Hi all, new Nissan owner here

BTF/PTM · Oct 25th, 2006, 01:03 PM

Hey there,

I've had great luck with being on forums for the other vehicles I own, so hopefully this one is good too. I'm now the proud owner of a 2006 Frontier SE 2WD. I love it so far, I've had it for one full week and have put 440 of the 520 miles on it myself. The existing 80 miles came from driving it down from a dealership in Los Angeles to San Diego becuz none of the San Diego places had the one I wanted. I insisted on the 6-speed manual transmission, and apparently here in southern california those are very few and far between. Well, I have one, and I love it.

So, being a new Nissan owner, a new truck owner (it's my first truck) and this also being my first fully warrantied vehicle, do you guys have any tips and pointers?

I have a ton of questions, the first and foremost being does the truck have a limited slip rear differential? If not, can I install one? Does Nissan make one, or do I need to find an aftermarket one? I got the truck for hauling sport bikes to the racetrack so I'm not an avid offroader (hence I didn't need the 4WD), but I would definitely like to have a LSD in the rear.

Anyway, nice to meet all of yall, I'll be bothering you guys with tons of questions in the future

neicedover1982 · Oct 25th, 2006, 01:15 PM

Welcome to the forum and congrats on getting the best truck out there. Your going to be very happy with the truck. I would suggest you take a look at the TSBs out there and making sure your truck doesnt have any of these things done. Its good to stay on top of those.

I am curious, what made you go for the SE? Did you get the king or crew cab?

Z_Rated · Oct 25th, 2006, 01:20 PM

Welcome aboard! Try using the search function here and just browse around. Answers to some of your questions have been asked before, like the LSD question. I myself don't really know the answer, but I know there have been discussions about just that very question. If you do have any other questions feel free to ask. Lots of cool people with a ton of first hand knowledge around here. Also there are other forums too!

Congratulations on the new ride! Z

BTF/PTM · Oct 25th, 2006, 01:34 PM

The SE just happened to be the truck that met all of my needs. All the local dealerships really hated me while I was shopping, I was the customer who knew EXACTLY what he wanted and would not be shown anything other than what he wanted to see. Hence the dealership that finally got my business was one that was willing to bring a truck down from another city because they didn't have what I wanted on their lot.

I got the king cab, didn't need 4 full doors. I'll only be using the extended cab for storage of my race gear and supplies like food and water. The reason I need a truck is so I can go to the racetracks, I race my sportbike as a hobby (way to slow to be competitive, but learning). I told each dealership I wanted an extra-cab, V6, manual transmission pickup truck with remote keyless entry. Those were the only specs I offered, the rest didn't matter too much. The only color demand I made was "anything but white or bright red". I actually really like Nissan's red, I would have taken a dark red, dark blue, silver or black one. The one they found was black, so now I have a black truck. Oh, and I also wanted alloy wheels. So, the SE model had all the stuff I wanted without a lot of stuff that I knew I would never use. Sure it woulda been nice to have 4WD, but I'm not an offroader so it might get used maybe two or three times while I own the truck. Not a necessity. One nice bonus I got was the tow package, that's a definite plus. The V6 has more than enough power to haul four bikes (one or two in the bed, the others on a small trailer), so I'm quite happy. Ok, enough rambling, time to get back to work

neicedover1982 · Oct 25th, 2006, 01:53 PM

I got the LE crew cab 4x4 becuase I needed all the features, plus its a very nice truck. I liked the roof rack from thier past versions (the 2000 truck that got me into frontiers) and the LE is the only one with them. I also wanted 4 full doors for passengers. I wanted a blue one but at the dealer I saw the radiant silver and said "that color is sweet" and so I choose that color.

I also went to the dealers with the exact truck I wanted and told them, do you have this exact model. if not, my father and I just left. we got to one dealer and I told the guy, we will leave like we did the last, so many times, do you have this exact truck. they didnt but the guy came back 5 minutes later and said can you wait 15 minutes? they had one brought from thier other lot and I bought it right then.

so many dealers were trying to get me to get the nismo, or leather package, or steroe upgrade and once that happened I told them, "i was looking for this exact truck, good day" and left. i told them i didnt want anything else. dealers must hate us knowledgable folks. glad you got the truck you wanted.

BTF/PTM · Oct 25th, 2006, 03:08 PM

haha, yea, salesmen don't like people like us. I HATE leather interiors, they look horrible when they get old and your butt slides all over the damned seat if you're driving aggressively. I come from a background of sport coupes and SCCA racing, so I look for vehicles that will also fit the bill when it comes to fun driving as well as functionality.

I've been looking at some of the Nissan options for my Frontier, I might be getting the roof rack at some point, and as mentioned earlier I'll be looking into a limited slip rear differential. But, being that those options aren't necessary for what I *need* the truck for and considering I got the truck for $2,000 less than MSRP, my truck has and does everything I need it to do

Oh, and I do have to say that I am VERY impressed with the V6. Man, the thing has BALLS! Leave it to the Japanese to do things the right way the first time. The V8 in two of my friends' Ford F150 trucks both have LESS power than the V6 in my Frontier.

neicedover1982 · Oct 25th, 2006, 03:23 PM

yea, the v6 has some POWER. I was driving to Vermont with my girlfriend and going up a steep hill i went to pass a f350 (using the cruise control accelerator) and when it down shifted I hit 80 up hill the length of an 2 f350's and I was only doing 65 before that.

I hate leather, my mom has it in her infinity and my dad in his celica. Its freezing in the winter and not to mention HOT AS *insert appropriate curse here* when its been sitting in the sun. I am happy with the cloth. The dealership paid 27000+ for the truck, I talked them down to 24500 (2500 under invoice).

avenger · Oct 26th, 2006, 05:28 PM

i *had* to go to mossy nissan in poway to get my baby, nor cal had no nismo 6 speeds

BTF/PTM · Oct 27th, 2006, 10:23 AM

Mossy blew it bad with me, they will never be getting business from me or anyone I know. Not a good idea to call your costumers liars and fools. I got my truck from Pacific Nissan, felt much better there.