Relatively new to the forum and relatively new to Nissan. Purchased an '02 Altima SL from the original owner a few months ago and have been very pleased with it. Now I need to purchase another vehicle, preferably an SUV. This is for the wife. She wants an Armada and I do too, but I simply cannot afford it right now.
That being the case can someone here reccomend the Pathfinder or the Xterra? And is there a particular year model I want to avoid for either vehicle?
Welcome to the board Steve. The X and Pathy are both nice. The difference between them is big. The X is a "truck" and the Pathy is a "car". The X uses torsion bar front suspension and leaf spring rear. It's very capable off road and also performs good under "normal" conditions. The Pathy has strut front suspension with coil spring rear. It's not as capable off road as the X-terra, due to a few reasons...some under your control (like tire selection). A 2001-later Pathfinder will, however, have the VQ35DE engine, which is leaps and bounds ahead of the VG33E that the X-terra is saddled with. Either will probably treat you well long into the future.
In summary, the X-terra is a truck with the convenience of an enclosed rear, and the Pathy is a station wagon with the convenience of 4 wheel drive if you want to get out into the snow or the mud. There is going to be about a $5-10k price difference between the two, advantage X-terra.
Welcome to the board Steve. The X and Pathy are both nice. The difference between them is big. The X is a "truck" and the Pathy is a "car". The X uses torsion bar front suspension and leaf spring rear. It's very capable off road and also performs good under "normal" conditions. The Pathy has strut front suspension with coil spring rear. It's not as capable off road as the X-terra, due to a few reasons...some under your control (like tire selection). A 2001-later Pathfinder will, however, have the VQ35DE engine, which is leaps and bounds ahead of the VG33E that the X-terra is saddled with. Either will probably treat you well long into the future.
In summary, the X-terra is a truck with the convenience of an enclosed rear, and the Pathy is a station wagon with the convenience of 4 wheel drive if you want to get out into the snow or the mud. There is going to be about a $5-10k price difference between the two, advantage X-terra.
Well that’s a good summary but I would like to add the Pathfinder is not the typical Car type SUV sold by other Brands. It is derived from a on-frame design and so has a true 4WD system with Low range.
I took mine a few weeks ago around the Alpine loop, (Engineer pass, Cimarron pass) and Stoney pass in the San Juan Mountains. It is true it was the biggest 4WD up there; they were all Wranglers and Compact PU's.
Needless to say it did well except for dragging the hitch in places.
But if you dont need 4WD then who cares about that stuff.
Happy shopping.
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1997 S-ER 5 sp Rear Ended 17 Oct !! Gone to the Knacker yard...
New ride 3.0 manual RWD not a Nissan !!!
2003 Pathfinder SE 4WD
1997 Sentra GXE .... Sold 2008
2001 Sunny N16 RHD (N16 Nissan Bluebird Sylphy) Sold
Well that’s a good summary but I would like to add the Pathfinder is not the typical Car type SUV sold by other Brands. It is derived from a on-frame design and so has a true 4WD system with Low range.
Yes, that's correct, and thanks for pointing that out. I didn't mean to make it sound like the Pathfinder was derived from a car chassis (like the Nissan Murano for example), but rather it was going to be the most "car like" of the two choices, with the strut and coil spring suspension and larger size. The X-terra really is a truck, with the truck frame and truck suspension, front and rear. Sorry if I was misleading.
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