Holy Xterra deals!

Mojavejohn

Adventurer
Yeah, if I had the choice of buying a brand new Xterra or a high mileage Toyota, I'd be hard pressed not to buy new. I know that what I've experienced has more turned me off to buying used more than not buying a Nissan. My FJ is the first brand stinking new rig I've ever bought and I love it. I know without a doubt that it's been well cared for. I think that's the real issue for me.
 

Silver dude

Xplorer
I consider Toyota a Luxury car brand. To compare the two Nissan is more primitive and basic by design. Toyota costs more up front but sells for more when its time to trade up. If you compare a 4th gen 4runner to a 2nd gen Xterra its obvious the Xterra is lacking in both technology and engineering. But, Nissans are cheaper and seem to have more character.
 

rkj__

Adventurer
I went with a buddy to the local Nissan stealership today to look at a 2006 4 door Tacoma TRD off road - it has 95K miles and they wont budge off the $22K asking price. It's really, really well taken care of and seemed like a solid deal, if not a great one.

I purchased my 2008 GMC Canyon Off Road with under 10,000mi on it for $18,000 + taxes /fees in 2012. I never shopped for Toyotas to compare, so I'm a little surprised by the apparent price difference.

I hope your buddy enjoys the X.
 

Co-opski

Expedition Leader
He went with the Nissan Xterra for a warranty and the 'newness of it.

I drove the 2013 Xterra and it is obvious why they are undervalued: in my opinion they are largely under built. Of course the motor was peppy and the tranny shifted fine. I'm sure the drive train will outlive the rest of the car. The interior's almost as bad as GM for cheapness. No thought to design. Some call it Spartan, I call it poorly executed. The materials are super cheap too. The tactile experience is a let down: cheap plastics, HUGE gaps with irregular seams, buttons that press as far into the dash / door panel as the move in their functional travel. The seat design and shape was poor and the cloth used to cover them, again, was cheap. Of course I get that all this adds up to a low price on a brand new bumper crop of mechanical options and a capable rig that will go a long time. I'm just not sure I would want it too.

Perhaps I should drive a GT-R and see if I feel that same about that one... :)

From the guy driving a Lexus; this is like a Cadillac Escalade driver talking about a Saturn VUE.
Some trucks are cheap and built for the masses others are built for those that like the finer things in life like Italian Leather from Florence wrapped steering wheels.
[Pinky raised] :coffeedrink: [/Pinky raised]
 

Co-opski

Expedition Leader
Snip....Well 6G's later, I was wrong! Fuel system, ignition, exhaust and the list could go on. So, maybe I'm just unlucky, you never know how a used vehicle was treated, but that's my experience. I plan on keeping her now, she still looks good and now runs strong, so hopefully she'll hold up. We have 117,000 on her now. Two of my buddies at work had Titans and a Maxima and swear that they'll never buy another Nissan again (all three purchased new). I wish I'd of spent a little more dough up front and saved a lot down the road. Get the Toyota! .....Snip

I hope you got the timing belt done in the repair costs. I'll say I could easily spend 6gs on any car with over 100k on the clock.

Did you use the dealer service department?
 

Jgrider16

Member
Sorry bout the long post, but got to rambling a bit.

Did the same dance for months. Used Tacoma / 4runner for almost double the price of a similar age /
mileage X. Found a great looking 2007 Xterra offroad package MT for similar price as most late 90s gen 3 - 4 runners or gen 1 Tacomas. No comparison there. If cost was no issue I'd get a gen 5 - 4runner trail edition over xterra ... but almost double $$. Looked at FJ and very cool, but much less practical than Xterra.

Happy with it so far. Drivetrain is great and it does its job very nicely. There is also very good aftermarket support for this platform. Drop $1200 on an OME suspension kit or a bit more on Nisstech or PRG, a nice winch bumper, and you're all set for most anything short or serious rock crawling, for way less than a similar stock yota.

The best thing is that the previously mentioned poor resale of nissans compared to Toyota makes it easy to get a good deal on a moderately used vehicle ... And when they're knocking 25% off retail of new ones, can't go wrong there either.

As far as spartan / simple / cheap interior ... That was one of the reasons I liked it. I came from a VW touareg, which was highly capable but way too nice to pound on in the backcountry. Now I don't worry if I get a bunch of Utah sand in every crevice of my interior, and there aren't many computerized buttons to wig out on me.

Variants of this engine have been working well and winning awards in numerous Nissan / infinity vehicles for years so I don't think you can argue the current yota V6 is any better. 4.7 V8 maybe.
 

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