Greetings all, I can’t tell you all how excited I am to have found this group.
A little about me, my name is Rob, 33 originally from Houston, TX and I now live in Dallas, TX. My family has lived here in Texas since 1828, so you could say I have roots here and I definitely like it here.
Previously I owned a ‘95 Pathfinder from 1998-2000 but had to give it up when I was laid off from my job because I just couldn’t afford the payments in the position I was in, it was a very sad day when I had to let it go and drive (eeek!) a sedan. I always said to myself that I would get another one because it was such a great versatile vehicle and I finally did!
On April 5, 2007 after looking at Pathys for 4 months I found one that I liked and felt comfortable and confident about condition wise and mechanically and ended up that I purchased my second Pathfinder. I probably looked at two-dozen trucks or more before I found my current truck. I guess when it comes to this I am picky.
My new Pathfinder is a 1995 gold XE auto 4x4 and what can I say, I have been loving it! It has 140K miles on it as I write this. When I purchased it I was able to get a good price since it needed things like a tune up to make it run like it should.
My new Pathy has a few little ‘personality’ things to it that are mostly cosmetic that need fixing such as the antique car phone antennae on the back window that I still need to take off… but I feel that my new Pathfinder is indeed a great running vehicle that should be running for a long time. In addition it provides me with a sort of hobby now keeping it maintained and pretty. My father made me learn as a kid car mechanics, I actually found that I liked it as I got into high school as a hobby type thing, so I am fairly good with a wrench and hate paying someone to do something that I know how to do. I also feel more confident about what was (or wasn’t done) when I do it myself as I know it was done right!
I have replaced so far:
Timing belt (I had no idea if or when it was ever done, so I did it so that I would know!)
Timing belt tensioner
Master Cylinder (original)
Front brake pads
Turned rotors
Rear brake pads
Turned drums
Rear wheel cylinders
Rear inner and outer seals (had slight leaks into drums)
Rear axle bearings (since I had to replace the seals might as well)
Distributor cap
Distributor rotor
Spark plug wires (can you believe they were the originals!)
Spark plugs w/ Bosch Platinum
Burned out dome light bulb
Cigarette lighter (so I can plug my cell phone in!)
Front Shocks
Rear Shocks
Upcoming things to do:
Get rid of that stupid car phone antennae
Purchase/Install CD player (tape deck right now)
Replace fog lamp lenses (both cracked, lights functional)
Drain/Replace front and rear differential oil
Drain/Replace transfer case fluid
I was instant from the start on getting a 4x4 because I wanted to go off-roading, something I hadn’t done in a long time but always loved and greatly missed doing. It was rather difficult, scary, stupid and potentially costly to off road in a 2000 Saturn!
I was extremely pleased to find on the internet and see that there was a group of likeminded Pathfinder owners out there and look forward to reading other owners experiences, ideas and tips and throwing some of my own out there from time to time!
Cheers!
Rob
Dallas, TX
