Possable new Xterra owner

[GTABurnout]

Well not me but my brother. Its time for him to graduate fro his honda to a truck he likes the looks of the Xterra. So my question is what to look for when buying? Are there any "bad" years?

We have been looking at 05's

Well let me know what to look out for.

Thanks
Hunter

 

[Sidoba]

If you are looking at 05+... check out www.thenewx.org for a ton of information.

-Sidoba

 

[Rev]

if you are looking at 05+... Check out www.thenewx.org for a ton of information.

-sidoba

x2 .

 

[Slicky72]

X3 ^

 

[mcm4090]

^^I guess non of them could answer your.

A 2005 is a second generation Xterra.
The Off Road model is the only one with the rear locker.

Hope that helps. Good luck in your search.

 

[fishy_frontier]

Make sure it's 4x4:ylsmoke:

 

[BlackX]

Off Road models can be hard to find. A manual transmission has the same m226 differential and you could add the ARB locker to it. ARB is floating the idea of a locker for the other dif but it's not out yet. I love my Xterra and highly recommend it.

 

[OzX]

07s are the best years

 

[Slicky72]

Maybe if you're buying a second gen but 02's are the better first gens and in general the trucks are great either way, any year. :victory:

 

[RonapRhys]

Well not me but my brother. Its time for him to graduate fro his honda to a truck he likes the looks of the Xterra. So my question is what to look for when buying? Are there any "bad" years?

We have been looking at 05's

Well let me know what to look out for.

Thanks
Hunter

I'll second Oz's push on 07s being the best years (that's what I've got).

Depending on the type of wheeling and mods he's going to do, here's where he might want to go:


Mild to moderate wheeling, no real changes to suspension or drivetrain - here'd I'd suggest taking the time to find the OR model. If you get the manual you'll have a 6spd tranny, factory skids (better than nothing), a rear locker, and a clutch lock-out cancel as well as upgraded Bilstein shocks. With the automatic you swap out the clutch lock for Hill Descent Control. It's certainly a good base if he's not going to bang the hell out of it. Then I'd suggest sliders as a good bit of armor to start with, migrating to replacement skids and bumpers as necessary. Definitely upgrade to 32 or 33" tires (Nitto, BFG, etc). Gas mileage will suffer but the stock tires just aren't that good off-road. Note that this may mean he'd need to do the melt mod, but that's a minor thing to do.

Hard core wheeling, major upgrades to the drive train, large lifts, etc - then he might as well get any of the Gen2 models in the base trim so he can put the money into the mods. Depending on budget, that could include SAS, Titan swaps, major lifts, upgrading the shocks/springs, etc. No sense paying extra for parts he's just going to replace.