tv xterra

[ddlrsad]

We are looking at buying a 2006 Nissan Exterra,is there anyone who pulls the pup with one? If so how well does it do? Do you get good (ok) gas mil? We now have a gas "HOG"......Dodge Ram 1500 looking for something better on gas.....as it went up again today $0.13.   thanks for any input you may have ...

[indy az]

We have been pulling our Starcraft Spacemaster PUP for a year now with a 2001 XTERRA V6.  I gotta be honest and tell you that when the road gets steep it has a tough time pulling (we usually are not in much of a hurry).  But for the most part it handles quite well and the gas milage averages to be 20-22 mpg (not bad).  If we need to haul lots of gear (water, generator, bikes, etc) we take a second car.  I know there are limits to how much you can pull weight wise but I think we tow about 3200 lbs.  It does have over 90,000 miles but we love it, it is a great truck.  Best of luck if you do go with the Nissan.  Happy trails...

[ddlrsad]

We have been pulling our Starcraft Spacemaster PUP for a year now with a 2001 XTERRA V6.  I gotta be honest and tell you that when the road gets steep it has a tough time pulling (we usually are not in much of a hurry).  But for the most part it handles quite well and the gas milage averages to be 20-22 mpg (not bad).  If we need to haul lots of gear (water, generator, bikes, etc) we take a second car.  I know there are limits to how much you can pull weight wise but I think we tow about 3200 lbs.  It does have over 90,000 miles but we love it, it is a great truck.  Best of luck if you do go with the Nissan.  Happy trails...

thanks for the input....i think that we are going to do it.

[jeezy]

Our pup is still new to us so we've only towed a few times with our 2002 4.0 L V6 Xterra, but it tows like a champ.  Granted, we haven't hit the steep hills that indy has so I can't comment on that.  

We don't have brakes on the pup, but it's only about 1800 lbs dry weight so no troubles there.  The Xterra's brakes are fine.

However, we get nowhere near the 20-22 mpg indy mentioned.  In fact, we're probably running in the 15 range.   The thing is a hog and we learned as much when shopping for it.   One review said, "if you can feed it, buy it"   Well, this was $2+ ago on gas prices.  

We'll be replacing our 16 year old Accord soon with a new sedan of some sort and because my wife's new job will be near mine, we will carpool in that vehicle and park the Xterra.  I hate to do it, because I love the car, but it is not economical to use as our primary vehicle as we have been doing.   We'll keep it as a TV and for when we need the payload.  And on days we don't carpool one of us will drive it.  

My wife wants to replace it with another TV that gets better milage.  (she really wants a minivan as we have two boys 2 and 3 1/2 and we could use the extra passenger space.  

A. I'm not sold on towing with a minivan after doing some reading here and other online places.

B. I'm not sold on our ability to afford two new cars at once. (we tend to buy late model certified used with a 3 year warranty)

C. I still love the Tonka.  Which is the name we gave our yellow Xterra.  We even got a Tonka sticker for the back window.  

Bottom line, if you can feed it, buy it!

[Mike Up]

We are looking at buying a 2006 Nissan Exterra,is there anyone who pulls the pup with one? If so how well does it do? Do you get good (ok) gas mil? We now have a gas "HOG"......Dodge Ram 1500 looking for something better on gas.....as it went up again today $0.13. thanks for any input you may have ...

I just got rid of my 2005 SE 4X4 Pathfinder (new redesigned style with 270 Hp and 291 lbs of torque). I'll say this, I've owned a 2000 Nissan Xterra SE 4X4, A 2004 Nissan XE Crew Cab Off Road 4X4 Titan, and the Pathfinder and I'll never buy another Nissan again.
 
The Xterra was my 2nd favorite vehicle only behind my Ford Sport Trac.
 
The Xterra was excellent but not the king of reliability. I had some hub problems and torsion bar problems along with a lot of rattles. I traded the truck at 60,000 miles.
 
The Titan was pure junk. Rear differential was going out, brakes had judder 3 times (to small rotor prone to warpage), lost brake hydralic pressure and nearly had a crash, tons of minor problems from poor build quality, rattles and more rattles, poor paint job, very thin sheet metal, leaking transmission, electrical problems and many other problems. Many TSBs for the problems so these weren't isolated to my truck. Got rid of after 1 year and 22,000 miles. VERY UNRELIABLE.
 
Pathfinder was reliable up to about 45,000 where the ABS sensor went bad and took out ABS brakes, VDC, Limited Slip, and 4WD. Pretty much was an accident waiting to happen in the Winter when it went out, and I had to wait 3 weeks for parts! Also about at 40,000 the belt tensioner was going out. I had it replaced when the truck was in for the ABS sensor. I also had major paint problems that Nissan refused to warranty. I knew 2 others suffering the same, 1 with a 2005 Xterra and another with a 2005 Frontier. The Frontier owner sued Nissan and the Xterra owner did the same as me, when the paint starting peeling a lot causing rust, we both traded our Nissans in. The Frontier owner wanted Nissan to pay in cash for his troubles, but he waited so long, his truck was covered in rust spots. The Xterra owner and I used touch up paint to fix the many we had but got rid of ours before our Nissans were out of control with rusting like the Frontier owner's truck.
 
Took my Pathfinder to a body shop and they stated it was a paint defect and nothing but repainting the whole vehicle would help. It was the dealership body shop. I went around with Nissan already and they refused to stand behind their vehicle with their paint warranty, same as they did with the Frontier owner. Paint shop said they'd fight for me but I just wanted to rid myself of the problem before it really started to get bad. Fighting with Nissan could take a year where I may had got stuck with a rusty vehicle.
 
I also saw this paint defect on models on their showroom floor but Nissan stated it all was raildust, (dust from train tracks) and that it's considered environmental dropout and they wouldn't cover it. Paint shop said it was not rail dust but a paint defect, but hey, that's Nissan trying to get out of their responsibility.
 
My friends and parents have Nissan cars and so far they haven't had the paint problems. The problems seem to be with the midsize Nissan trucks, Xterra, Frontier, and Pathfinder in the year 2005 although I know noone who owns a newer Nissan Truck.
 
Since Nissan refused to stand behind their vehicles and warranty defective materials, I'll never spend another cent on their vehicles again. 3 was enough.
 
However, I really love the Sport Trac. Much more solid than any of the 3 Nissan trucks, rides better, better payload, better towing capability, and even with the V8, BETTER MILEAGE than any of the 3 Nissans! I've also had fewer delivered vehicle problems than any of the Nissans. I had blind loyality for Nissan and can only look back at the mistake.
 
BTW, mixed driving MPG:
3.3L V6, 4 speed automatic transmission, Xterra: 15 mpg
5.6L V8, 5 speed automatic transmission, Titan: 13.2 mpg
4.0L V6, 5 speed automatic transmission, Pathfinder 17 mpg
 
New 4.6L V8, 6 speed automatic transmission, Ford Sport Trac: 17.5 mpg
 
Hope this helps, have a good one

[austinado16]

I just got rid of my 2005 SE 4X4 Pathfinder (new redesigned style with 270 Hp and 291 lbs of torque). I'll say this, I've owned a 2000 Nissan Xterra SE 4X4, A 2004 Nissan XE Crew Cab Off Road 4X4 Titan, and the Pathfinder and I'll never buy another Nissan again....

I'll comment now that you've brought this up.  I didn't want to say anything earlier because I didn't want to sound like I was just bashing Nissan's.

I worked as a Service Writer/Advisor for the local Nissan Dealership.  I'm a German car enthusiast, and have been a mechanic on German/European cars for about 20 years.  This was my first up close and personal with the Nissan line, or any Japanese car line.  

It was shocking to me what absolute junk all of the cars were.  The marketing appeared to be geared toward the young wiz-bang crowd and the REI/Trekking/Outdoor crowd.  Lots of glitz up front and all of it failed within a few months or a year or 2.

Remember their Quest Mini Van.  Such a pile of junk that they actually had to stop selling them because they couldn't keep up with all the warranty and recall repairs.

The brake judder in the Titan trucks and the Armada SUV was nearly unsolvable.  Here were these huge 350-400hp rigs running around on what amounted to light truck brakes.  All we did, all week long, was brake judder campaigns.  Saw a lot of the loss-of-brake-fluid-pressure complaints as well.  In fact, we had one guy who was suing us and Nissan under the lemon law, and Nissan sent some jack@ss up from corporate to personally stand and watch out techs do the brake job on this guy's truck for the final time before he rammed it down their throats.  I don't think that truck went 2 miles before the problem came back. :yikes:

And a Dana 44 axle for the rear-end in the Titan (and I think the Armada).  This is a front axle, as used for years by GM.  Take a look under a Titan next time you see one.  You'll see a ridiculous little axle that looks like it's off a an old Mazda truck.  Compare that to the rear axle in the next GM or Ford truck you see.  What a joke.  All of the rearend burned up.  Nissan's fix?  Not start building the trucks with bigger axles.  Nope.  Fill the rear diff with synthetic, and put a finned aluminum diff cover on to disapate the heat.

I will say, that it was very rare that a Nissan of any age ever came in on a tow truck.  But other than that, man, what junk.  It was funny because the other half of the dealership was BMW. (what a combo eh?)  The BMW's came in on tow trucks every single day.  I've never seen anything like it.

I saw the paint problems that you speak of.  Out here they blamed it on "acid rain" from the cars sitting down in Los Angeles awaiting shipment to dealers.  Most all of the cars and trucks had it.

The 350ZX were no different. They would shred their original tires in about 10,000mi.  Talk about some pissed off owners.  "What do you mean I need $2,000 worth of tires?  It's not even a year old."  So that became the latest recall.....4 wheel alignments and replacing all 4 tires under warranty.  And clicking from the rear axles on acceleration.  Brand new cars!

In my opinion, Nissan and Mazda are the lowest of the low in the auto industry.

[sacrawf]

The Titan was pure junk. Rear differential was going out, brakes had judder 3 times (to small rotor prone to warpage), lost brake hydralic pressure and nearly had a crash, tons of minor problems from poor build quality, rattles and more rattles, poor paint job, very thin sheet metal, leaking transmission, electrical problems and many other problems. Many TSBs for the problems so these weren't isolated to my truck. Got rid of after 1 year and 22,000 miles. VERY UNRELIABLE.

Recently it was announced that Chrysler and Nissan had entered into an agreement in which Nissan was to produce smaller cars for Chrysler and Chrysler will build full-size pickup trucks for Nissan. The Chrysler-built Nissan full-size trucks are scheduled for 2011.  

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/14/news/companies/nissan_chrysler.fortune/?postversion=2008041417

[Mike Up]

Recently it was announced that Chrysler and Nissan had entered into an agreement in which Nissan was to produce smaller cars for Chrysler and Chrysler will build full-size pickup trucks for Nissan. The Chrysler-built Nissan full-size trucks are scheduled for 2011.
 
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/14/news/companies/nissan_chrysler.fortune/?postversion=2008041417

Yep, we've been talking about this already on the Nissan Forums. The Armada however will contiue. With the new Ram being like a Chevy Avalanche, and not trying to compete in the payload or towing department, I can only image that the new Dodge built Nissan Fullsize will not be a competitor to Ford, GM, or Toyota. I'm still shocked that Dodge took their truck to the comfort zone instead of the work zone. Guess they weren't competeing well with GM and Ford and finally stopped trying. It just doesn't hold well for the new Nissan Truck.
 
Have a good one.

[Mike Up]

I'll comment now that you've brought this up. I didn't want to say anything earlier because I didn't want to sound like I was just bashing Nissan's.
 
I worked as a Service Writer/Advisor for the local Nissan Dealership. I'm a German car enthusiast, and have been a mechanic on German/European cars for about 20 years. This was my first up close and personal with the Nissan line, or any Japanese car line.
 
It was shocking to me what absolute junk all of the cars were. The marketing appeared to be geared toward the young wiz-bang crowd and the REI/Trekking/Outdoor crowd. Lots of glitz up front and all of it failed within a few months or a year or 2.
 
Remember their Quest Mini Van. Such a pile of junk that they actually had to stop selling them because they couldn't keep up with all the warranty and recall repairs.
 
The brake judder in the Titan trucks and the Armada SUV was nearly unsolvable. Here were these huge 350-400hp rigs running around on what amounted to light truck brakes. All we did, all week long, was brake judder campaigns. Saw a lot of the loss-of-brake-fluid-pressure complaints as well. In fact, we had one guy who was suing us and Nissan under the lemon law, and Nissan sent some jack@ss up from corporate to personally stand and watch out techs do the brake job on this guy's truck for the final time before he rammed it down their throats. I don't think that truck went 2 miles before the problem came back. :yikes:
 
And a Dana 44 axle for the rear-end in the Titan (and I think the Armada). This is a front axle, as used for years by GM. Take a look under a Titan next time you see one. You'll see a ridiculous little axle that looks like it's off a an old Mazda truck. Compare that to the rear axle in the next GM or Ford truck you see. What a joke. All of the rearend burned up. Nissan's fix? Not start building the trucks with bigger axles. Nope. Fill the rear diff with synthetic, and put a finned aluminum diff cover on to disapate the heat.
 
I will say, that it was very rare that a Nissan of any age ever came in on a tow truck. But other than that, man, what junk. It was funny because the other half of the dealership was BMW. (what a combo eh?) The BMW's came in on tow trucks every single day. I've never seen anything like it.
 
I saw the paint problems that you speak of. Out here they blamed it on "acid rain" from the cars sitting down in Los Angeles awaiting shipment to dealers. Most all of the cars and trucks had it.
 
The 350ZX were no different. They would shred their original tires in about 10,000mi. Talk about some pissed off owners. "What do you mean I need $2,000 worth of tires? It's not even a year old." So that became the latest recall.....4 wheel alignments and replacing all 4 tires under warranty. And clicking from the rear axles on acceleration. Brand new cars!
 
In my opinion, Nissan and Mazda are the lowest of the low in the auto industry.

Yep, we all had the troubles you spoke of. I am a member of Club Armada and was a member of Titan Talk but was banned, because I wouldn't censor myself from stating what the Titan was and getting into hostile threads. I guess I was partly to blame for my banning since I lost it.
 
I can't say how much better the Ford I have is now. With the Nissans and even the large Titan, the ABS brakes would kick on, and scare the crap out of you because the whole engine bay sounded as it was comming apart from the pulsating in the brakes. With the Ford, it's hardly noticeable if even at all. The sound damping in the Ford is worlds better. The Nissans engines sounded as if they were in the seat beside you where the Ford engine sounds as it's in another space, as it is. Ride quality is so much better with the ford but that may be partly to do with the Indepedant rear suspension added to the long 131" wheelbase.
 
One thing I got a quick lesson in was power. The Nissan's V6 4.0L has a rating of 291 lbs of torque at 4000 rpm. Pretty good for a V6, actually REAL GOOD. Now the Ford's V8 puts out 22 more hp but it's torque is only 9 lbs more at 300 lbs of torque at 3950 rpm.
 
You know what, the Ford has tons more torque even though the numbers say the same. It must be the bandwidth of the power. At low rpms, the Ford could pull a stump where the Nissan was good. The Ford is also 180 lbs heavier than my Pathfinder and several hundred lbs heavier than the Nissan Crew Cab 4WD Frontier. There's a reason why these trucks are heavier, it's the chassis. My Sport track is only 300 lbs lighter than the much larger Crew Cab Off Road XE Nissan Titan 1/2 ton. Yet my payload on the Sport Trac is 100 lbs more and my towing ability is 500 lbs more as well as my rated tongue weight is 80 lbs more. The chassis of the Titan was not up to par yet it did have a great engine and transmission. However they are only parts of a much larger system needed to pull heavy trailers and carry heavy payloads.
 
I'm not bashing, just stating my experiences. They were just bad experiences.
 
Have a good one.

[austinado16]

It was my experience, that Nissans were very cheaply and lightly built, as were their engines.  They were doing all sorts of lightening processes in the engines to get them to spool up really fast and feel very racey.....and that was true, the engines would scream.  But with all that lightening done, it was sort of a gutless type of power.  They were making their camshafts hollow and doing all kinds of "race" type stuff.  And yet, the screws were falling out of the throttle plates in the throttle bodies, falling down the intakes and grenading the engines.  I guess the engineers had never heard of red loctite or peening over the screw ends....doh?

The trucks were so light, they would just broil the rear tires with any amount of throttle.  I thought it made them dangerous to drive, especially in wet weather.  All it took was a blip of the throttle and the engine would snap to life so fast, the rear end would lift up and just spin the tires.  The Armada and Titans were horrible for it.  All I could think of was........all this power being put through a cheesy frame and a tiny little differential and axles.

CD players that were all integrated and failing, Nav systems that didn't work, stupid cardboard headliners that were actually held to the roof with little velcro squares like you buy in a blister pack at the hardware store.  $35k for a full tilt Maxima, and it came with a headliner that would fall down in a matter of months.  Nissan's fix?  IF the customer complained, you ordered the headliner repair kit.  What was it?  More velcro squares and some hot glue sticks.  They had the mechanics hot glueing velcro squares to the metal car roof and back side of the headliner.  That was the fix.  And the cars would come back in a short time, with the hot glue giving way, and the headliner back down.  One day our techs refused to fix a headliner because it had already been "repaired" several times in a period of just a few weeks.  I had our parts dept. get me a tube of 5min 2 part epoxy (that stuff in the double syringe) and I went out into the shop, epoxied the headliner in place, supported it with a big push broom against thick towels, and sent the customer away happy about 30min later.

But that's how it is with the whole car line.  They're just pretend cars with no sole, half-assed engineering, and a laundry list of gimmicks.