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My Xterra Review

4K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  Tenzen 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought my 2015 Xterra with 500 miles on it.
Put on 900 miles of my own now.

A mix of mostly city and hiway but also some dirt roads and some short not-so-roads stretches.

First a few general remarks.

– The Xterra is one of very few remaining body-frame 4×4 SUVs.
– It is the SUV version of the Frontier mid size pick-up
– Its primary competitors are/were the Toyota FJ Cruiser and Toyota 4runner and the Jeep wrangler.
– It has a fully boxed ladder frame like the Mercedes Benz G Class
– Powered by a 4.0 L VQ series engine and a 5 Speed auto
– Its mid size, significantly smaller than , say, a Durango
- The vehicle has been made little change for a while and it shows in a lot of little details being matured and just right. :nerd:

Pros:

– very precise and accurate low speed steering that is nicely weighed.

– fantastic vision out compared to vehicles of all classes, never had such good situational awareness in a vehicle before!

– Much more livable than the Wrangler as daily, while having by all accounts about 95%-100% of the stock wranglers off road abilities.

– Much less expensive than the nearest competitors in concept the 4 runner. (The 4 runner admittedly looks better/more expensive/more modern, but under the skin is near identical except for a couple of features and is consistently $ 9,000-10,000 dollars more when comparing equivalent trims.

– Good power in all driving situations

– Available with a 6 peed manual transmission, very rare!

– Very comprehensive base equipment: standard transmission cooler, rear locking diff. 4LO transfer case.

– chassis shared with a full size truck, the Titan, so you know its strong. lots of running gear components are oversized , for its weight, for this reason.

– Hugely oversized airfilter and air intake almost a foot (!) above the top of the tires tuck in as high as it can go inside the front fender

- Great Low beams, way better than in my Maxima and even better than the HIDs in my 350Z. Kinda don't need HiBeams anymore...

- My first vehicle with an accurate fuel gauge. All others usually show too high or too low.

– Love the PRO 4 X trim, comes with offroad lamps (in addition to the fog lights), bigger tires that effectively result in a mild lift, Bilstein offroad shocks. hill descent control, Hill start control, rockford fosgate stereo, , Navigation, skid plates for engine, transfer case and fuel tank, Machined (!) wheels for incredible strength, functional roof rails.

– Many many thoughtful detail touches in the interior, lots of practical features like tie down rails/hooks all over the load area and little nooks everywhere. Its easy to load this with different kinds of stuff in an orderly way.

– Wonderful ergonomics. This has always been one of Nissan’s strong suit. The dash board is very easily legible and all controls are very intuitive.

– Understated handsomeness. Though called a bit dated by some to me it is timeless

– Incredibly handy in town. It has an incredible tight turn radius. No doubt the short wheelbase helped make that happen. It is this handiness that convinced me to buy it, as it makes it real good BOV for quick reaction to changing traffic and/or roadblocks.
And due to almost no overhang in the back and front it is also very easy to park, easier than most cars (the rear camera also helps, it’s stock in all trims from mid range on up)

Cons:

– Fuel economy: around town with my short trips in DC traffic I get around 13 mpg. On the hiway you can get 20 mpg in nearly normal driving, driving like grandma 21-22 mpg can be done (I have many times gotten 22 mpg, but you need to stick to a constant 62 mph) … 23 mpg is possible on the hiway but requires gentle driving with very deliberate fuel saving driving techniques (in my maxima those techniques would have yielded 28 mpg) The good thing at least you have a 21 gallon fuel tank.

Its competitors the Toyota FJ, the Wrangler and the 4Runner all have the same mpg though...
And despite the powerful engine it does take 87 Octane.

– Steering/handling at hiway speeds is old school which is to say unimpressive. It drives very much like a traditional truck/SUV rather than like a modern Unibody crossover (which it isnt), but that’s part of a deliberate trade-off.
My PRO4X suspension/tire set-up likely didn’t help this area.

– The interior material, hard plastic, shows the age of the design, newer designs use a lot softer materials. . My truck is dressed up in leather, Nav and rockford fosgate which helps mask this quite a bit .

In summary I feel almost invincible in this truck like I can jump curbs and go offroad anytime.
Despite the hard plastics in the interior I really enjoy its logical arrangement and and superior ergonomics.

Even as a formerly pure car guy, I just love the overall design and intent of this vehicle! Its just so much fun driving /owning it! :D
 
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#3 ·
Really appreciate such detailed review on the 2015 Xterra. I had a chance to test drive one, I thought the interior design was a bit outdated as well. It drives like your typical truck, which i don't really mind. Too bad (i just heard of it today, from a separate thread in this forum) Nissan decided to discontinue the Xterra after 2015. Good rig, nevertheless.
 
#4 ·
Really appreciate such detailed review on the 2015 Xterra. I had a chance to test drive one, I thought the interior design was a bit outdated as well. It drives like your typical truck, which i don't really mind. Too bad (i just heard of it today, from a separate thread in this forum) Nissan decided to discontinue the Xterra after 2015. Good rig, nevertheless.
YW,

I posted it when someone was asking about a review, I think it was you 0:)
 
#5 ·
Nice Review. Now that I'm a 04 Xterra owner I look back and regret buying my 2013 Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed TRD Sport 2WD years ago. For the same price I could have got a fully loaded Xterra Pro 4x. Sadly I grew up a Toyota and Tacoma fan, and although I still am, I still regret my decision.

My fiance wanted to give her car back to her parents so I traded in my Tacoma for a 2015 Nissan Rogue (no kids yet, but planning for them) and I got the 04 Xterra.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I also have a new Pro4X..

The gas mileage isn't the best but its far from the worst.. City driving sucks, but its got a decent size tank.. But for bad traffic and lots of stops I swear I can see the gas gauge moving down.

But then you don't buy an Xterra for a commuter vehicle..you buy it because that 40,000 Highlander, though made by Toyota, cant really even go off-road.

You buy an xterra because you want to be off-road as much as possible.

You buy an xterra because you prefer going to the mountains to cruising around in the city.

And the ride is rough.. Much rougher than a Highlander, but that's one thing I liked about it.. It feels like a truck and handles like a truck.. You definitely feel like you're driving a truck.. Which is great.. If you want a car experience, get a highlander or other unibody suv without a proper chassis

I love the interior. Its definitely a truck interior. I prefer trucks to cars, i just don't need a bed. I want the suv interior. Its alot like the old Blazers or Broncos in that regard. Those were pretty much full-size trucks with a modified rear that allowed to do alot more.

I just wish the Bluetooth radio had a bit more integration with your phone like a lot of newer aftermarket stereos have.. But its pretty good and the Fosgate system is awesome

In short, its the same experience as the old Blazers that drove like trucks, its a truck with a modified rear thats lets you seat more people or sleep in back..

My perfect vehicle..
 
#9 ·
Ya, 31,000 is top of the line Pro4X with Leather etc.. Thats base model on most comparable unibody commuter SUVs..

Have you seen the new Pathfinder? I wanted to cry when I saw how stupid and pointless it looked. I can't believe they kept the name Pathfinder for that vehicle. The name's been defiled.

I loved the Pathfinders that looked like longer 2nd gen Xterras.. Now they look like longer Muranos.. But even more car-like

You know what this reminds me of? When HTC stopped creating manly awesome tough phones with lots of hardware features, to copy that uber-useless crapass Samsung that copied the shyt out of the pos iPhone..

And to this day we have super crappy phones all competing to be as useless and crappy as the next one..

They're all just trying to be sleeker and sleeker.. Who the hell are they making those things for anyway? They're designed by the gay community, for the gay community and little girls. Which is fine for them, but what about everyone else?

Its exactly what we see in the SUV market today.. All sleeker, fewer colors or differences, all different vehicles phased out, so we can all look like what the gay community wants us to look like.
 
#10 · (Edited)
It may well be a form of population control. A castration of sorts.. Wanting the population Neutered.. They'll take away our guns, then off road vehicles, then probably all the unpaved road outside the city.

All so we can fall in line in our Muranos and GalaxySsomecraps, and become sterilized zombies

No more individuality, or free independent thinking, or people beyond control
 
#12 ·
Yup, with tax and fees I paid about 32k for my Tacoma. A new TRD Off Road Tacoma goes for about 37-38k so that's over 40k with tax and fees!! 4 Runners even more!

I really hope they continue to make Xterras so that one day I can buy a brand new one.
No, dude. This is it.. 2015. You have to get one.. Before they get you into a girlie unibody suv

This is your last chance to save yourself..

7 year loans are ok for the X because they're going to hold resale value.. They'll be like Unicorns in the future.

Get a cosigner, whatever it takes..

Or you'll be brainwashed by the machine and you'll never be a man again
 
#13 ·
I really wish I could go and buy one.

Just bought my first home this past October and I live in Hawaii so the price of my townhouse is the price of a nice house in the mainland.

Got the 2015 Rogue and 04 Xterra in February. Only 85k miles when I bought it though So it'll last a long time from now.

Also got engaged in February so got wedding to save up for.

I'm broke lol.
 
#14 ·
Wow this thread has had some energy!

My in town milage has improved perhaps its since the engine is breaking in.
Am at 14.5 right now w/ DC traffic.

My Maxima w/ CVT and 700 lbs less curb weight was 17 mp under these conditions.

here are some more gratuitous pics










 
#16 ·
I really wish I could go and buy one.

Just bought my first home this past October and I live in Hawaii so the price of my townhouse is the price of a nice house in the mainland.

Got the 2015 Rogue and 04 Xterra in February. Only 85k miles when I bought it though So it'll last a long time from now.

Also got engaged in February so got wedding to save up for.

I'm broke lol.
Oh.. For sure then..

Which Island?
 
#18 · (Edited)
No way I'd get a new one in Hawaii.. It's going to be all bondo'd up someday anyway..

Unless you clean and scrub the undercarriage and lower body every day.

I Used to be at the beach every day back on Kauai and it seemed bondoing holes in my GMC truck was a regular hobby for me..

I definitely don't think it's a beach rig.. Or if it is it won't be long before it looks like a beach rig too

Here in Utah they heavily Salt the roads in winter so im always at the undercarriage wash, which is fine since I have a monthly pass..

But its still better than Oregon where they throw gravel on the roads which ends up chipping the crap out of the front of your vehicle
 
#19 · (Edited)
Another thing I don't get is why everyone thinks something bubbly is "more modern"

As if getting more round is somehow better

Am I the only one who thinks all these rounded vehicles look ridiculous?

At this rate, we can expect that in the very near future everyone will be dying to get one of these things and laughing at all the other cars out today and calling them "out-dated"



You can almost see the guy inside that futuristic vehicle calling himself modern and pointing his finger and jeering at all of us "out-dated" losers
 
#20 ·
I may draw some fire for this, but I'm looking at a 2014 Pathfinder for my wife. It beats her mini-van and has 4 wheel drive. It will work for the highway/snow driving and I'll save my X for the off road (or to pull it out when it gets stuck).
No Whining now.....
 
#21 ·
I may draw some fire for this, but I'm looking at a 2014 Pathfinder for my wife. It beats her mini-van and has 4 wheel drive. It will work for the highway/snow driving and I'll save my X for the off road (or to pull it out when it gets stuck).
No Whining now.....
Well why not..

Thats exactly what the Pathfinder is now

A minivan.
 
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