me a rental car and had a new liner put in by Rhino Liner, including complete removal of OEM - no charge.

3) stock rear end was leaking a little, took it in and they put a completely new rear end in place, 2007 rear end at that w/the aluminum cover etc. No charge.

None of these problems ended up with any struggle with the dealership at all. They've been great, actually.

I am glad for you. I had the brake problem as most of the 04s and they did fix that one with no charge or difficulty.
It took endless calls some intercontinental to get them to take responsibility for a complete failure of the front differential. Even after ten days of fighting and their eventual agreement to honor the warranty I was told it would take 6 to 8 weeks before they could ship one. After several more phone calls it only took three weeks I had to fight to get them to honor the warranty when the exhaust manifolds cracked within a month of each other and had to fight both time to get them fixed. It took a month to get them to fix the stereo (they eventually acknowledged that they had run a sheet metal screw through the wiring harness during assembly. the fact that the truck ate a set of tires in the first 8k miles only too 4 weeks for them to resolve. I would caution anyone who is thinking of purchasing a Nissan product to read through the Titan forums and you will see a pattern of callous disregard for customer service after the sale. If you were the exception I congratulate you and the dealership you dealt with. I will also say that after several posts my documents on my experience with Nissan was forwarded by request to the AG.
Of Cars purchased by my wife and my self in the past 12 years , 7 cars from 6 companies in total. Nissan by far was the worst experience we have ever had.

[Flexin]

Originally Posted by Tmall

I've wanted one for some time. But, everybody I know who has one says they're gutless, gas pigs.

Seems like they fixed that with the 4.0. You have my interest peaked now..

My buddy owns this Xterra. Its supercharged. I found it had great power. My buddy doesn't like the gas mileage at all. I also drove a regular one and the power was nothing to write home about but it was ok. I been in much worse as far as power goes.

James

[z06boy]

Originally Posted by Quick281

I worked at a Nissan dealership for about a year in my college town. The town was literally crawling with ton's of Xterras so one would assume that I saw a lot of them.

From the dealership view point, they were the least likely to come in for any major work. They always just needed regular maintenance like rotations, oil changes and filters.

The Altimas and Sentras were usually in there with many off the wall problems.

My point is based on what owners here have said and what I saw in my time at the dealership, they are good reliable cars that can take you most of the places you want to go! They also have a huge following so that helps too.

How about the Xterra v.s. the Pathfinder ? I currently have a Jeep Cherokee Classic with 136k on the clock and have not had many issues but will be replacing it at some point in the future and thought about the Xterra but "think" I like the Pathfinder a little better overall. It will be a 4x4 whichever one I decide to go with. I don't want a Grand Cherokee or a Liberty so that's why I may be going the Pathfinder route. Thanks

[Quick281]

Originally Posted by ebbs15

yeah i hear ya... did you get a truck yet?

I have been working on securing a loan which has been really tough right now especially considering I don't technically have a job yet and the banks have tightened up on loaning to people. Managed to get my Dad to co-sign and hopefully I should hear today if it went through. Then I truck shop and then I pack, and then I travel onward!

Originally Posted by z06boy

How about the Xterra v.s. the Pathfinder ? I currently have a Jeep Cherokee Classic with 136k on the clock and have not had many issues but will be replacing it at some point in the future and thought about the Xterra but "think" I like the Pathfinder a little better overall. It will be a 4x4 whichever one I decide to go with. I don't want a Grand Cherokee or a Liberty so that's why I may be going the Pathfinder route. Thanks

Tough call on that one. From what I recall the Xterras that did come in were mostly basic repairs and a couple came in for recalls. I want to say the Pathfinders didn't really have a ton of problems either but we did have a our share of older ones coming in and out but those can be credited with age and high mileage for their issues. Not that I am an expert but from my dealership experience both SUVs were definitely in and out for much smaller things than any of the more common vehicles.

If I had to buy a Nissan it would probably be an Xterra and then a PathFinder and overall I would avoid any of the other crap. The Maxima's were nice but they often came in for many issues as well. The 350z was too low for my liking (and I drive a lowered Mustang and damnit I am young!) but they didn't really have issues beyond the front wheel camber recall and young people destroying clutches. The Murano's look nice but I can't speak for any of their issues.

One thing that most people may not know is that the Sentra and some Altimas had recalls out for a problem with their intake system. The little screws holding the butterfly valves on were coming out and going right on through the engine. Most of the time when someone brought it in it was too late and so there were a ton of engine swaps going on but overall they were the same cars having most of the other issues effecting reliability.

If you don't like the Liberty or Cherokee (And I understand that!), I would also look at some Toyota 4 Runners. Should match up with the Pathfinder for what you want and you can't doubt Toyota's reputation. Just my thoughts! I am too young to know much about life but I am always happy to share my thoughts on what I have experience with!