any thoughts on the titan?

[Maddmatt]

Make sure you really check out how the 3 carseats fit. I had an '02 Taco Dbl Cab that I loved, but when our 2nd came along it became pretty tight. The car seats fit just fine, but the other "essentials" tended to fill it up. Books, dolls (2 girls), etch-a-sketches, diaper bag, snack cooler, basically all that other stuff that goes along with the occupants of the car seats filled that double cab up pretty fast. I couldn't even imagine it with 3.

Everybody has their own pet peeves, one of mine is stuff falling out when I open a door. Books, sippy cups, crackers, etc... all over the ground at a gas station in Rock Springs in the snow just sucks. We went back to the SUV route, but I still miss my Taco from time to time.

The '05's and up are bigger inside, but still, make sure.
Just my 2cents.
-Matt

 

[articulate]

i had that exact same thought about the 05 tacoma even before u posted! so a very quick scan through the autotrader revealed that they are quite a bit more than the frontier and in some cases as much as a titan. but they do look bigger than a frontier so maybe carseats would fit a little better. i think they warrant further consideration. but on the other hand i think i should just get a frontier so i can be like mark he is my new hero:bowdown:

So, one day I was eating alone at a busy Mexican restaurant when a fire truck parked and 4 firemen came in the restaurant. I was eating at a large table all by myself and they came out with plates in-hand. Said I, "Hey, why don't you fellas join me."

"Really? We'd appreciate it."

"Well, yeah. Who wouldn't want to eat with a group of heros?"

And another fireman spoke up, "You'll change your mind in a minute, when we start farting and talking about **********." :xxrotflma

(No lie!)

Lucky you - should you get a Toyota - you'll have a much better selection of cool guys to glean from than me.

Seriously, if you've got three little Despains now, you've got to think about growth room too, yeah? You might need something like a Jeep Commander. You'd be the first on this board to have one! And the object of envy for many.... Matt made a good point there with all the stuff you've got to carry, too. No matter what, though, it always seems like you never have enough space.

I'd always thought that having one of those late 80s to early 90s Suburbans would be awesome on some 35" tires and loaded with the whole family.

Good luck with the hunt, though. Keep us posted.

Mark

 

[kcowyo]

.....all over the ground at a gas station in Rock Springs in the snow just sucks...... -Matt

If we're talking Rock Springs, WY - the whole town blows, literally and figuratively.

Do you live in Rock Springs, WY? And have a white '88 FJ62.....?

 

[Maddmatt]

If we're talking Rock Springs, WY - the whole town blows, literally and figuratively.

Do you live in Rock Springs, WY? And have a white '88 FJ62.....?

Yeah, Rock Springs WY, luckily I don't live there. I do have a champagne '89 62 though. Rock Springs is a common gas/potty break for us when on the way to better things.
-Matt

 

[kcowyo]

Love the 62's.

I had a white '88 that I sold to a "Mathew" in Green River. Thought you might be him.

You live in WY?

 

[david despain]

http://www.4x4parts.com/public_html/shop/shop_image/product/9861fe81da842982d5e37e1402870f86.jpg pretty cool looking i think. so in the last few days my wife and i decided to trade in my truck for a minivan then i get the discovery for a while until i can trade or sell it and get a truck but i think it will be a frontier when that happens. the fuel milage aspect is the thing that keeps bringing me back to the frontier, if i cant afford the gas to go driving none of the rest of this matters . of course nothing is set in stone until its sitting in my driveway. perhaps the whole carseat thing has been over emphasized by me then run away. it will be 99% of the time a daily driver for me about 30 mi a day commute to work and run around to haul the lawn mower over to grandmas or get a bag of dirt. so while it somewhat important to be able to stuff them all in there if i had to, they wont be in car seats forever and i very rarely would have to take all of them at once. usually just one or two.

 

[BajaTaco]

Nice! Personally, I'd like to see another Frontier around here to provide us with more real-world perspecive on them. So far I really like them.

 

[The BN Guy]

I'll see if I can't dig up a couple or get some Xterra's too.

 

[articulate]

Nice! Personally, I'd like to see another Frontier around here to provide us with more real-world perspecive on them. So far I really like them.

I'll see if I can't dig up a couple or get some Xterra's too.

BWAHA!

If these other Nissan vehicles can be BLACK, that would be most helpful.....we'll have a load of WHITE Toyotas and BLACK Nissans. It'll be hilarious. Snorkelize 'em, and we'll have one funny-ass photograph. :wavey:

 

[azskyrider]

My brother has one

Hello David,

My Brother has a 05 Crew cab short bed Titan 4x4 SE. Personally I really like the truck. My brother use it to haul the pop up trailer on our hunting and camping trips and as a DD. So far the Titan is quiet, smooth, and roomy. I really like it. I have a bunch of positives to say about it. Here are the only items that my brother has encountered that he would say are important to know.

1. The interior plastic is not of a high quality material as his Toyota. They scratch very easily.

2. The MPG is bad in Arizona as a DD. Especially in rush hour traffic.

3. The outside front tires are wearing really fast. He has had the alignment checked and made sure the wheels were not bowed. We did notice that the front tires lean quite a bit when turned which is probably why it has such great turning radius for a double cab. The Titan comes with 18" wheels so replacement tires are expensive. Nissan told him to rotate his tires every 3,000 miles or more frequently to fix the outside wear.

4. My brother picked up a bag of ice from the supermarket and left it on the passenger seat to drive 2 miles away. The condensation when it dried out left a water stain outline. He now has seat covers.

5. It is very wide that you get a lot of pin stripes where ordinarily a regular truck would not receive so much damage off roading.

All in all it is great truck. He has used it off road many times and it is really a roomy comfortable vehicle. Especially for the passengers in the back seats with plenty of leg, shoulder, and head room to spare. I really would like to have one for long trips but I think the big kicker is the MPG and the cheap quality interior plastic. I felt it more roomy than a suburban.

Cheers,

 

[jim65wagon]

BWAHA!

If these other Nissan vehicles can be BLACK, that would be most helpful.....we'll have a load of WHITE Toyotas and BLACK Nissans. It'll be hilarious. Snorkelize 'em, and we'll have one funny-ass photograph. :wavey:

Crap! That means I screwed up when I bought the Black Toyota!

 

[datrupr]

Crap! That means I screwed up when I bought the Black Toyota!

You bought it like that? From what I gathered on this board I thought white was pretty much the only color Toyota painted thier trucks. I thought it was a custom job :hehe:

 

[crawldit]

I've got a 2004 4-Door Titan LE. We bought it brand new in 2004 and have only had it in for warranty work once. Apparently we had one of the early models with the warped rotor problems but Nissan replaced everything and we haven't had any problems since. I have a 2wd so I can't comment too much about offroading. We have done some forest roads in it up north and the clearance of the 2wd mated with the side steps is absolutely terrible. The stock tires are nothing particularly great either. We only have about 15k miles on the Titan and have already replaced 3 out of the 4 tires because of flats. The interior space of the 4-door is amazing, and the leather seats are top notch. The only problem that we do have is the overall size of the truck....it massive! Parking it has always been an issue but I think most of my problem is that I'm used to parking my Jeep :beer: The engine has all sorts of power and easily tows my pop up A Frame camper. I have heard that the rear Dana 44 is not strong enough for the power that the engine puts out and some people have broken them but I have never had an issue. All in all I love the truck. My sister has a new 4 door Frontier and that truck is seriously just a miniature version of my Titan. If I had it to do all over again I might have just gotten the Frontier and saved myself like $10k.

 

[Den.]

The Titan? Rear diff problems, front rotor problems, rear seatbelts jammimg, Interior trim flaking/etc, though drivetrain is solid and most problems seem to have been solved. Some complaints about dealers honouring warranties also.

Check the Titan forums as even with the problems the Titan has a huge fanbase. There are at least two really good forums for it also.

I worked for Nissan at the time the Titan came out and though our Parts manager had a few problems, it was a real nice truck!

Most dif problems I believe you will find is people towing with less than 500 miles on the truck as the manual is VERY specific about NOT doing this!

Hope this helps.

 

[brettf]

Figure I'll throw in my input. This is long, disjointed and badly written... but this is my last forum stop for the night... too many posts to care

I own a 2004 Titan XE ("cheapo" model). 4 doors and 4WD. I love the truck. I hate the mileage, but that's to be expected from a full-size gas Nissan...

I use the holy ******** out of it. 3 years and more than 70,000 miles... still going strong. I had the brake problem, which was fixed. That's the only real problem I've had with the vehicle. I take good care of the internals; changing fluids, watching levels, all that. I expect this vehicle to last a long time. Synthetic rear diff fluid first changed at 10K. No problems there, but I did hear of a few problems with rear diff failures... also of some diffs not being filled properly at factory. I think there may be a correlation, but who knows...

The OEM tires were crap. The BFG AT/As or whatever they are called that I have on now have been fantastic.

I spend a lot of time in deep snow and on rough roads. Not as much on true 4WD trails, but a little time there. I find the width of the truck to be a little tricky every now and again... occasionally I find it to be beneficial even, but that's pretty rare.

I'm not super-psyched on the suspension or the axles. I think it is slightly undersprung and I can see the axles being maybe a little underbuilt for true abuse... but I'm not jumping the truck out in the desert like some of the nuts out there (I think some of you have purchased products from PreRunner Greg, eh?). I think for 90% of the people out there the suspension is great. Does well enough off road and is very smooth on the highway. I may upgrade the suspension at some point for better high-speed bad road performance... but that's $$ better spent on other things at this point. It has a IFS for those keeping score, which is pretty standard on Nissan trucks... and most trucks these days, but for some that's a strike against the vehicle... I'm much happier with this than those I know who have purchased domestic full size trucks in recent years in terms of off-roading, general power, highway behavior, etc...

I replaced the bumper with a Kennesaw Mtn Accessories "Wincher" bumper because I hit a parking block and messed my bumper up pretty well. I wanted something cheap with a lot of strength, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. The bumper I bought is cheap (relatively), tough, a little ugly, and has the options I want. I got a reciever style bumper so I can attach a reciever post mounted winch when I need it. I also got holes put in the bumper to accomodate some 5" and 7" lights for better lighting. I had tabs welded on before it shipped as well. D-rings on the way. I'm working on fabbing up custom brackets to re-install the alum. skidplate to protect the steering hardware and feel better about being off-road again.

The cheap plastic liner I got with the truck was garbage. I put a proper bed-liner in there (Line-X) and a Leer shell that I had sprayed as well (got a killer deal on that one). I'm really happy about the ability to pressure wash the inside of the truck bed, top-to-bottom.

I'm planning on getting a Maggiolina (spelling?) rooftop tent on the topper one day. I'm just short enough to be able to fit into the bed to sleep (5'8" tall... but I have to sleep at a slight angle. the bed is 5'5" or 5'6"). I like sleeping in there well enough, but usually have a lot of gear so it is difficult. Usually bikes, skis, food, stoves, dogs, water, god knows what else... I've spent many a night in the cap stretched accross the back seats or even the front (with "bench" seat folded flat). It is too short to do it often, but does the trick for someone my height in a pinch.

The transmission is very smooth on the Titan. I think it is the same as is used on the Xterra's newer iteration. The engine is huge, gas guzzling, and fast. It can tow plenty and is really strong in 4-lo (no surprises there). I spend as much time on the highway as rough stuff, so I tend to get from one place to the next as quickly as possible. The truck is very smooth on the highway and the engine pulls great.

The interior in the nice version is pretty nice, but it is all overkill for me. I have the base-model with crappy cloth and plastic and am totally happy with it. Simple, intutive, ugly, easily repaired, etc... who needs nice mahogony **** on your dash while you are driving from Denver to Smithers, BC to AZ? I had one small tear due to my negligence... but maybe a tougher interior wouldn't have torn? I dunno. It's a truck afterall. Who cares.

All in all, aside from fuel economy, I'm pretty happy and would make the purchase again. If you need a truck that can haul a lot of gear and people with room inside to spare, that can 4 wheel reasonably well (with rear locker!) for a full-size pickup, it is a decent option. Plus it has an auxillary audio port and I can plug in an iPod. What more do I need??

I'll dig up some recent photos, but here's one with the truck in stock form, taken a couple of years ago at altitude... complete with hot-pink cast...

(taken pre-bumper replacement, post bumper damage (out of sight), pre-desert/mountain/urban pinstriping, pre-a lot of things actually...)