Thread: TacoXterra

I want some opinion on this, so throw it at me.

I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma with 36,000 miles on it. I can sell it right now for $19,500, it has 4 wheel drive, xtra cab, leather, 3 inch lift. rear differential, all the good stuff. V6, etc.

I can get a 2007 Nissan Xterra with 20,000 miles on it for $20,900. It has a 4.0 liter v6 engine. It is the SE package so it has every upgrade imaginable, but with no differential lock. If I do this now I can pay off my loan on the Toyota.

Also you should know that I only paid 15,000 for the Tacoma.

Also, I owe 12,000 on the Tacoma. I can pay off that loan, use the 7,500 to put down on the Xterra. Take a 13,500 loan with a lower interest rate than I am currently paying.

Tacoma is sick, but I hate having no passenger room. Another thing to point is out that if I keep the Taco for 4 more years, it will be worth 12,000. The Xterra in 4 years will probably be worth 16,000. I don't know what to do. what would you do?

The X is a nice ride, and quite capeable off road, but it won't compare to your Taco without spending a few bucks on upgrades. That said, if you aren't as concerned about off road performance, and you really need the passenger space the X is the next best thing. I have really enjoyed my X both on road and off. It just passed the 100K mark with no major repairs at all. At only 20K you should be able to get a lot more life out of it. Not as much as you'd probably be able to get out of the Taco, but we all know those things run forever.

I FUCKING HATED THE EXTERRA MY WIFE FINALLY GOT RIDE OF.

HEAVY, SHITTY GAS MILAGE, UNDERPOWERED, NOT GOOD OFF-ROAD.

KEEP YOUR TACO






sorry for yelling, but this is serious. do not get rid of the taco.

do you need the taco's open bed, or passenger room more?

Seems that, like Marsh, there are X owners out there who hated them. I honestly don't understand why. I had the first gen version and drove it for 7 years / 150k miles, no major problems. Served me well, great little SUV. Sure it was a bit underpowered for driving over the pass but coming from a FJ62 Land Cruiser, it felt like a muscle car

I think mntlion hit it on the head - let the interior space vs. truck bed be the deciding factor.

While mntlion's bed space versus passenger space question is an excellent point, I'd still be hung up on the relative resale values. The fact that two vehicles 5 years different in age have values only $1400 apart should be an indicator of the superior quality of the Tacoma.

Originally Posted by Flake

While mntlion's bed space versus passenger space question is an excellent point, I'd still be hung up on the relative resale values. The fact that two vehicles 5 years different in age have values only $1400 apart should be an indicator of the superior quality of the Tacoma.

I'm not sure what it says about quality, as I'd say Nissan is close to, if not equivalent, quality as Toyota (for the most part). However I will agree on the market value - my X's resale went down the crapper after 100k miles.

If you NEED passenger space then it seems to be a no-brainer, if you don't NEED passenger space then it seems to be a no-brainer. I love Taco's, HATE the ugly roof racks on the X, but if you need passenger space then it's a great option IMHO. Older gen Taco's rule!

The other thing I Have noticed though is that Tacomas seem to go down in price alot after being 10 years old. At the end of this lease, the Tacoma will be worth about 12,000 if it is still in good condition. The Xterra will be 5 years old with only 60,000 miles on it and probably worth about 16,000 still. I would love to have the extra passenger space, I don't absolutley need it. The only time I use the truck bed is to move rails up and back from skiing preason jibs. If worsts comes to worst though, I can just leave them up at Alta. The only other time I use my truck bed is when people con me into moving crap for them. The nice thing about the Xterra is that now the back cargo space is rubber when you the the seats down, so you have a 6.5 foot truck bed inside your car, so the only other time I use the truck bed, to throw my bike and skis in is taken care of. I will have a ski rack on top, and a bike rack on the back, and if I needed to put my bike inside, I definatley could. Now this is why i hate the non passenger thing. I have a nice truck, which I like to drive, especially offroad, but none of my friends want to take it ever. They don't even want to take it camping, why? Because nobody wants to ride 4 hours in the xtra cab. Nobody even wants to drive 40 minutes in an xtra cab, so I don't ever drive, but for some reason I have a 15,000 investment at my house which I only get to use to go from school and home and from home to skiing. I like to drive for some reason, especially somewhere where my 4x4 vehicle us useful, I hate bumming rides, so if I am going to put some money in a car, I might as well have one that I can use. Right?

You will kick yourself in the ass if you buy anything other than a tacoma. Trust me. My friend did the same thing you are thinking of doing. Got an Xterra, all our friends made fun of him then his engine blew up 20,000 miles in to it. The cigarette lighter didn't work and it was brand new. Four wheel drive felt like it was going to fall out if he drove over 65mph.

Xterras are peices of shit! Stick with the tacoma!

Having your friends drive you everywhere is a good thing. Just stop giving them gas money.

Originally Posted by shredgnar

You will kick yourself in the ass if you buy anything other than a tacoma. Trust me. My friend did the same thing you are thinking of doing. Got an Xterra, all our friends made fun of him then his engine blew up 20,000 miles in to it. The cigarette lighter didn't work and it was brand new. Four wheel drive felt like it was going to fall out if he drove over 65mph.

Xterras are peices of shit! Stick with the tacoma!

Having your friends drive you everywhere is a good thing. Just stop giving them gas money.

Any car model can have a lemon. Mine went 150k and all I ever had to do to it was replace the 'fuel sender', $200, and it was covered under a recall. Everything else was perfect. Just normal wear and tear...replaced one clutch and it didn't even really need that. Not trying to argue, just saying that "Xterras are peices of shit!" isn't exactly helpful to the original poster.

One other thing to think about is whether or not you are going to drive your truck till the wheels fall off. It sounds to me like you'll be selling either of them before they get to be too old anyway since you mentioned resale values and such. If I had the choice between the two, and I was planning to drive it till the wheels fell off, I'd stick with the Taco. Otherwise the X seems like a no-brainer based on what you've already said here. I'm going to drive my X till the wheels fall off and then I'm going to replace them with bigger ones, but in terms of overall longterm reliability the Tacos seem to just edge out the X's.

Originally Posted by shredgnar

Four wheel drive felt like it was going to fall out if he drove over 65mph.

Why would you be in 4 wheel drive driving over 65 mph? If you are in conditions requiring 4wd, driving over 65 is not very smart. From the Nissan owner's manual:

"4H: Avoid excessive speed, as it will cause increased fuel consumption and higher oil temperatures and could damage the drive train components. Speeds over 62.5mph in 4H is not recommended."


Of all your reasoning points, I'd throw out future value. If you can get a lower interest rate on a 2007 vehicle that you like and serves your needs better, then go for it.

The x was fully redesigned for the 2005 model year. Comparing it's reliability or performance to the under-powered predecessor is apples-to-oranges. If you go with the x, call Greg at PRG products (www.prgproducts.com) and upgrade the X suspension.

add: One thing to consider; I was scanning a Nissan 4x4 forum and read some posts about the Xterra's mpg. I was surprised by two things re: the Xterra.
It weighs exactly 100 lbs MORE than my 4x4 Off-road Titan (a post listed the X at 5460 - my Titan 5360)
The X gets about 17mpg at highway speeds. That too is what my Titan gets. That surprised me because 1) the X is a v6 compared to the V8 Titan and 2) the Titan is a full-sized truck compared to the compact truck frame the X is built on.

I don't know about the mpg for your Taco, but something to think about.

Originally Posted by Bill.H

It weighs exactly 100 lbs MORE than my 4x4 Off-road Titan

It's the first aid kid in the rear door adventure pod that makes it so heavy. Plus, it has to be heavier so you can use the vehicle as a rappel anchor.

^^That's funny. Thanks for making me laugh.

Originally Posted by Bill.H

1) the X is a v6 compared to the V8 Titan and 2) the Titan is a full-sized truck compared to the compact truck frame the X is built on.

Actually the new X and Titan are built on the same frame. It's not so much a 'compact' any more.

I'm a biased Taco owner. I'd say keep the Taco but if you need the extra passenger space, the X might be the way to go.

There's a more serious question here though. Do you drink? Sounds like you have the perfect scenario to never be the designated driver with the Taco.

I like Tacomas.