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Comments
Funny.. I looked forward to all the snow they said was coming our way... but enough.. I want summer.....
i wouldnt stress about it; 3-4 gallons goes a bit, but i wouldn't push it either.
As far as acceleration goes, the X is, again, a truck and therefore not *fast*. I love fast cars, but I wasn't interested in speed when I got my truck. This is not to say that the X lags behind though. For a totally subjective rating, I give the Xterra an adequate to good rating for acceleration. There's also some debate among us about the difference in acceleration between a 5 speed and an automatic. Coming from being familiar with my husband's manual Jetta VR6, I found the 5 speed to be sluggish; 99% disagree with me and say the auto is sluggish. So you will really be better off if you test drive them both! If you are interested in speed, you might want to wait and check out the 2002s with the supercharger.
menswear - I'm no expert here, but I'll try to explain it as I understand it (I'm sure someone will jump in if I am wrong). The Xterra has automatic *locking* hubs. You *do* have to drive in reverse (or forward, if you were using 4 wheel drive to reverse) a couple of feet to unlock the hubs when you are done using 4 wheel drive. I used to think this was strange as well, but it really isn't that much of an inconvenience for me. And from what I understand, it's not that uncommon among 4 wheel drive trucks to have to do this.
Mindie
Manual hubs have a dial, you'd would have to go out, lock the hubs.. then you can engage 4x4 mode. Reverse the procedure to unlock the hubs.
Our auto hubs save you the trip outside. Going into 4wheel will lock the hubs for you. You can disengage the 4wheel drive and still have the hubs locked, no biggy, and you will be in 2wheel mode. Reversing for the 6' only gets you out of the 4wheel drive totally by unlocking the hubs.
I hope to get my XT this week. 6.75% financing..
Sounds waaaaay too good to be true. That would equate to over a 2 thousand dollar loss per vehicle! I doubt the truck has options like mudguards, an auto-dimming mirror, floor mats, a trailer hitch, a bike rack and a microfilter for that price. I bet they will also slam you for your trade-in. That is what they call a teaser price. You will NEVER get it because they may have one at that price....one driven over 500 miles by the salesmen who knows what else they did in the truck! Remember, these are not the smartest people on the planet.
My price was without a trade-in. I was talking under 25K (24,270.00 to be exact) not including taxes and tags and a trade-in was not involved. I brought my own financing -- under 7%.
For those that doubt the acting bit, the dealers act with you....it is all a formula to gain control over you. When the guy tried to 4-square me, I took a big magic marker and wrote my own price all over his paper.
PS, the Edmunds article is very, very good, but does not tell you how to beat the dealerships at their own game. Do you want to be the person to buy the salesman/saleswoman his/her next shiny Rolex? I hope that my previous email helps one person. That would make me happy :-)
Are we X owners insane yet? :-)
Are you going through credit Unions? If it's a Bank or Savings & Loan.....just give me the name & I'll take it from there. Thanks!
Anyway, most packages come pre-installed at the port. Ask them to take it off and they will most likely not charge you.
Consumer Reports is good, but Edmunds offers a better break-down of prices. Go to the dealership prepared with Edmunds printouts and bargain from there. They really cannot argue with Edmunds prices.
Do not dread the dealer. Hint: bring a guy with you. The deal will most likely be better. Sounds bad, but it is the truth.
For those asking the interest rate question: 6.75% is the best I have seen from banks. 7.25% is the norm for someone with excellent credit (Beacon Score of 760 or better). 3% was offered on slower-moving models like the Pathfinder and the Maxima for qualified buyers. If you have good credit, you can negotiate a rate just like you negotiate for a car deal!
Always go to the dealer with a pre-approved loan or prepare to take a bath. If your credit is bad, you may have to pay more.
Lots more info on the Smart Shopper Board. Good luck!
Steve
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
Picking it up Thur.
YAHHOOO
Did the 21K include your trade?
Make sure they detail it for you...
Have fun off-roading!
Steve
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Worked ok and the dealer knew that I knew what invoice price was, so negotiation time was slashed. But I was after a low demand minivan. (My car was dying too, but I didn't let on that I didn't have all the time in the world to shop).
You might think about configuring what you want and finding out what the True Market Value is according to Edmunds, and if you can live with that price, find a dealer who'll accept it. Make sure it's an "out the door" price so that tags or "advertising fees" don't get tacked on when you go to sign the papers. Check out the articles under the "Advice" button on the sidebar too, if you haven't already. Good luck.
Steve
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
If I want off road performance, there are a slew of other vehicles that do it better for less.
Just wondering.
- Mason
It is stylish looking and yes gets awful gas mileage but it is 4x4 and we want to do some camping. We also looked at a rav4 but it did not look like it could take the kind of camping we do.
All the SUVs are hot in our area and almost impossible to find a 1 year old with a few miles on it. The price did not drop a whole lot for being 1 year old. I am sure we paid too much and we did not get the stellar financing that others seem to have gotten. With excellent credit I got 8.75%. The dealer did not want to come off the price and it was a good price according to NADA. We even had them bidding against Toyota on the phone for a rav 4 but Toyota just couldn't get the payment down so we took the 1 year old xterra while it was available.
We have had it for a week and are pleased so far. ONly time will tell.
I don't think the ride is "truck-like." It's a much better ride than my former '88 Isuzu Trooper or '91 Ford Ranger pick up. Furthermore, when I have the misfortune to ride as a passenger in an actual car, I'm completely unimpressed (Honda Accord and various Chevy's). I think the X sucks up the bumps MUCH better and handles very well on road, considering its weight and height.
The draw to the X is unique. I would charactertize this truck as an awesome off-road vehicle that has as much room as the Pathfinder (Maxima with a truck body). The X is a truck, not a truck on a car-frame like many other "SUVs."
The Rav 4 is a joke and I would never take it off-road. The Rav 4's spare on the back door makes it a crash hazard! The X stores the spare tire underneath just like Ford does with their vehicles.
The Aztek looks nice, but the television advertisements of early twenty-somethings throwning snowballs at each other turned my stomach.
With a few modifications (better AT or MT tires, a Borland Exhaust, better seating, a sliding sunroof, etc...,) the X can be better than a Pathfinder for much less money. However, the SE engine could use an overhaul at only 170 hp. I love my X and it handles the potholes in my Metropolitan area like no other vehicle I have driven!
Those talking about the Aztek, think of residual value, performance and reliability. Look at the roadtests!
I vowed never to buy from an American manufacturer (with the exception of a Sebring) again after owning a Ford Exploader and many GM Cadillacs. Sad, but true. Even if the X is made in America, it still has Japanese Quality Control. Case closed.
Some things to look for with a new X are the warped driver-side mirrors and malfunctioning fuel guages (get stuck at 3/4 full on most models made in November '00 - January '01). Those can be fixed in a matter of minutes. Check the driver-side door sticker to see when the vehicle was made.
The only problem I had as a prospective X buyer was the silly storage bin that blocks the pop-up sunroof. What is Nissan thinking?
Annie
Hmm, wacky looks - comparing the Xterra to the Aztek... I can't say that I follow you there. While I agree that the Xterra looks a bit different from its competition, I don't think it's ugly like the Aztek is. Judging from the other Xterra boards, I don't think that I'm the minority in this thought. The Xterra seems to accomplish the feat of looking different enough to be distinguishable while not going overboard and becoming outrageous. That's my take on it anyway.
As far as the truck-like ride goes, when I got into the market for an SUV, I *wanted* something truck-like. It just seems contradictory to me to buy a vehicle that you plan to take off-road and then complain that it isn't car-like enough. Being a truck is one thing that sets the Xterra apart from some of its competition. Which leads into the gas mileage issue - if one's driving a truck, especially a 4x4, there's little room to complain about mileage. If I'd wanted better fuel economy, I'd have been shopping for a Civic. At least I'm not driving an Excursion and getting 10 mpg...
I find my X to be a very capable off-roading vehicle, and mine is still completely stock. I'd be interested to see your list of the "slew of other vehicles" that off-road better for less. And I'll warn you in advance that I will laugh at any list that contains the CRV, RAV4, and many American trucks.
And while I'm thinking of American vehicles, let me throw in that if you want some cheap-o interiors, go buy any one of them. I have yet to sit in an American car/truck that didn't feel plasticy, weak, and cheap. Just my opinion though!
Mindie
Mindie
I have found that in 2wheel drive the thing stinks on even the smalletst amount of snow. Any snow at all and I have to put in the 4wheel drive to keep from sliding but that is part of the reason for getting 4 wheel drive. We can't wait to check out the camping capability on our new Xterra. You guys still make me feel like we got a terrible deal and paid too much.
For the cargo area, you might look into some of the organizers that are offered. I believe that you can see them on both xterraparts.com and xterrastore.com. Maybe around $100 or so? I don't really remember as I'm not interested in them right now.
For snow driving, I don't have any trouble with my X unless I'm going uphill from a stop. That's the only time that I need to use 4wd. I'm not dealing with a whole lot of snow though either, so that probably has something to do with it!
Again, don't feel bad about your X purchase! Just get out there and enjoy it!
Mindie
Yeah, we love our X's...just not our Ex's.
Mindie - see ya on the XOC.
rob in Santa Fe
it looks like afterbirth and cant go off road. if you think that 'real world' mpg is going to be much better than an xterra in the pontiac afterbirth, than here is your wakeup call! so its basically a tall, ugly, fat, heavy station wagon. yeah, real winner. if you want a wagon, get a wagon. if you want an suv, get an suv- of which, the xterra cant be beat in its class.
what 'slew of vehicles' are better off road for less money?
jeep wrangler- unless you want to carry more than 2 people or alot of stuff, then you have to go with the xterra. loud and uncomfortable on road
cherokee- really 'trucklike ride', uncomfortable and reliability issues- no better off road than an xterra
suzuki- no better off road and much smaller
honda crv- 4 cylinder, cant tow anything, xterra much better off road, smaller inside
rav4- too small, xterra better off road, 4 cylinder, cant tow
ford esape- american crv, better off getting the honda
gm,chevy- you kidding?
the only ford, gm i take seriously are the full size pickups which are awesome.
Mindie
2) there are different types of 4wheel drive systems. To put it in very simple terms, when the X is in 4Wheel mode, the axle turns the tires/wheels at the same rate for both sides of the truck; when you take a corner, one wheel turns faster than the other. When the conditions are dry, the locked axle in 4x4 mode will try to turn the wheels at the "same" rate, but it will fight the inside tire that is turning slower and therefore bind. The 4x4 counts on the tire to slip a bit as in snow, ice or rain.
As far as using it in rain, judgement call, there is no need for it in the light rain, you won't gain much. If it is a solid downpour and water levels are higher.. you might want to use it.
If anyone wants to ge more technical with the 4x4 system.. go for it.. Its Friday and time for me to play with my X.
If the link doesn't work, click on "SUV" between Town Hall and Nissan Xterra Part IX towards the top of your screen, then scroll down to the forum "4WD & AWD Systems Explained." This isn't X-specific, but it might help.
Mindie
Your truck will let you know if there is TOO much traction for you to be in 4WD. When you try to turn, the truck will feel like it is fighting you as the tires try to grip the road and are eventually forced to slip on the high-traction surface. You'll definitely feel it in the steering that suddenly feels very heavy.
May not be a bad idea to tip the people doing this and come back periodically for a repeat performance.
We need to protect our beautiful Xs against the elements!
Time to go 4-wheeling!
HA!!
I got 5 waves on the way home..someone told me I should put the name of the school I work for on the side..
Why didn't u guys/girls warn me..
Annie
The X is more of the truck that I need, configures to what I have to carry. The X drives smooth enough, can carry more with the higher roof line, maybe not in volume, but odd sized stuff. The real factor will be in a good test drive and see it you are happy with it. Bang for the buck, I still think it can't be beat.
poor gas mileage (16-20 mpg)
lack of horsepower
*These are general consensus', not particularly my opinion.
Pros:
Aggressive styling
"X"cellent off-road capabilities
tremendous value
comfortable ride
good gas mileage (16-20 mpg)
japanese reliability
and so on....
I think it's best said (as I've done before on this board) that when I needed to upgrade to a 4WD (from a 2WD X) I looked no further than the Nissan dealer. And I really could've afforded to spend quite a bit more - I just couldn't see the need.