Thinking of a 2012 Frontier. Thoughts

[Kieran]

Hello,
After lurking around your forum I joined up.
Two weeks ago I was on a little trip in my Mitsubishi, I was heading from Toronto Canada to mid Tennessee. I was in a accident in Kentucky and my Mitsu was written off.
That leaves me to my current quest for a truck. I was thinking I didn't want any more car payments or anything so want to buy a truck fair and square. I was looking at a 2012 V6 Frontier crew cab with the long box. The one I found has 77000km and is the SV trim package. My main question is what constitutes high milage with these things. I have been looking for under 100k km but if I look a tad higher to 150k km I can get into a Pro-4X for the same money. The SV was listed at $19500 Canadian.
With that vintage are there any major mechanical things that are known failures?

 

[glamisdude72000]

Basically Frontiers 2010 and newer have nearly all the issues worked out. 2005-2007 had a good amount of issues, many of them were resolved by 2009. 2010 is really when everything got handled. A 2012 should be problem free, aside from any previous neglect the only issue you may encounter is timing chain whine. To fix, the timing chain guides need to be replaced and cost about $1800USD at a dealer. A 2012 should have the new revised part but you never know, typically the whine sets in around the 100k mile mark but others have failed earlier and some have lasted longer. A crew cab long bed is actually pretty uncommon, even more so if 4x4 and if its a manual as well, its a unicorn. If you plan on changing the suspension out anyway, the only thing the Pro 4x gets you really is tin foil skid plates, rear E locker, and some interior fluff. They also don't come in CCLB only king cab or crew cab short bed.

 

[richard310]

What glamisdude said

As long as you take care of the basic maintenance right after purchase, you should be good to go, unless it was taken care of recently. Mileage I wouldn't worry about too much although 100,000km for a two year old truck is a whole lot. If it fits the bill, looks and runs great, I'd jump on it.

 

[Kieran]

Hello,
Thanks for the replies.
I am really looking at two different trucks right now.
The first is the one I spoke of is auto but with a 6' bed.
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The other is a 2010 with a standard transmission. This however has a shorter box (the dealer said 5.5' but would be a 4.75')
h ttp://bit.ly/1AdNVJR
The pros and cons list are stacked side by side.
What I really want is that unicorn glamisdude72000 spoke of.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Is there any truth to Frontiers and transmission (or clutch) issue rumors?

 

[DesertFront]

Don't know about the clutch, but there were some issues with the 05-07 models that the rad coolant would contaminate the trans fluid but as previously mentioned, it was resolved. The 10-14 models are pretty much bug free (more or less)

 

[Mo4130]

The only thing that has gone out on my at 50000 miles was a starter. Other than that, the truck gets used as truck literally every day, towing, hauling exploring you name it.

 

[Kieran]

Thats for the replies.
Both the ones I were looking at turned out to be beat up and kind of over priced. I am back on the hunt.
The criteria is 1) under 100k km 2) Crew Cab or King Cab (realized this has to be a tad flexible) 3) Long Box 4) price within budget
I dont really care about the size of cab as long as there is a bit of a back seat. King cab would be tight but ok.
Kieran

 

[wreckdiver1321]

King cab would give you the long bed either way. They are fairly common trucks, unlike the crew cab long bed.

 

[Rogue]

Hello,
After lurking around your forum I joined up.
Two weeks ago I was on a little trip in my Mitsubishi, I was heading from Toronto Canada to mid Tennessee. I was in a accident in Kentucky and my Mitsu was written off.
That leaves me to my current quest for a truck. I was thinking I didn't want any more car payments or anything so want to buy a truck fair and square. I was looking at a 2012 V6 Frontier crew cab with the long box. The one I found has 77000km and is the SV trim package. My main question is what constitutes high milage with these things. I have been looking for under 100k km but if I look a tad higher to 150k km I can get into a Pro-4X for the same money. The SV was listed at $19500 Canadian.
With that vintage are there any major mechanical things that are known failures?

I currently have a 2012 Frontier Pro4X Crewcab. It's my 2nd Fronty. Previously had a 2005 Nismo edition. The only issues I've had so far is a leaky axle seal - repaired under warranty, and a defective radio - also fixed under warranty. I've taken my truck on many trails in Colorado and its a quite capable trail rig. That being said, I wish I had bought the Xterra instead. Only because the approach and exit angles are way better. I originally thought I wanted the bed, but after getting a camper shell, I realized the Xterra would have fit the bill better.

I wouldn't worry at all about mileage. The engine and trans in these are great. Obviously look for the transmission/coolant cross-contamination on older trucks (2007-back), and with a higher mileage truck, you may need new universal joints on the drive shafts. U joints are a super easy fix.