Best generation for reliabilty?

[Smessiah]

Hi new here. Im looking at buying a pathfinder for my wife. I have a 90 nissan hardbody truck that has been as solid a truck as i could ask for. Im looking at the 88-95 and 96-04 gens. Which of these would you guys say is the most reliable (mainley engine wise) this will be my first v6 always had 4 bangers. Any thing to look out for specificly? Thanks in advance for any advice

[Terranovation]

Look out for swindlers trying to make a quick buck.

No seriously, watch out for people who look shifty and don't have any service records for the vehicle, observe any squeaks, bounce the vehicle up and down at both ends. Remember if it bounces more than twice, the shocks are goners. Look at the engine cleanliness. Does it look well maintained? Or have spider webs galore? A lot of stealerships will try to hide the fact that it's a bad engine by degreasing the engine, shining up everything with armorall. Sure it looks nice. Doesn't hide the fact that it has 600,000 miles on it. Always check odometer. If the odometer has low miles, chances are the stealership rewound it and that is illegal.

Check everything on the vehicle - lights, tread on tyres, seats condition, body work and especially rust under the back seats.

To me, the best Pathy to buy would be one owned by an original or at least 2nd owner, well maintained by the owner and garaged with all optional extras. That would be a DREAM sale and chances of that happening are getting lower by the day.

As for what type of Pathy to get, I'm going to say the 1987-1994 ones. Basically because I have had my 91 for 10 years now and it's such a joy to own. Sure it's been through a couple of batteries, a dead alternator and had a faulty power steering pump and a bad fuel pump but it's not bad for ten years worth of driving.

[Precise1]

OK, so the two generations you are talking about are called the WD21 and R50 respectively. Your Hardbody (D21) is very similar to the WD21 other than motor, obviously, and rear suspension.

The V6 in the WD21 is called a VG30 (3 liter) and is very reliable as long as you change the oil and timing belt as appropriate. I would stick to the 1990-1995 4 door models because it is easier to access the back cargo area and the engine has MPFI injection rather than the older TBI system. Of the 4 doors, I would look for a late 93, 94 or 95 model; theoretically they will have less miles on them and the timing belt interval will be 105k miles rather than the 60k miles for the early 90s ones. The record I know of for the VG30 running without major work is over 1/2 a million miles.

The R50 has the VG33 (essentially a bored over VG33) from 1996-2000 and is just as reliable as the VG30, simply with about 10% more HP and torque. Timing belt intervals for those are also 105k miles.

From 2001-2004, the R50 came with the VQ35; also a reliable motor but with far more HP (something like 220-240 depending on year?) and a timing chain rather than belt. Guides usually need replacing every 120-150k miles.

The R50 is still a capable wheeler, but it has a unibody design, rack and pinion steering and strut front end which generally makes it a more comfortable road vehicle.

 

So, it really comes down to the body style/design, features and price point that you are after rather than a reliability issue.

I have a 1995 XE that I have lifted and modified with bumpers, exhaust, etc that I really like, and my wife has a stock 1999.0 SE. That is quite nice as well with leather, heated seats/mirrors, sunroof, etc...

 

B

[amfq120]

I have a 93, how can I tell what interval mine has?

[Smessiah]

Thanks for all the replies! I found a 95 with a lil over 150k on it but no service records for belt changes. So im assuming it hasnt been done in quite some time. Is this a deal breaker? Runs real good and is a private party sale. One more question ive heard some bad things about the automatic trannys on these. Should thet be avoided?

[Smessiah]

Thanks for all the replies! I found a 95 with a lil over 150k on it but no service records for belt changes. So im assuming it hasnt been done in quite some time. Is this a deal breaker? Runs real good and is a private party sale. One more question ive heard some bad things about the automatic trannys on these. Should thet be avoided?

[Terranovation]

Mine's an auto and it's great as long as you drain and flush at least once per year. I change out my atf fluid every 10,000 kms just to stay on the safe side and keep everything clean in there. Also have a transmission cooler especially if you do a lot of stop/start driving as heat is the no.1 enemy of these auto boxes. I learnt my lesson about transmission neglect. When I first got mine I knew nothing about changing or checking trans fluid. So I drove it for 3 years without any flushes or knowledge of when it was last changed.. Well all of a sudden I lost 4th and 3rd on the freeway, limped it at 30 km/h to the nearest trans shop for diagnosis. The guy said he opened it up and it resembled a fight between Megatron and a Terminator. Cost $2,500 to rebuild and he schooled me on how easy it is to maintain. That was 6 years ago and haven't had any problems since.

[MY1PATH]

I have a 93, how can I tell what interval mine has?

Pull the timing cover.

If the belt and gears have ROUND TEETH you have a 105K belt.

If the belt and gears have SQUARE TEETH you have a 60K belt.

 

You can pull the 3 round tooth from any 93+ 3.0 and install them on an older motor at the time of belt change if you like.

[gv280z]

I guess this is the thread I need to be in then for my issue. I haven't been on in a while because I haven't hardly been driving my truck or really doing anything with it except an occasional grocery run. I'm right in the middle of trying to sell my two nissan vehicles and consolidate into one nicer, newer more comfortable family vehicle / wife's daily driver. So I've been trying to sell my truck first over the past couple of months and having no success.

 

Also been searching, looking really hard at 1st gen pre / aft facelift Xterra's, ofcourse I feel good about the vg33 and I really love the rims and overall look of the supercharged models. Although, I'm not sure about how I feel on buying a high mileage vehicle with a supercharger and not to mention the whine they make. But man they look good, (somehow even the paint looks awesome, deeper or richer..i dunno..) and that 210 HP would be nice.

 

Another concern I have is I've pretty much locked out any nissan vehicles period 2005 and up because of what I stumbled across one day, hope I can find it again: http://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Xterra/okay there we go, according to this website, the 2005 gen Xterra's and I'm guessing Frontiers and Pathfinders are probably all sharing this transmission issue where the coolant bleeds into the tranny? Is that correct and has anyone here noticed it as the issue that seems to be stated. Pretty much because of this, and price point as well, I'm closing the door on 2nd gen Xterras.

 

I am also looking really REALLY heavy into late model 2nd gen and early model 3rd gen (2001 - 2005) 4Runners as well but that's not really my issue here.

 

I'm not liking the sound of those other issues of the VQ engine Pathfinders (again, I know I'm looking high mileage vehicle here 150-165,000) so I'm not really thinking about those right now, pretty much just the vg33 which I know is a solid, bulletproof engine.

 

This is going to be my wifes daily driver. She's an immigrant that just learned to drive about 5 years ago and has been pampered in a perfect sweet little 01 Altima with front wheel drive. Did any 1st gen Xterras ever come with any TC at all? do rear wheel drive only models break loose in the rain easily?

 

I don't think I'll ever be able to teach counter steer and wheel spin control to my wife....for us guys, you know, it's fun to get a little sideways unexpectedly, kinda milk it out for all it's worth...but for her, it's a matter of life and death and we almost flipped the truck.......she says.....really bad fight we had one day.

 

Greg

Edited December 5, 2015 by gv280z