# How many miles on your Fontier/Xterra/Pathfinder/Hardbody?



## TeamRoundBoys (Jan 3, 2005)

2002 Frontier Crew Cab longbed, 63k


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## genejo (Jun 7, 2005)

2006 Xterra S 4x4
26k miles!


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

2004 Frontier Crew Cab 4X4 with 59,000 miles.
1986.5 Hardbody King Cab with 240,000 miles.
Plus a 1991 Stanza with 130,000 miles and 2005 Altima with a paltry 17,000.
Ford Exploder with 104,000 (but we pretend it belongs to some one else). I love my Nissans.


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## mtnbikermatt (Mar 22, 2007)

my good friend had a 95 pathfinder with 130,000 miles but he snapped the frame where the rear axle mounts and he had to junk it but the engine and tranny worked amazing at that many miles


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## jeffro (Jan 16, 2004)

My first Nissan was a 98 Hardbody P/U. I sold it with 220,000 miles. That was a great truck. I wish I would have kept it because I think it had a lot of life left in it.

my brother had a matching hardbody which he beat the h3ll out of. I think he sold his at around 200,000.

Now I have a 2005 Xterra with only 32,000 miles. no problems. 

my family and I have had good luck with our Nissans - old and new


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## amor587 (Dec 9, 2004)

2000 Xterra.... 146,000 miles on it, running great, never had a major problem, just the regular maintenance and wear and tear (oil, filters, break pads, belts, tires):thumbsup:


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## GrgX (Jun 2, 2007)

2000 Xterra 111,000 miles and running.:thumbsup:


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## LocalRiderSe7en (May 1, 2007)

2006 Red Braun Xterra SE, 20k miles without skipping a beat. I've beat this truck to death and it rolls over and asks for more. I really belive in the Nissan brand.


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

LocalRiderSe7en said:


> 2006 Red Braun Xterra SE, 20k miles without skipping a beat. I've beat this truck to death and it rolls over and asks for more. I really belive in the Nissan brand.


I've got a Red Braun Crew Cab, love that color!


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## *KALEAN* (Oct 10, 2005)

2005 Nissan Titan se 4x4 31,000 miles. Love my truck!!


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## heatstroke (Jul 1, 2003)

00 X, about 80K before I left.
Failures : 
1 rear shock, 
1 Thermoamp for the AC


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## skygod74 (May 3, 2006)

The average Nissan is "broken in" at approx. 150,000 miles. Bulletproof. :thumbsup:


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## crashtestdummy (Jun 18, 2005)

skygod74 said:


> The average Nissan is "broken in" at approx. 150,000 miles. Bulletproof. :thumbsup:


Great, I have a slightly used 86.5 King Cab, 240,000 miles that I would be willing to sell to you.


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## inmotion (Sep 26, 2010)

95 pathfinder. 170k mi. loving it.


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## 77RRad (Mar 8, 2010)

04 Xterra SE/SC 48k only


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## pbird74 (Mar 27, 2007)

2006 Frontier SE 4X4...43,000 mi. Switching to Castrol Synthetic this Friday. Hope to drive it 'till the wheels fall off.


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## alexrex20 (Dec 20, 2005)

2000 pathfinder
185k miles and beat to hell, but still going strong


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## BitterDave (Nov 27, 2007)

1986.5 D21 Hardbody SE-V6 with 281k miles on it.

Just recently started having stalling problems with it, which is pretty much the first time I've ever had engine problems. Starts up fine and then 3 seconds later the engine stumbles a little and then stalls. After that, it can be difficult to get it started again. Only happens occasionally, making it difficult to diagnose. Anyone got any ideas?


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## alexrex20 (Dec 20, 2005)

fuel filter. change it.


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## CharacterZero (May 19, 2004)

2005 Frontier Nismo 4x4 in Storm Grey
72k on the odo


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## floridalawdog (Sep 3, 2010)

05 xterra, 56k miles, never had a single problem, runs like new. Love that truck:thumbsup:


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## ranier (Sep 9, 2003)

2000 Frontier SE with 147,000+miles. Gonna replace the lower ball joints and belts this weekend. No major problems with regular maintenance. I'm gonna run this til it dies and probably get the new Nissan Juke in two to three years.


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## IvanLasston (Jul 10, 2006)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder - ~164k miles
Had to replace the suspension once(too much 4 wheeling) and had to replace the clutch twice(too much driving in Los Angeles) but it is still running fine.


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## heyman1977 (Sep 28, 2010)

1996 pickup. only 130K!


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## roc865 (Jun 29, 2009)

floridalawdog said:


> 05 xterra, 56k miles, never had a single problem, runs like new. Love that truck:thumbsup:


is it considered a truck or suv?


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## jtyler05si (Sep 12, 2010)

Had a 1987 Nissan Pathfinder with 89k miles on its second engine until I recked it ~5 years ago.


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## floridalawdog (Sep 3, 2010)

roc865 said:


> is it considered a truck or suv?


Its habit to call it a truck, because we have the xterra, and a G37, so my wife and I ask each other if we are taking the truck or the car.


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## BeakJones (Oct 29, 2008)

floridalawdog said:


> Its habit to call it a truck, because we have the xterra, and a G37, so my wife and I ask each other if we are taking the truck or the car.


It's got a real frame, only trucks have real frames these days.

130k on the 01 5speed X-terra. Passenger window failed and is taped up. Rear hatch is unable to open as of last night. CANT WAIT TO FIX THAT


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## troycad (Dec 23, 2009)

2000 xterra, 143,000. Still looks good and runs like a champ. I just changed the timing belt and the goodies that go with it (tensioners, water pump, belts, thermo, etc.) and I'm sure its ready for another 100,000.


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## JokerW (Nov 5, 2004)

1995 Pathfinder SE 4wd
Just turned 290,000 miles.
Quirky running truck, runs good when it's kept tuned, but it's definitely down on power when climbing or towing. Have learned to ignore those "sounds" coming from under the hood...


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## mtbnozpikr (Sep 1, 2008)

2008 Frontier SE 4WD crew cab longbed
27,000 miles and with a 4 liter V6 and 6 speed manual transmission, I have gotten better mileage than expected.


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## TXNavy (Apr 7, 2004)

My first vehicle was a blue 1986 (last of the non-hard bodies with the old school quad headlights) pickup with a vinyl bench seat and giant "California" chrome swing out mirrors. Never had an issue aside from a vacuum hose on the carburetor that I replaced. Wish I still had it.

Current ride is a blue 2005 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4WD. 58,600 miles. Coming up on the end of the warranty. Wondering what will happen next.

For everyone with the VQ40DE (current generation XTerra's, Pathfinders and Frontiers), unless you have a very, very recent engine standby for the dreaded cam chain tensioner failure. Well, at least it wears through and sounds like a vacuum cleaner before it really fails. If you're not under warranty (I was), this is a one week, $1,700+ repair and is not at all do-it-yourself. 

The next exciting thing to look for is a corroding radiator. Normally not such a big deal...except these have an integrated transmission cooler (which is really a "warmer," but that's beside the point). The standard mode of failure is for the transmission fluid loop to corrode and allow coolant into the transmission. If a flush doesn't fix your transmission, it's off for a rebuild or replacement you go.

I avoided that one. How? My radiator decided to plug itself instead and overheat the engine slightly (tripping the A/C on and offline), so I have a new one. The good news is you can avoid this one by bypassing the unnecessary tranny cooler element (there's another cooler on all US engines). 

What else? Oh...they're infamous for a bad batch of U-joints. I had one of those at 30K miles or so, which came with a bent front driveshaft. I told Nissan I felt play in the U-joint and it needed replacement. I came back two hours later and they had balanced my tires. You can let your imagination figure out the rest of that conversation.

Aside from all that though, I do actually love my Pathfinder. It has way more power than I know what to do with, it's fearless in the snow and with the seats folded down I can haul everything I could possibly want including two mountain bikes for a full weekend internally. I wanted something that could hold an XL bike with zero disassembly (without getting a truck suitable for a sumo wrestler like a Tahoe), and would plow through whatever weather came my way, and this was the best. I've stuffed it with sound damping and insulation and it's a pretty decent long haul truck now. 

But I've been through nearly every single "usual" issue and mine is in really terrific condition otherwise. Only the radiator/air conditioning problem was fixed out of pocket. If I were looking for a 2005+ VQ40DE again though, I would find out if it at least had the cam chain tensioner replaced yet. Would be awful if, say, it failed just on the other side of the 60,000 mile warranty mark...


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## floridalawdog (Sep 3, 2010)

So, this chain tensioner should be changed regardless of issues or no issues? I havent heard of it before and now I am curious. Our X is an 05 with 56k miles on it.


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## TXNavy (Apr 7, 2004)

floridalawdog said:


> So, this chain tensioner should be changed regardless of issues or no issues? I havent heard of it before and now I am curious. Our X is an 05 with 56k miles on it.


Nah...it's not like it's going to fail catastrophically. There's only a TSB rather than a recall on it, so Nissan won't cover the repairs until it actually has issues. But if you suddenly have a severe whining noise from the engine that's proportional to RPM's, I'd bring it to a good Nissan dealership. It's a design mistake: the tensioner is a spring loaded device that presses a polyurethane block up against the chain to maintain tension. Nissan for some reason specified a hollow block vice a solid block, and it wears through in as little as 25K miles. The vacuum cleaner noise comes from the chain riding on the metal screw in the middle when the polyurethane is gone.

If you search the Frontier, Pathfinder or XTerra forums for "chain tensioner" you'll find plenty of other information, including the actual TSB.

In better news, I read this in the Pathfinder forum an hour ago:



> This announcement is to inform you that Nissan has decided, for customer satisfaction purposes, to extend the warranty for the Radiator Assembly on all 2005-10 Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions. The New Vehicle Limited Warranty coverage on applied vehicles for the Radiator Assembly will be extended from its original duration of 3 years/60,000 kilometres to 8 years/130,000 kilometres (whichever occurs first). This warranty extension applies only to the Radiator Assembly (and its component parts), including damage, repairs, replacement, and related towing resulting from this issue. Customers who may have previously paid for a repair that would have been covered by this extended warranty will be eligible for reimbursement. Coverage of other vehicle components will remain unchanged, and all other terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions of Nissan's New Vehicle Limited Warranty continue to apply. Additional details regarding this warranty extension and reimbursement eligibility and procedures will be provided to you no later than October 29, 2010.


This may cover transmission issues due to the failed cooler core. And I should get most of $2K back for my radiator replacement a few months ago 

If that happens then my out of pocket repair expenses drop back to nearly zero and I'll become much happier overall about my Nissan experience...I did have an actual A/C refrigerant leak at the same time which was easily repaired. Now, if I could only find and fix that annoying rattle behind my dash at 2,700 RPM!


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## EricD4 (May 11, 2008)

2006 Murano, 151,000 and still going...


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## Space Robot (Sep 13, 2008)

1995 4cyl. XE Hardbody, 193,000 miles. 

Drives pretty much like it always has, except for more squeaks, rattles, random noises. 
Timing chain is starting to rattle at startup but not sure if I want to spring for a new one...


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## Judd97 (Jun 6, 2005)

floridalawdog said:


> Its habit to call it a truck, because we have the xterra, and a G37, so my wife and I ask each other if we are taking the truck or the car.


2006 4x4 Xterra S with 88,000 miles. Love it! I too call Xterra's "trucks". If I have to say, for example, I left my things in the '_______'.", I'm definitely not going to say car, SUV sounds snobby... truck is perfect! Plus it's built on a truck platform and has a truck engine in it... by all means, it drives like a truck :thumbsup:


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## yater (Nov 3, 2006)

196k on my 2000 frontier 4x4 (v6). Just brakes and belts so far. It's starting to weep around the valve cover gaskets, but it's not worth fixing yet. The mpg is piss poor at 16-17mpg.


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## 5.0Trunk (May 12, 2009)

2006 Xterra SE, 48K.


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## Relayden (Jun 15, 2005)

2003 Xterra heavily abused (roads here resemble the lunar surface) but in great condition 145k


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## GpzGuy (Aug 11, 2008)

2008 Xterra SE with just over 30K miles. Not a single lick of trouble other than a broken passenger side sun visor (replaced under warranty).


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## karpiel666 (Jan 7, 2005)

95 Pathfinder, 122k.

At dealers auctions rarely saw one below 200k, also rarely saw one running poorly.


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## Bob12676 (Sep 10, 2008)

2001 Xterra - 106000 miles. I had to rebuild the entire upper end of the motor last fall/winter at 101000 miles. The truck developed an external head gasket leak and it was due for a new timing belt. I'm a mechanic so I did the work myself but the parts cost was high and it took forever to fix, I think book time was something north of 12 hours. If I hadn't fixed it my self the tab would have been over $2000.00. Now it is only used to get the bikes back and forth to the trail and for my wife to get to work in heavy snow. Still love it though!


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## GpzGuy (Aug 11, 2008)

roc865 said:


> is it considered a truck or suv?


What the hell is an SUV? That's just some made up marketing term.

I call my Xterra a truck or rig.


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## roc865 (Jun 29, 2009)

GpzGuy said:


> What the hell is an SUV? That's just some made up marketing term.
> 
> I call my Xterra a truck or rig.


xterra's, highlanders, murano's, ,etc.... to me are not trucks. titan's, f-150's, etc...are trucks.
what you have is 100% not a rig.


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## CharacterZero (May 19, 2004)

roc865 said:


> xterra's, highlanders, murano's, ,etc.... to me are not trucks. titan's, f-150's, etc...are trucks.
> what you have is 100% not a rig.


I'd suggest you learn the difference between body-on-frame and unibody construction before grouping those three together.

One of those three is not like the others.


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## olegbabich (Dec 28, 2007)

2001 xterra 174,000miles, no major problems. I think we will buy a new 2011 or maybe a 2010 leftover this saturday.:thumbsup:


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## Popper252 (Jan 24, 2007)

I've got a 2004 2.4L (yup the 4cyl) 5 speed with 104k miles on it.
No major breakdowns either. Only maintenance etc...

Truck is crazy underpowered but at least I get up to 23 mpg depending on how I drive  
Despite it's pokey speed It's still fun to drive thanks to the 5 speed. I've spent countless nights camping in the back of my X with all my bike gear etc. I love the thing!


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## bwheelin (Apr 4, 2008)

CharacterZero said:


> I'd suggest you learn the difference between body-on-frame and unibody construction before grouping those three together.
> 
> One of those three is not like the others.


I'm not saying I totally agree with the other guy but when I think of those 3 I tend not to think "truck". My cousin's dodge ram hemi, now that's a truck.:thumbsup:


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## iridetitus (Sep 16, 2004)

2002 X, 203kmi


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## Sinker (Feb 3, 2007)

2006 Frontier SE 4WD. 

My '76 Pinto had fewer problems. 

Ignition assembly failure at about 3500 miles.
Fuel sender unit failure at 39,000 miles.
Radiator/trans cooler failure at 59,000 miles.

Just traded it in for new Subaru Outback.


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## chode (Sep 16, 2010)

2005 frontier se kc 4wd 6spd. @ 74k and going strong!


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## FM (Apr 30, 2003)

roc865 said:


> xterra's, highlanders, murano's, ,etc.... to me are not trucks. titan's, f-150's, etc...are trucks.
> what you have is 100% not a rig.


You're lumping Xterras in with highlanders and muranos? :skep: :nono:

Seriously- characterzero is right. Xterra is a full body on a truck (frontier) chassis. Murano and highlander are jacked up cars (unibody). It's about whats under the hood, not body style.


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## bwheelin (Apr 4, 2008)

Sinker said:


> 2006 Frontier SE 4WD.
> 
> My '76 Pinto had fewer problems.
> 
> ...


i had the frontier on my might buy list.


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## chode (Sep 16, 2010)

bwheelin said:


> i had the frontier on my might buy list.


he's right! do your homework before committing to it. pan down and check it out for yourself. http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase/links/357


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## bwheelin (Apr 4, 2008)

chode said:


> he's right! do your homework before committing to it. pan down and check it out for yourself. http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/Knowledgebase/links/357


thanks for the info.:thumbsup: 
what's your opinion of the xterra for everyday use?


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## chode (Sep 16, 2010)

bwheelin said:


> thanks for the info.:thumbsup:
> what's your opinion of the xterra for everyday use?


never heard of anything bad about xterra's but then again i don't own one. i would say why not! decent room, powerful 275hp, and stylish with 4wd. i believe the newer terra's 05- up carry the same VQ40 engine like the frontier and pathy. my only concern which is big if you don't catch it before your warranty expires, the infamous "time chain whining". this can be a bit pricey about 2k to fix and mine is doing so as we speak. overall love my truck and it has never stranded me anywhere because of mechanical failure. :thumbsup:


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## bwheelin (Apr 4, 2008)

chode said:


> never heard of anything bad about xterra's but then again i don't own one. i would say why not! decent room, powerful 275hp, and stylish with 4wd. i believe the newer terra's 05- up carry the same VQ40 engine like the frontier and pathy. my only concern which is big if you don't catch it before your warranty expires, the infamous "time chain whining". this can be a bit pricey about 2k to fix and mine is doing so as we speak. overall love my truck and it has never stranded me anywhere because of mechanical failure. :thumbsup:


would you say the xterra's are a better choice for someone who will be doing off roading along with everyday? i don't live in the mountains but city streets is like riding in the mountains. i'm basically a 2 days a week 30-100 miles each day plus everyday driving type person. i'm not sure if the xterra would be suitable for me or if i am asking for trouble with the 4wd.


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## chode (Sep 16, 2010)

i don't see why not. the 4wd is only useful if you are obviously going to "off road" or live in "winter type" conditions. you should google "xterra forums" and do a bit of homework since i don't know your personal likes and dislikes about vehicles. it's all a matter of taste. sorry i can't be much more help than that.


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## MaddSquirrel (Aug 5, 2005)

2003 Frontier 2WD 4cyl 5spd, 106k. Love it so far.

Biggest issue is what to buy next. They do not make trucks this size any more. Very disappointing to say the least.


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## Landahl Calrissian (Nov 14, 2006)

We have a 2000 Xterra with 152 K and the best option, a Manual transmission.
Had a 1987 Nissan Pickup with 215 K when I sold it in 98.
Have a 92 Toyota with 151 K. Love em all


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