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Comments
I don't know if any of you guys have been looking at the 05 Tacoma or not, but my money may now be going to Nissan.
Toyota was supposed to release their 05 truck in Sept., now this month is almost over and there is still no solid information on price or delivery date. The only thing that you can get from dealers is that a)there is no set date on when they will be in dealerships and b)they will be expensive. Two dealers have offered to take a $1,000 deposit, but neither can give me a date or options and only one offered a price (between $27-28k). I've been looking for a new truck since last year and wanted to see the Colorado or Canyon - I was not impressed with the build quality or the capabilities of the I5.
The more I read about the Nissan, the more I like it.
I'm assuming this won't change much by the time the truck hits dealerships, so I'll be looking much more closely at the 05 Tacoma, which I'm sure will offer more extensive options with their 6 spd manual truck!
Bowke28- please let me know if you plan to pull any large trailers in the great lakes state. as for tounge wt, thats what airbags and a distibuting hitch are for. In the case of the Dana44, it isnt about load carrying, its about tourque/power capacity. Thats why everyone else who sell you a truck with that much tow cap(used to call it a "heavy half") uses a diff with a ring gear that is 1.5-2 inches bigger.
that would make it a dana59-dana64.
the ford f350 dually 4x4 diesel uses a dana60...and that will pull 14k on the tongue and 17k on the goose.
dana44 is plenty for 9500 lbs.
also, the f150 (with 9900 tow cap) uses a 40.
So I got a new Frontier a month ago. I know the gas milage is rated at 17-21 MPG but I haven't hit 17 yet. As anyone else had this problem?
Does Nissan over rate it gas milage??
1. nissan doesnt rate its gas mileage. the numbers you see on the stickers of every car sold in the US are EPA estimates only.
2. gas mileage will increase as the vehicle is broken in. you should see the best mileage for the life of the truck between 10k and 30k miles.
Only two concerns on the '05 Frontier so far are the plasticky looking dash / air and heating controls AND the payload shows at only a 1000 lbs or so.
IMHO - the frontier's dashboard is a lot nicer than the new taco's silver, ugly dashboard.
triumph75 - where did you get the 1000 lbs payload info? where can i find the different models' curbweights?
questions:
- i planned on getting the 'active brake limited slip' option, but not sure if i later change its final gear ratio (to accommodate taller tires), would i have to change out the LSD as well? what's the available gear ratio on the frontier CC 4x4 anyway? anyone knows?
- any good frontier forum that get regular posts?
- taco DC has rear seatback angle of 23 degrees, what about frontier CC?
thanks.
I guess dashboard is a matter of preference. I think that Taco's looks like that on the Solara. I saw Solara photos online and the dash looked like you said - cheap, but in person it seemed perfectly fine.
Anyone who can cite reasons why I should lease a Frontier over a Toyota Tacoma aside from the fact that I hate Toyotas and their lying dealers. Am considering leasing American trucks too. Which one is among the better choices, V6 only please. Does the frontier have side-airbags?
I wanted to dispose my RAV 4 last week but my wife lost the cargo cover when she went shopping at Costco. Toyota wanted $600-700 to replace it, got a replacement for it from ebay for $200. Now am ready to trade-in, or maybe trade lease.
Thank you for all your responses
more at http://www.nissannews.com/
the article doesn't say when the trucks will be at the dealerships but i'm hoping it'll be very soon - maybe within a month and before december. didn't 05 tacoma's production begin about a month ago at the numi plant in fremont?
Also, there are a bunch of new NISMO Off-road Frontier pics (under the original ones) on the nissannews website too. I will be waiting to make my Tacoma/or Frontier decision in Dec.
THANKS FROM SOUTH FLORIDA
Apparently Nissan has officialy taken down the "Design your Future 2005 Frontier" page from their site, and I conformed with Nissan today that it will be gone untill the Frontier is officially released in December. I was just curious if anyone remembers what the price was for the fully loaded Crew Cab Nismo Off-Road edition from the design site?
Also, any more info as far as release date and specs would be great!
Any and all info is truly appreciated!
Thanks,
Hayden
All info is appreciated!
Thanks!
nissan marketing folks - listen up:
- go out there court/bribe the aftermarket part manufacturers to get them to do kits on *current* model year.
- the markets for xterra and pathfinder are very much overlapped. do 1 or the other but not both and put more resources to improve and to bring the frontier to market sooner than toytota's tacoma.
- publish more technical data on not-yet-available vehicles such as mpg, torque/hp vs rpm graph.
- definitely need to raise up the frontier. a 2wd pre-runner taco sits higher than the 4wd fronter. and there's no kit to lift it. that's sad!
- tell the seat designers to do a better job! get them firmer, sit higher, have better mechanism for lumbar and side support
- more storage space inside the cab. look at the storage capacities of 05 taco; now that's impressive.
- offer a supercharger option for frontier
- make sunroof a single, separated option - not every one wants it w/ the power pkg !
- include daytime running light and please please put in the automatic lighting system so that people don't have to remember to turn on/off the headlights. my 1988 oldsmobile had this feature way back and yet almost 17 years later and none of the import brands has this! incredible!
if nissan can do all this soon, i bet a lot of taco fans will jump ship.
As far as a lift kit goes, Id be very interested in a 2-3" Lift as I noticed the 05's look to sit a bit lower than the 05 Tacoma. However, the 05 Tacoma also has less ground clearance than the 04 so they may actually be closer than it looks... it might be decieving. Since the 05 Tacomas and Frontiers are brand new, its going to take a bit before some lift kits come out. However I have seen 01-04 Frontiers lifted so I'm guessing it wont be non-existant. In any event, the first thing Im going to do to either my new Frontier (very likely) or new Tacoma (less likely) is put on some Bridgestone Dueler Revo A/T's that are slightly taller than the stock.
As far as comparing this truck to the new 05 Tacoma, I have already driven the 05 Tacoma 3 times. While it is nice and a big improvement over the 04's, it's just lacking something. I wanted to get a fully loaded TRD Off-Road, Double Cab in either 4x2 or 4x4. Even after a $2000 MSRP discount I was looking at $27-$30K after taxes. For that money, it just seemed like I would be dissapointed with what I was getting.
After checking out photos, specs, and Future Frontier Builder, for the MSRP of about $29,500 you can get a Crew Cab with Power Moonroof, Leather/Memory/Power Heated seats, Roof Rack, Chrome bumpers, side mirrors AND door handles. These are all things, maybe small, that Tacoma doesnt even OFFER at this price. Other things I personally liked better was the Hand emergency brake (Tacoma is foot), the Dash (MUCH easier to pop in the aftermarket NAV sytem Im going to buy). In addition, the new 05 Frontier engine will be pumping out 265HP (vs 245hp for Taco) and more Torque! (Only a drive will determine the actual power though)
The Tacoma drove nice, but the seats only had 2 friggen adjustments... Forward and Back, and Lumbar. What the ????! I am only 5'7" and I like to sit higher in my truck so as to see the road better. In the Tacoma, I felt so low in the seat it was uncomfortable to drive and see well; and I couldnt do anything about it! Booster seat maybe?
Also, the intereior shot I saw with the leather just looks like its worth the $30K... the Tacoma doesn't. In any event I will be waiting and I agree with you Sigsauer, the 05 Frontier is really growing on me... I love the front chrome bumper too!
Check out www.nissannews.com for a bunch of pics!
which dealer offered you the 2K off msrp? if you live in CA and don't mind disclosing that infor to me in case i can't wait for the new frontier to come out
i too test drove the 05 tacos both w/ manual and auto a few times as well. neither of which seems to be that powerful or torquey to me. but their spec, performance data sure looks pretty good on paper though.
yes, i agreed both 05 taco and 05 fronty sit a lot lower then their previous models which scream out "lift me !!"
the 01-04 frontiers you saw lifted probably were k/c and not c/c and probably some had only a body lift. i checked w/ big suspension kit manufacturers like rancho, superlift, procomp, donahoe racing, fabtech, skyjacker and none has suspension lift for later models of c/c frontier.
for taco, i only wanted the basics like v6 d/c pre-runner, manual, sr5. no need to pay extras for the sport or off-road pkg since there will be new shocks, coils, rims, tires when lifting it anyway. however toyota didn't even offer manual trans for d/c pre-runner.
i think if i list the pros/cons of nissan and toyota, the pros side of toyota will be longer but still there's some part of me that doesn't feel completely comfortable getting the taco now (yes, i'd have to go w/ an auto trans) w/o seeing/driving the frontier first
oh, i also checked out the new 05 pathfinder and really like the integrated head rests of the 2nd row. you can push them all the way down when not in use and can see thru the back window nicely. on the new taco and frontier this isn't possible.
2005 Tacoma
Height = 70.1" (without roof rack)
Ground Clearance = 9.4" - 9.5"
2005 Frontier
Height = 70.1" (without roof rack)
Ground Clearance = 8.6" - 9.2" (apprx guess)
It looks as if the 05 Tacoma only has 0.3" - 0.8" more ground clearance which I know I will at least make up when I put in slightly taller tires.
But I would like to get 2" - 3" extra clearance in there for good measure. I have seen 01-04 Fontier crew cabs lifted (almost bought one), and more importantly new 04 Titans lifted. And as far as I know most of the platform and technology is borrowed from the Titan. This could be could news for us once the 05 Frontier comes out. Only time will tell at this point. The Tacoma is tempting, but Im still gonna wait for the Frontier to give it a shot and probably buy one. I owned a 2001 crew cab which I loved. If worse comes to worse, and it completely dissapoints me, which I kind of doubt, then I will look into the Tacoma again which will most likely have more inventory, more comptetition, and thus better dealer incentives
1. Is stability control offered? Do you have to get some expensive package or top of the line model?
2. The pictures on the Nissan website showed what looks to be a power sunroof? Again, is that only for the top of the line model?
3. Are side curtain airbags offered? Again, does it require a top of the line package?
4. The pictures on the Nissan website show plastic organizers underneath the flip up seats on the crew cab. They look like they are removable. Does anyone know? I like the Titan because you can create a flat floor for dogs and stuff. Every other truck maker seems to be missing the boat on this. If the plastic junk down their is permanent, Nissan really screwed up on this issue.
I want a basic 4wd crew cab with a flat rear floor. However, I would like a sunroof, and I also told myself I am not buying another tall rollover prone vehicle without stability control and curtain airbags. Please make me happy Nissan. I like everything else about the truck.
I will try and answer your questions as best as I can. Keep in mind that I myself was pricing out a fully loaded, top-of-the-line NISMO off road edition. In addition, Im also basing my answers on the photos and info I analyzed at:
http://www.nissannews.com/multimedia/nissan2005/frontier_crewcab.- - shtml
and
http://www.nissanusa.com/content/0,,action-NStaticLoader_path-@ni- - ssan@future@static@futureModels,00.html
1.) Some form of stabilty control will be offered, along with up and down hill assist. Looks to be on at least top-of the line model, but not sure how it will be packaged.
2.) A Power sunroof will be offered. Again, looks to be on at least top-of the line model, but not sure how it will be packaged.
3.) Side & Curtain airbags will be offered. Again, looks to be on at least top-of the line model, but not sure how it will be packaged.
4.) This I have no idea about. sorry.
Again, I dont know how the packages will be done, but judging by the Titan, things like Moonroof maybe packaged with other luxuary type items like upgraded stereo systems and possibly leather. We will probably have to wait until Dec. 1st to officially find out.
I personally love the Titan myself, but am having problems bringing myself to the reality of driving such a huge vehicle that will prove to be hard to manuever in the city (Southern California), and that gets less then average gas mileage. I just sold my 2001 Frontier a month ago since the warranty was going to expire and I have no hesitation going back to a Frontier seeing as how this one looks to be even nicer, and a touch bigger... especially the engine!
likes:
- outside design curves, integrated fender flares, front hood design, looks tougher than the 05 taco.
dislikes:
- the fitting and finishing touch didn't seem to be very good in quality. there were obvious signs of foam filler in between the front doors and the body that was painted over. the weather seals didn't go all around the doors (would be noisy i think).
- the truck visually look even shorter or closer to the ground than the already low taco.
- no bracket in the rear axle to mount anti-sway bar.
- the small storage bin underneath didn't have carpet on the side like the taco so it look quite cheap. on the sides on the seats, they were all plastic, uncarpeted.
- my biggest gripe about it is the entire 4 inside door panels were made out of plastic w/ very cheap texture, color; it screamed "cheapo!!") really loud. the taco inner panels at least have nicer texture on their plastic, have 2 different constrasting colors and some cloth like material on each panel.
- the fitting of the arm rest on the doors didn't look like it was very tight fit; unlike the taco's.
- i reached over the platform rails to test the power seat buttons - for you hkings
i spent quite sometime looking at it to see if there is something else that i like about it but too bad - none. i even walk back and forth b/t the taco and frontier a few times to compare and the more times i spent on the taco, the more i appreciate its workmanship and quality, even though i really hate taco front dashboard, the radio and the ugly gauges.
hkings - like you, i was more set on the frontier for its packages/options and especially 2wd d/c w/ manual trans. but if i had to buy a truck last nite, it would have been the taco; sadly to say.
since i'm not in a realy hurry to buy, i'll wait until the frontier hit the showroom, do some test drive before i sign the check (probably to the taco salesman - especially now i know i can get invoice prices on them). talked to a show rep there and he said there are actually some frontier already being shipped to the dealer and sometimes in the next 2 weeks i should be seeing some in the area. hopefully he was telling the truth.
other general observation: there were a lot of people around the tacos - could be due to the fact that there were a couple of them on the floor and people can actualy sit in them. but there was very light audience around the frontier and for the ones that saw it, they didn't show much interest . unscientifically speaking, i can predict there are going to be a lot more taco buyers than frontier buyers which translate to aftermarket parts availablilty
I appreciate your taking a good look and good notes on the truck, but without actually sitting in and driving a production unit 05 Frontier, it is hard to tell how well put together it really is. While there may have been no way to tell if the Fronty was production, it's hard to compare it to a production 05 Tacoma you can sit in. I think there was probably many good reasons Nissan didnt want anyone to get too close, or sit in the vehicle if it wasnt a final version. I know they did this with the Titan before it first came out too. SO I wont judge Quality fit and finsish till I sit in one.
Interior wise it sounds like the difference between you and I has more to do with preference. You said you didnt like the fact all the door panels were plastic. Plastic texture aside, I rather have more plastic like material on the doors and everywhere else in the car and definitely no cloth! The fact that Toyota put cloth on the doors is a big NO NO to me, especially in a pickup truck. This includes the cloth/sports seats as well. While my truck will be a dialy commuter, I also plan on taking it out camping, hiking, trails, to the lake, off-road, etc. While opinions differ on this, from my own experience, cloth is going to be the first thing that gets dirty and the hardest thing to clean... if it can even be cleand. I want surfaces that can be easily cleaned and wiped down, including leather! I want my car's interior to look in the best shape possible for the longest time, and I want as little cloth and carpet showing as possible. I will even be replacing my carpeted Mats for Rubber ones
Also, as far as the power seat goes, do you remember what trim model of the 05 Frontier you saw? How many adjustment controls were on the side of the drivers seat? Ive seen several pictures of 05 Frontier Crew Cabs that that show 2 seperate controls for power seats on the drivers side. The Titan has the same setup and it took me a minute or 2 to figure out the height did adjust on that too. Also, I looked at Nissan's website and they offer 8 Way power seats as swell on the new 05 Pathfinders. While this doesnt guarentee anything, the new Pathfinders and Frontiers share the same platform, interior parts and design, so Im remaining hopefull. Again, I can't comment until I sit in one and official specs are released on all packages with power seats.
In any event, the options and packages that are being offered, are above and beyong the Tacoma; and it still has me leaning towards the new Frontier. Like I said, I really loved the Titan and all the options it offered, but just found it a bit too big (and gas guzzling) for my taste. But you can get a 2WD Titan for the price of a new 4x4 Tacoma! DOH! With that said, based on early numbers, I'm guessing I can get a fully loaded 4x4 Frontier with all of the options I want (and Tacoma doesnt offer), for only a little more than a 05 Tacoma 4x2 loaded.
In addition, the fact more people will buy a Taco is actually a turnoff to me in certain respects since I like having something you don't necessarily see alot of on the road. Even my 2001 Frontier looked more unique when driving since you dont see as many of them in the LA area as you do Tacos every other truck. However I know that thats a good thing too for aftermarket
Last question for you Sigsauer, what area do you live in? I'd love to know when and if the 05s do hit the lots in the next 2 weeks. I am on about 6 dealer lists in the San Fernando/LA, CA area that told me they will call as soon as one hits the lot for a test drive.
Thanks again for all the info! Truly appreciated!
Just giving the benefit of the dubt to the Fronty.
- yes, i believe the frontier was a pre-production unit. production for these didn't start until Oct 21 and the tag i saw had 8/04 date on it. i truly hope it'll be drastically different in terms of fit and finish on the production one since like you, i also want to be 'unique' somewhat from the taco crowd.
- i too agree that w/ that cloth material on the door panel of the taco, it'd be worn, dirty very quick. but to me it was nicer in terms of look than the all plastic panel of the frontier. i really hope that the production units will have better, different plastic texture w/ some highlight colors like the taco though. i don't mind if i pay 15K for a truck w/ cheap materials but for a mid 20K truck i'd expect a little nicer.
- the trim model i saw was an SE,i believe and it had 2 control parts. it'd be very interesting to me if those 2 parts somehow can be manipulated to raise the seat up/down as it shouldn't take much brain power to test all the movements of the 2 simple controls. there was 1 horizontal control which can only move forward/backward; it didn't move up or down as i tried. and there was the vertical control which can only be tilted forward/backward for back rest and it didn't move up or down either. hopefully being a preproduction unit, all the seat movements weren't all yet implemented.
- very much agree w/ you on the options and packages offered by nissan vs the very restrictive options on tacos.
- i just hope the manual shift on the frontier will be shorter and smoother, less effort to shift into reverse than the manual trans on taco. it took some unnecessary force to get the stick shifted into reverse position on the taco and i hated that.
- forgot to mention in the previous post that personally i like the taco's bed better. it just looks much cleaner w/o that utility track on the bottom bed and the side utility track on tacos look much more integrated (less obvious) w/ the bed rather than an add-on as in the case on the frontier. but i also hated the fact that toyota didn't put any lock on the tailgate or their new side storage compartments. well, but it would still be better to have unlockable storage compartments than frontier's lack of storage compartments though. the least nissan could have done is have the similar lockable outside bed storage bin on the frontier like it has on the titan.
- i live in the north orange county area and yesterday i was told by a salesman at the cerritos nissan dealer that in about 2 wks they'd be getting one of the very few frontiers initially.
i too will wait it out for the frontier before making my purchase as well since i'm in no hurry. my daily ride is still fine for me.
why can't nissan and toyota combine their best features into 1 model so i can't complain on anything about both products
I also agree with you on the tailgate lock. I had it on my 01 Frontier, not sure why it's not on the 05 Tacoma.
Sigsauer, can you keep in touch with me and email me at HKINGS@aol.com and let me know when (and if) Cerritos Nissan gets in their first 05 Frontier because the sooner I test one out the sooner I can make up my mind
Thanks again!
Just wanted to give you an update on Cerritos Nissan. I shot an email over to Cerritos via their website just for laughs to see what they would tell me about the 05 Frontiers availability. The Internet / Fleet manager called me within 15 minutes and he basically told me that they would get their very first 05 Frontiers inbetween Christmas and the New Year. I mentioned I had a friend whom said a sales person told him they might get one in the next 2 weeks, and he seemed clueless, but he did say he would give me a call as soon as one came in.
Basically he said that Nissan waited to ship to Dealers until all dealers could display them at about the same time, much like Toyota did with the Tacoma.
So long sotry short, WHO KNOWS! LOL... between all the dealers Ive called and all the info Ive seen Ive heard anywhere from Mid November to Mid December, to mid January all the way to mid February! Seriously, I wish car manufactuers and dealers could communicate a friggin release date properly! It's not that hard! We can fly men to the moon, but to get a release date on a new model year truck nowadays is impossible to do within a 3 month range.
Obviously I know most of it has to do with keeping mum until they can clear out more 04's, and dealers usually dont like spending much time working with someone who isnt going to buy something already on their lot. Oh well... The waiting game begins!
sure, i'll keep you in touch via email or this forum in any event that i think you'd be interested to know about the frontier.
"The supercharger is made by Stillen and looks like the 350Z unit already for sale by Stillen. Looks like minor plumbing was done for install. The lift kit is simple. It was a spacer between the strut mount and a shackle in the rear for about a 2.5" lift. I spoke with CST and they were approached by Nissan to fab up a lift spindle for the Frontier and Xterra but CST is
worried about the popularity of the new Nissan. You have to consider that they make kits for the Titan both 2 and 4 wheel drive. CST will be releasing a 5" spindle lift for the Colorado and Canyon 2wd next month. Calmini is the only company making a lift for the Frontier, Xterra and Pathfinder. I will be going back to the show on Friday to ask some serious questions."
Anyway, that is it for now. I for one am excited and if I get an 05 Frontier, I may just go with the simple solution stated above as I'm just looking to get about 2-3 inches of additional clearance to put some bigger 32-33" inch tires on. I asked a few more detailed questions, so if I learn anything new I will post it.
personally, i don't particularly like the spaceer type of setup for lift. hopefully someone will come out w/ a real lift kit soon. if the nissan folks are smart, they should partially fund or invest in the lift project to help the oem guys feel better about making one. rancho and fabtech are the 2 companies that i consider making good suspension lift. don't know anything about cst or calmini companies at all.
only if i know someone is making aftermarket replacement for the cheap plastic of the door panels then i'd be a really happy camper
i also noticed from the pic, both taco and frontier don't have the sound insulation layer underneath the hood anymore. cost cutting at the expense of noisy engine sound
http://www.nissannews.com/multimedia/events/800px/04_sema015.jpg
http://www.nissannews.com/multimedia/events/800px/04_sema007.jpg
Yikes!
2FastDre.
THANKS FROM FLORIDA
Now the bad news, I really wanted to get the NISMO Off Road model with the chrome bumpers, mirrors and door handles. In addition I wanted the Leather interior package with dual power and heated seats. It "Looks" like that will only be available on the LE !!! DOH!!!
I dont mind putting on a lift, suspension, or bigger tires aftermarket, but does anyone know if I will be able to order Chrome bumpers through Nissan and have them swap out the color coded ones? I know it's kind of early for this type of question, but if it's a possiblity, I'd be a happy camper again!
If not, it looks like I may be looking at the Titan again... or possibly a Tundra. I liked he Tacoma, but just wasn't super impressed with the options for the money.
Any help or info is truly appreciated!
Thanks!
here are the new things about frontier's specs that disappoint me (some are quite small items) - given the fact that i'm set on an se, 4x2, d/c s/b, manual.
- longer turning radius than taco (43.7 vs 40.7)
- no skid plates
- no auto headlamps, no front fog lamps
- no sliding rear window (the one behind the 2nd row).
- no bucket seat with center console
- no lumbar support.
- completely plastic door trim on se models.
- about 400 lbs heavier in curbweight than the taco prerunner d/c s/b.
i also noticed that the small disclaimer saying that these specs are prelim, based on avail infor at the time of printing which is oct 15, 04. hopefully by the time nissan releases the trucks, it'll have more yes than no's on se model.
some better things when compared to taco:
- runs regular unleaded;
- chrome bumpers front/rear
- vented frt/rear disc brakes
- bigger standard tires (265/70R16)
- tailgate lock
- higher ground clearance (10.1 vs 9.5)
- much simpler optional packages
well, now i wish someone will do a review of this truck to post the performance specs.
my plans:
- wait for few more months to scope out the production frontier for final judgment.
- if decide to go for a taco after the test drive, then will wait some more months until side airbag option are being shipped in tacos and the dealers to come off their high horses to negotiate from the invoice up.
No problem. I too am hoping certain things change, and / or are wrong with that Spec sheet seeing as it is now over a month old. I KNOW part of it is wrong because some of the EPA/Mileage estimates are missing and not listed right as far as breaking it down to City/Highway miles.
As far as your positives, I agree on all of them.
As far as your negatives, I can only say none of them are negatives to me (minus turning radius) as I plan on getting an LE or NISMO edition. Front fog lamps, Lumbar support (8 Way power! WooHoo!), Bucket seats & Center console, sliding rear window ARE all available on other model trims. ( I dont want sliding rear anyway as I like the bigger full window with Defrost). Plus Skid plates Im pretty sure are optional on all models. The day light running head lamps are nice, but are not a necessity to me.
Not sure if the weight will be a factor since the Fronty will have 20 more horses fromt he get go. In addition, I would think the more weight it has, the nicer the ride will be. Those are things that can only be determined from a Test Drive.
As I mentioned before, at this point, the thing that is dissapointing me is that the NISMO will not offer all the nice Interior features of the LE. However, if I can get a Front Chrome bumper on an LE then I will feel better.
Valencia Nissan called me yesterday and she said they are expecting Frontiers by the end of this month (1.5 weeks!!! - My fingers are crossed!) Of course Simi Valley Nissan said that he shows Northern California getting them in Dec/Jan, but no news for Southern Cali. yet. DOH!
Its really hard to determine who I should believe!
Also, as a side note, I am also more impressed with how Nissan is handling their rollout with the new Frontier vs. Toyota did with Tacoma. An example is with this Spec sheet which seems like a virtual detailed break down of every item on every truck of every model frontier vs. the general crap Toyota released prior to the Tacomas release.
Anyway... Im keeping my fingers crossed that I get to at least try one soon so I can make up my mind already! I am sharing a car so I need to get any truck hopefully by the end of the year!
With that said, one could guess that the Frontier may debut the 2nd week of December which is what I have heard from some dealers, some say that even expect them the end of this month.
My honest guess is that you will see them the week after next (week after Thanksgiving) at the earliest at some dealers and definitely by December 6th or so at most dealers (2nd week of December).
Dont hold me to it though
I hope to see them soon!!!!
Thanks for the post on the nissannews specs. Interesting to look at the gear ratios for the 6 speed manual. Sixth gear on the Tacoma is 0.85, while the Frontier is 0.769. Heck, even Fifth gear on the Frontier is .839! I did not care for the 6th speed manual on the Tacoma. If you're going to offer a six speed, why not provide a decent "crusing" gear?
Anyway, My 99 Ford Ranger is aching to be replaced, and the Frontier is worth waiting for.
I'm between the new V6 Tundra and whatever the 05 Frontier turns out to be. I don't need a V8 and the resulting drain on fuel, so a modern V6 is my engine. Both the 4 liter Toyota and Nissan V6 engines look pretty close in HP and torque. So, its a tossup as to which is the stronger engine.
I haven't heard of anyone who has made this comparison, and will write when I do.
There are awesome, high res. pix on the Nissan News web site of the Frontier.
http://www.nissannews.com/
I REALLY like the interior of the 05 Frontier. The Tundra's is looking a bit dated. The interior/dash of the Taco is so hidious, its out of consideration.
Also, one thing I like about my Ranger, is the lift over height into the truck bed. Its pretty high into the Tundra's. I won't be able to compare this feature with the Frontier until I can check one out in person.
My biggest grip about the Ranger is the 3.0 liter engine that it came with. Its an old Detroit pushrod design that pings not matter what level of gas I put into it. I even put a new set of spark plugs with one heat range cooler. Helped a little but it still pings, especially going up hill. Drives me nuts, and accelerate uphill, forget it.
I hear that the Nissan 4 liter will run on regular gas. Good!
I've got a 93 Infiniti G20 with its 1.8 liter 4 banger and that engine is running like new with 220K on it. I think Nissan engines are among the worlds best.
Keep up the progress report guys!
http://www.canadiandriver.com/roadtest/05frontier.htm
I cannot wait for these trucks to show up at the dealers. Have been researching the 05 Taco as well, but am leaning toward the Frontier since as typical of toyota, I cannot seem to configure a V6 Taco the way I want. Also I cannot see the appeal of the new Taco body style, IMHO. Plus I loved everything but the too small V6 engine of my '95 K-cab 4x4 5spd.
Come on December!