Thinking of getting a xterra....need some helps

[bilzbobaggins]

Looking at an 03 Xterra 4x4  v6 115000ish on clock.  Clean vehicle.  Don't know why I want one as I have spent most of my life being a db to suv owners.  Im not keen on having my son in his car seat in the front of my hardbody.    Something about it bothers me.  And the fact that I have smoked it out the last three years weighs in on that.  And the fact the hardbody does not like going much more than 60 on the interstate.

 

 

Help I need. 

 

Personal experiences with owning one/closely knowing someone who owns one.

 

Don't need help telling me they are ugly and get piss poor fuel mileage.

 

Constructive help welcomed.

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[gumbyz13]

I had an 04 (2wd) and loved it.  Drove it from San Diego to Chicago and back twice and never once had any issues, was my daily driver as well.  The only reason I sold it was due to a move overseas.  Decent amount of room inside (packed all kinds of crap in the back and on top of that thing), gas mileage was pretty good, decent amount of power, good handling, towed a trailer with a few bikes on it with no problem.  

 

The biggest problem I had with it was changing the spark plugs.  One of the plugs in the back is a real ass pain, took me and a buddy to change the damn thing.  Hood off, one on top of the engine and one underneath, a few extensions and a couple universals.   

[Fat510]

My buddy's sister had one, he said it had to be taken in the the dealer on a regular basis.

[ggzilla]

Rust

Engine troubles

Beautiful

Good fuel economy

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Xterra/2002/body_paint/structure.shtml

[qwik510]

My GF had one but traded it in because it was hard for her to get her small kids in and out of their car seats. The back doors being so small made rear seat access very tight and she found it difficult to deal with everyday. She said she loved it besides that.

[q-tip]

Friend of mine has one, from what he has researched after buying one, 05 and newer is they way to go. They seemed to have beefed them up a bit in 05. 00-04 have a timing belt instead if a timing chain, so that is another part that will require replacement. That being said, I have not heard of them having a lot if problems either.

[scooter stuff]

I bought one new in 2000. I sold it last year and got an 08 pathfinder. It gave 165,000 worry free miles. The only issues I had were A leaky valve cover gasket and a bad M.A.F. sensor.

[Jesse C.]

An ex girlfriend bought a 2000 when they first came out, drove it till it blew up a couple of years ago. She didn't know you had to replace the timing belt every 60,000 miles! Had almost 200,000 miles on it!! 

 

I was very impressed with it that I ended up buying a 2008 about three years ago and I love it! It has gone to Bakersfield about 6 times and Phoenix once without a hitch! And I have loaded it up with all kinds of things and towed some small trailers with it. Mine is just 2 WD and it has had no issues in the dirt. I have the S model, the middle of the road version. 

 

But, beware that some models between 2005 and 2008 had a trans cooler issue. The trans is cooled via the regular radiator. The lines run into the bottom of it and back to the trans, They had an issue with the line in the radiator tank breaking and causing the trans to fail due to antifreeze contamination. They called it SMOD, The Strawberry Milkshake Of Death, because the antifreeze turns into a think pinkish goo. Nissan did not do a recall, but, they did extend the warranty on those parts in case it happens. Some have replaced the whole radiator and some have just added a trans cooler and bypassed the radiator completely. 

 

Other than that, I have not heard of any other serious issues with them.