First post, so I shall introduce myself. Back in August of 2018 I was driving a 2005 Pontiac Vibe GT, salsa red color, monsoon system, and 6 speed standard. A person in a same year Subaru Forester decided that since they couldn't see oncoming traffic, they would just go for it & the front of my Vibe disagreed with the front passenger area of their car at 45MPH, therefor totaling everything in that intersection. For a month I was down & out. Lost my favorite car ever (people made fun of it but it was like a darn cockroach, it just wouldn't die), jammed my left hand, kissed an air bag, and was introduced to whiplash. Then came dealing with a large insurance company, who I probably trust just as much as anyone in government. When all that was said & done, I just happened to be strolling down a major Chicago thoroughfare on Google maps & came across a Nissan dealership.
Honestly, I wasn't even looking at Nissan as a replacement and was looking at older Subaru's, well because they are freakin' safe & built like a tank, I know, I was at the other end of one! Then I read about head gaskets, timing belts, and how the cup holders hold 2 Vente's from Starbucks. Then I remembered, my buddies dad always had Toyota trucks & they were bomb proof too. That lead me to the world of tacos. Then I remembered when I was in the military way back when, my parents looked at 4Runners & Pathfinders. I found 4Runners, but lord some of those owners are on drugs, then I found an XTerra or two & thought the same. Well, while cruising street view, I found the dealership, checked out their used inventory, and saw a 1 owner 2001 Pathfinder LE with 61k miles. IN 2018!!! Couldn't be true, but at 8pm at night I drove straight to the dealership & sure enough, there it was! Tan leather, really clean except for the typical rust bubble near the wheel wells, only on the passenger side & a little on the passenger rocker panel. Dealer started out on drugs by saying $8500 out the door. I just kept saying the same thing, over & over to him. $6,000. He came back at $7500. $6000!!! Then $7000. $6000!!! After 30 minutes of him bring my number to his "sales manager", he agreed. But...that's not where it stopped. I then brought up a noise I heard, and said unless that gets fixed, I don't want it. Yeah, I think that noise was really just the top of my head rubbing the headliner since I'm 6'2". Hey, new ball joints or whatever, so I won't complain. Oh, and they had to fill it up!
Been driving it for 2 weeks & using it like I do any other vehicle I have owned. I'm impressed, really liking it. Gas mileage, yeah not so much, but damn this thing is really clean for its age. Only thing I need to do soon is replace the front struts & get some new tires. So, because of that, first thing I did, that probably everyone who purchased their first 4x4 does...Google "lift kits", "lifted 2001 pathfinder", "2001 pathfinder all terrain tires". Yeah, wasn't totally excited, but then I found this place & now I shall lurk & go over everything for the next week or so, and the excitement level went up a little.