Nissan Frontier ????s

[BAM-BAM]

Well our old rugrat hauler and general utility vehicle a 13 year old(03) Honda Odyssey has fallen victim to the dreaded Honda transmission failure issue.....

With the rugrat hauling days mostly behind us..... was thinking about a 3-4 year old midsize pickup with a Camper shell as a replacement...we have access to buying at the Manheim and other regional auto auctions.

This is a 3/4th vehicle..... we have a BMW 328ix, Subaru Forester, and my old 97 Toyota Celica ( my summer driver)

We're thinking about a Nissan Frontier crew cab, 4x4 in LE trim.....don't really need the off road version as most use will be on road or at the cabin where off road means gravel/dirt roads not cross country...... general hauling, trips to the cabin, winter optional 4x4 if needed, maybe trips to OBX for the wife and I. Maybe 4000-6000 miles a year. Plan to keep it 10 years or so......hoping to be out the door at < $25000 and < 30,000 miles.

There is the Toyota but they seem to have similar specs and reviews but run $5000 or more higher.. .... and I like the looks of the Nissan a bit better ..... good basic design with a 10 year track record....w/o the excessive electronics of new cars...... which I don't need or really want.


Thoughts, experience and feedback welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cougar14]

I posted a thread looking for recommendations on small new trucks a while ago, got lots of good info. Like you, I like the Toyota, but expensive and no dealing. Primary reason for my investigation is my wife is very uncomfortable driving my F250. I am taking her to drive a Frontier today, along with a Colorado. Not much else to look for. Frontiers built in Brazil, I believe, by Isuzu.

 

[Donna K]

I recently downsized from an '05 GMC Sierra 3500 crewcab 4x dually with a turbo diesel, because I don't have horses anymore : (
I somewhat reluctantly traded that truck for a 2011 GMC Canyon crewcab, 5cyl, with a Snugtop cap. I've put 2000 miles on it and it's proving to be an excellent little truck. It has some cool features, but isn't overly ridden with fancy electronics. There's a built in hands-free speaker to route your smart phone through... I guess that would be pretty nice to use, but it won't interface with my flip phone It has a decent towing capacity for a mid-size 5cyl., with the 6cyl. being higher. An exciting new option on the 2016's is a 4cyl. Duramax. Don't think I'll be able to afford one of those. The bed is small, especially with a cap on, but so far everything I've needed to haul has fit. All in all I'm extremely happy with the 2011 Canyon so far.

 

[pharman]

I've had 4 of them!

I have had 4 Nissan Frontiers and currently have one a 2014 model...EXCELLENT truck for the money...ONLY drawback with these is poor gas mileage...I guess if you want the truck and it's features the trade off is you buy more gas!

 

[cougar14]

Does make you wonder, in this age of cars that get close to 40 MPG, a brand new vehicle weighing very little can get barely 20 MPG. I do like the truck, probably will get one.

 

[rock_castle]

The Frontier and Tacoma are both great little trucks. Consumer Reports ranked both very high and about the same. We went with the Frontier because it is closer to the ground and easier for my wife to get in and out of, and it had a smoother ride. That was six years ago and the Frontier has been a great truck. Only drawback I know of is gas mileage. We get about 17-18 MPG.

 

[muddocktor]

cougar14, I don't know why you are thinking that a Frontier is a light weight. Looking on the Nissan website and the specs on the truck, the curb weight of the 4x2 Nissan Frontier crew cab is over 4400 lbs. The 4x4 model is almost 4600 lbs. That's not very light in my book. And gas mileage depends on a couple things. Weight and rolling/wind resistance are your main 2 factors controlling gas mileage (besides terrain). And Nissan's ratings don't sound too far off either. They show the 4x2 at 22/16 and the 4x4 Frontier at 21/15 highway/city.

 

[cougar14]

I didn't realize they weighed that much. Also, I didn't take into account RPM at speed. My Big 'ol F250 Superduty breezes down the highway at 70, spinning a leisurely 1700 RPM. Bet that Nissan is spinning much faster.

 

[mclark202]

I have a 2010 and can't seem to ever find anything "better" for my needs. Every once in a while I want a "new" truck but can't seem to get rid of this thing. It does everything I want it to and will go ANYWHERE!!! Plus it tows my boat easily.

Yes gas mileage SUCKS. I put very low miles on it anyways(it only has 22K)