Yes, folks, I traded in my 2005 Jeep Liberty Sport for a 2001 Nissan Xterra SE 4x4 yesterday. I'm thrilled to finally have one and see what all the rage is about.

It's a nice red color, with the Xtreme leather package. New Continental mud & snow tires, 6 disc CD changer, auto, cruise, and all of the other amenities. Yeah, it's got 106,000 miles on it and I have no warranty. However, past experience with Nissan/Datsun's tell me that as long as proper maintenance is done, high mileage isn't too much of an issue.

The 100+ mile drive home was nice. The X flew down the highway on cruise control without problems. It even went up hills without really grunting hard. Time, plus my weekly driving habits, will tell if it does everything I need it to do. For now, though, I'm extremely happy. :2cool:

The only downside was that the Jeep was Blue Booked at nearly the same amount as the Xterra! So, I had to throw a few dollars in to make up the difference (tax & licensing). I did net a KARR security system for it that has a 3 yr./36,000 mile warranty. If it gets broken into or stolen, KARR pays my deductible. I can live with that.

Thanks to all of you who threw your 2 cents in on purchasing one. Glad to be part of the team! :goteam:

Congratulation....the X will not disappoint you(atleast mine haven`t). One question and `im really sorry but i have to ask, Why would you trade a vehicle for other 4 years older?

I must say that`s the first time i see something like that.....

I bought the Jeep last July, figuring it would give me a reliable little rig that I could get the kids to and from school in, plus, be a decent off-roader.

Only problem here is the word SMALL. I've got 3 kids (12, 6 & 4). One has a booster seat, the youngest has a regular car seat. Putting all of them in it was a pain in the rear. Even trying to put one in was work. The kids' seats were slightly wider than the Jeep's. Surprisingly, the X's seats are wide enough that I don't have to fight getting them in.

Also, the cargo room in the Xterra is a vast improvement over the Liberty's! I have a big, plastic bin that I keep oil, tools, etc. in for emergency purposes. In the Jeep, it took almost half of the cargo space. In the Xterra, it's about a 1/4 of the space. Definitely nice.

Probably the most important reason though, was that I wanted a 4x4 that I could find lifts and accessories for. You can find hundreds of items for Jeeps, except the Liberty. If you do find something, it either costs you several bucks or nobody's worked on a Liberty before (like lifts). At least with the Xterra, it has enough popularity to force companies to make performance items for it.

Thanks for the reply!:)

Congratulations! Post some pics of it. So the timing belt and water pump are ok right?

post some pics of it..... and congrats on the X

woot!
congrats!!!

Congratulations! Post some pics of it. So the timing belt and water pump are ok right?

I'm assuming that the belt and pump are OK. As I posted in another thread, I looked under the hood and it seemed like everything was gone through pretty well. It even had a Nissan factory fan belt installed. The dealership did a full vehicle inspection and apparently had to change only the front pads & rotors and bearings in one hub.

Just to make sure, I'm going to have my local Nissan dealer do an inspection. Once everything checks out, I'll probably start switching the fluids to synthetic, if they haven't already been done yet. Of course, I'll be doing modifications here & there all the while. :mocking:

Oh, and as for pictures, I'll try to get some. I'm not too computer savvy (other than point & click), so, I'm not sure how to post them on a website. Any help on that end, folks?

HOST THEM ON WWW.PHOTOBUCKET.COM IT SHOULD BE FREE, ONCE YOU'VE DONE THAT, HIT ME BACK AND ILL WALK YOU THRU THE REST OF THE WAY, WE CAN DO THIS THRU PM'S IF YOU LIKE
FIRST YOU HAVE TO START "A PHOTOBUCKET" AND UPLOAD THE PICS, WHICH SHOULD BE VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD

Thanks, Ricer! I'll see what I can do and get in touch with you soon.

hey dustin did your caps get stuck???????

Congrats & welcome to the club

congrats and welcome

Thanks to all of the congrats. I appreciate it. As for my X, here is a stock picture from the dealer's website. I haven't got any pics of my own yet, but, will post them when possible. (Thanks Ricer-X!)

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii50/Photo1334/2001NissanXterra.jpg

By way of comparison, here's the Jeep Liberty I traded in:

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii50/Photo1334/2005JeepLiberty.jpg

Looks good. First mod on your list and I say do it right now is take off your rear sway bar and throw it in the garbage. It's practically useless and will cause damage to your rear passenger side shock. I've had mine off and you will barely notice a difference in the handling if at all.

If you are planning to offroad it, drop the steprails. They are simple to do. Only 8 bolts total and you can do it in about 20 minutes. The steprails are really lightweight material and will dent/bend and can do just as much damage to your rocker panels as an object. They are good on road driving though because they keep the road grime and gunk off your paint. I used to take mine on and off but now they are pretty much confined to storage as I'm spending more and more time offroad.

Outside of that... you've got a good lookin' X. Congratulations!