[DaddyDavy8675]

Hi people's! I am brand new to the Xterra game but am familiar with the WD series. I used to own a 1990 Nissan Pathfinder (WD21) and that truck was amazing. Loved it especially for my first car. Times have changed and I ended up losing my WD21 after the motor exploded and the police confinscated it and I had no money to take it back out of impound. Fast forward a few months and I am looking into buying a 2002 Supercharged Xterra with the five speed man trans and 4WD. It's listed as $3200 and has 210,000 miles on her and appears to be pretty straight with no rust. (Colorado truck) What should I watch out for and should I pass it up or go for it?

 

[zshephs]

I bought my xterra, same spec, with 264,000 a little over a year ago, also here in Colorado! All worked out well for me, other than a few maintenance items. The two biggest things I can think of that would influence your choice would be 1) Timing belt condition and 2) Knock sensor. On the car I bought, there was records showing the belt had been changed at the proper interval, so I was ok. It is nothing to play around with, because the engine is an interference engine, when the belt goes, the engine gets pretty messed up, bent rods + pistons and so forth. I would ask the seller if they have had it changed and when. The knock sensor is less of a deal. There are many threads talking about it, but to summarize, when the sensor goes bad, the engine retards the timing, and decreases the boost from the supercharger. This makes the car more sluggish, and causes it to eat a bit more fuel, but it still drives normally. I had to change my sensor after buying, and it is certainly not a small job. Bringing it to a shop, you are probably looking at a fairly hefty price tag. To check the sensor, plug in a scanner to the OBDII and check the codes, often it shows up as a pending, and won't turn on the light. Aside from a general check of the systems, there isn't any other common problems that come to mind. Hope this helps!

 

[carid]

Hi and welcome to the site! Thanks for joining us. Lots of knowledgeable people here who can help you when you get what you're looking for. Good luck with the hunt and keep us posted!