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Comments
cncman what is a Altima SE-L?
I can't tell you which way to go, but if it helps, my 4x2 98 king cab will go alot of places you would only think a 4x4 would, but that is on some washed out roads and two-track roads at the beach,
I don't know about snow, but I think that if cars can do OK out there and you don't get too much snow too often, I wouldn't spend the money.
Vince;
not really much different, other colors like red are available and it has SE limited badging and floor mats, price is the same and so is the equipment, oh and titanium finished alloys and gauges. Nissan usually does this when they are going to a body change, same thing now on the maxima pathfinder and sentra.
I own a '94 nissan reg. cab 5-speed, stripped.
No one has to argue with me about the value of nissan trucks, I'll swear by them.
But, I've wanted to move up to more size and power, and treat myself to a little more frills.
I have always liked the looks of the Dakota club cab, and have been researching it heavily for the last month.
And, it just may be that I can't afford it. I don't know if they are over priced or not, but I can't find the truck I want without paying over 14K (including TT&L) and giving them my truck.
So...I thought I'd look into the Frontier king cab V-6, 5-speed. I prob have to pay for a bunch of bells and whisltes I don't want or need, but that seems to be the case with every "beefed up" truck.
I just hate to start the whole process again...trying to arrive at what is a reasonable deal and what is getting screwed to the wall. So...anyone have some insight, in terms of price as well as satisfaction, on a Frontier V-6 Kingcab, 5-speed?
cncman, hired a guy today who bought a V6 Frontier about 3 months ago. Already has about 5K on it and should be pretty well broken in by now. He likes his truck very much and has not had one problem. Well, you guessed it, we are going up to the mountains this weekend to have fun. There are 4 of us going, another Ranger and the guy I know with the Tacoma. I also have to say Nissan greatly improved their interiors from when I first looked at the Frontier, when did they do this? I'll let you know how it goes. :-)
If so these have an upgraded interior. Looks good,
Have you actually driven the V-6 yet? Please see if you and your friend can swap and take notes for comparison, likes/dislikes of each from both of you, I think this would be a great project. Good luck, and be safe.
So save your rhetoric and misinformation for someone else!!!
TOYOTAS AND NISSANS RULE IN MIDSIZE TRUCK WORLD!
Hey can't you read this is a Nissan Truck room and not a Toyota VS Frontier. Bottom line Nissan makes great performing trucks and cars. Now with the new product lines coming out I think Nissan will do quite well. True I am a Tacoma truck owner, but my loyality is not to the model or the maker. It is to a car campany that manufactures a good quality vehicle. Datsun & Nissan has always manufactured good quality vehicles.
Problem with you is that you are a closed minded person that can only see it one way. Your way or no way....or spread your misinformation. This is one example in the other room you posted several times that Toyota had 800,000 plus cars recalled. Well, in fact they did recently, but you left out the fact that 797,707 recalls are in Japan, and the balance of 16,500 recalls are in 84 countries. Now if you divided 16,500 by 84 that will give you 196 cars per nation.
Enough, this is a Frontier room. Are you two afraid the Frontier is better than the Tacoma?? The Frontier is thousands less once again. Has a larger truck bed, a more powerful base 4cyl! V6's offer just about the same torque. Lets debate the two. I know quite a bit about the Frontier due to cncman.
Cncman, I promise no sugar in the gas tank. No, I have not driven a V6 yet. We do plan on swapping vehicles. We leave Saturday at 7AM and head for the Cascade mountains. Plan on eating up there too, spending the entire day. Its going to look like some kind of MotorTrend shoot out. We are trying to talk a guy who also has a Chevy S-10 4x4 with the 4.3 vortec V6 to come along. Will let you know how it goes for sure!
Test drove the Ranger and the V-8 Dakota(didn't feel like a V-8). The Ranger was nice, roomy, and it too rode better than my Tacoma, but it felt so much like a Taurus! I didn't think it was a true 4X4, felt like it was on a car chassis! The Dodge looks great, but I have to agree with a recent 4X4 magazine, the V-8 felt anemic. I think the auto transmission was killing the power. So it was a toss-up between Frontier and Tacoma. These two trucks are definitely trucks, along with the Dodge. The Ranger is just too car-like and lacks a record of dependability, felt cheap too!
I ended up getting a '98 loaded Tacoma that had only 8K on the odo, so I didn't spend as much as I thought. IMHO the Frontier lacks the aggressive looks, but is a very nice truck. If you're in the market for a midsize truck try out the Toyota, Nissan and Dodge, stay away from the Ranger, even though they(Ford) rebates them to death! My God everyone has'em and it's not because of their 4X4 capabilities either, but they are CHEAP! Two guys I met yesterday at the store, both had Rangers('98 & '99) said they really wanted a Tacoma, but couldn't pass up the rebates at the time. Both guys said their trucks had been back too the dealership for various problems too. Oh, well you get what you pay for!
coffey;
yes they are designed for two different purposes,
for me, I would not get the tundra because I don't tow or load that much and I am more concerned with fuel economy, but if my needs changed and I needed
a full size, I would consider it before a chevy or a Ford.
PS Vince the Frontier is better than the Tacoma in many way. Debate is over.
I find it curious as to why you won't debate Frontier/Tacoma? Both you and Hindsite are obviously looking for allies. Sorry, ask cncman, Nissan wants to kick the sh... out of Tacoma in sales and performance. Its a very competetive market. The Frontier would have been my second choice over the Tacoma hands down. Tacoma's are expensive as hell, for what you get. It is all over the car/truck mags. Sorry you paid too much.
Sorry you won't debate the Frontier vs Tacoma, instead keep bringing the Ranger into the picture.
Really if you saw my previous post that I think the Frontier is a great truck. Now I have seen you all over these various topics and the constant drum beat is to knock Toyota. Okay you are entitled to your opinion, but are you really open minded. If you want to twist words around or blind side someone I just can't respect a person like that. Fact is in the other topic room you called me a name, and never had the decency to own up to it. Do you see me calling you names? I think the average person reading this and all the other postings has an idea of just what kind of person you are. Final word... Nissan makes great trucks period.
I agree with you 100% about the power of the Toy but I can justify spending $1000 for mods instead of the $3000 extra that it would cost for a comparably equiped Tacoma 4x4 .. AND THE CREW CAB HAS 4 DOORS!
If you are talking about the X shaped wheels, those are 16" alloys that are available on the SE
model, most SE's will have them, unless there is the optional 16" wheel delete package.
The one I drove was the SE model and stickered a bit over $26K. I thought these were to be priced against the CRV, RAV4 and Forester? Yes, I know the base price is around $20K -- with nothing on it. The dealer I went to had two on the lot. Both were well over $25K.
It drove nicely. Very nice ride. Felt tall, especially in the corners. The "massive" roof rack is only rated for 125 pounds. Couldn't get it into or out of 4 Low without grinding gears. The vehicle was in neutral and was stopped. Even the salesman couldn't do it. I wish it had the 4WD from the QX4 with full-time capability (or even the more modern shift-on-the-fly version used on the Pathfinder, rather than the auto-hub -- reverse to unlock the hubs -- version it now has.) Power (V6) was only fair.
Assuming the 4WD on the one I drove was a fluke, Nissan should sell a whole bunch of these vehicles.
Bob
actually if we are talking about the same wheels they are offered, I saw them on the only SE CC we got and they were X shaped like the pictures and were 16"
rsholland,
I tried our 4x4 xterra yesterday to see if there was a ride difference, I didn't notice any, I did not have trouble with it grinding, either I am just used to the Nissan 4x4 or there was something awry with the one you drove and actually if you get a loaded out SE auto 4x2 the price is about $23,500, this seems to be the most popular in my area as noone really needs 4wd, oh and I was surprised that the 4x4 got the same fuel economy as the 4x2, maybe a sticker error?
Vince are you back yet? I would be more than happy to make you a good deal on a frontier 4x4, but you know your ranger doesn't hold it's value!!! (ha ha)
Yes the X type of rim does come standard on the SE but I think we were talking about the ones at the NISSAN web site.. go here to check em out.
http://www.nissan-usa.com/crewcab_frontier/fr_seeit.html (look on the yellow truck)
See ya
Even though all the press seems to think it is being marketed as Nissan's answer to the RAV4, CRV and Forester, I really believe its true competition is the Jeep Cherokee. Both are "true" off-roaders, and priced very close to one another. Nissan has a hit here. I find it to be a very interesting vehicle. And... it's been a long time since I have used the words "interesting" and "Nissan" in the same sentence!
Bob
Now, the trip. The Chevy guy with his S-10 4x4 V6 whimped out. There is so much to tell I don't know where to start. Had a nice time, everyone was cordial and there were no Alpha males.
Made it up to the foothills by about 8:30 and the weather was beautiful. We took a forest road (I have maps) that was still at low elevation, didn't want to hit too much snow. Everyones trucks were looking good, washed and filled up. We didn't go crazy and do dumb stuff (I have kids to think about). Well here is the rundown. (All these are not from me, a total of 7 of us went).
Toyota gripes: Interior uncomfortable, bouncy ride, some of the plastics were questionable. Steering somtimes felt like it was wandering.
Toyota raves: Awesome engine power band, the locker was also an advantage, looks rugged.
Frontier gripes: Styling questionable (Front grill), "Just doesn't look as brawney as the Tacoma or Ranger", had to rev the engine to reach its power band, shifting seemed kind of sloppy at times,
Frontier raves: Price is right for V6 power, engine was smooth at idle and could hardly tell it was running, Felt very stable and able in the outdoors.
Ranger gripes: Ground clearance, need more (the stock Ranger 4x4 not mine, mine has larger tires so it helped the ground clearance issue), More power out of the 4.0 V6 would be nice, Engines were rough at idle, not as refined. Interior plastics also questionable, shifting was kind of "notchy".
Ranger raves: Nice smooth freeway ride, limited slip worked flawlessly, Was also able and and stable in the outdoors, Comfortable seats.
These are just a few of the Raves and gripes for the Ranger/Frontier/Tacoma mini shoot out. We climbed and trailed. Went into some snow that was about 2.5 feet deep, found some mud.
A comment came up about the sheet metal on the Frontier, what gauge is it? It just seemed a little thinner than the Tacoma or Ranger. This is not a jab or put down, it is a question.
Who won? Noone we werent racing. All three of these Trucks can go off road. When I mean offroad I mean logging roads, trails, forest service roads, not the rock climbing stuff like the professionals do, or avid offroaders do.
See you in the hills!
Can you give any details on the comparison?? Or is there too much info in the article to post?
thanks for the review, glad you guys had fun and came back safe, what about a review on around town and highway driving? I think most folks would appreciate this too.
Rich;
not sure about the V6, but I do know that intellichoice rated the four cylinder a best overall value, I don't remember if they did the V6, but I do know that the Nissan V6 has 105,000 mile interval on the timing belt.
Score Card
Toyota Tacoma TRD w/V6 manual 148
Ford Ranger XLT w/4.0 V6 manual 120
Dodge Dakota V8 auto 113
Mazda B4000 w/4.0 auto 88
Cheverlet S-10 ZR2 w/4.3 V6 manual 74
Tacoma won in mechanical, off road performance, and on road performance.
Dodge Dakota won in exterior.
Mazda B4000 won in interior.
One note left out the fact that Ranger brakes would sometimes grab or the ABS was easily activated in off road situations. I guess that is Ford's version of the locking differential.
Once again, don't get mad at people who buy Rangers or Frontiers, they know real value and refuse to pay for image.
My only problem is this...I'm looking for a cap that looks as good as my truck does. I want a cab-high cap with frameless windows. So far I have been unable to find a cap with the frameless windows. Any suggestions? I've tried Leer, Century, Jeraco, A.R.E. and Jason. (I'm located in the New England area if that makes a difference.)
Thanks for all the great reading!
I wonder if you put 300 to 500 lb or so in the back of the Toyota if you would get a ride as comfortable as a Nissan with a slight decrease in the MPG.
I have looked at it before and the two most important factors for MPG are 1) weight of the automobile. (This requires work to start and stop and to go up and down hills) and 2) The engines compres ion ratio, assuming they are calulated the same for simillar engines. (This is a big influence on the efficency of the engine)
Happy Shopping!
Actually drove the Frontier and it is a very nice riding truck compared to the Tacoma. It does weigh over 500 pounds more than the Tacoma for the King or Extended cab with 4WD. I have put payloads in my Tacoma from 600 to 1200 pounds and have notice no difference in the ride quality. Frontier is still better riding even with the weight gain.The biggest difference I notice was when I added the cap to the back.
If you want the weight to horsepower (lb/hp) ratio it is 23.1 and the compression ratio 8.9:1 for the Frontier King Cab 4WD V6.
I asked him how his trucks are doing and all he says is that he has no complaints.
I'm thinking if his Frontier can last that long under those conditions, my Frontier should take me at least twice farther than his.
The biggest compliment he has for his Frontiers is gas mileage.