Looking to Buy an R50, Need Advice

[Mike289]

Hello, everyone. This is my first post to the forum. I'm looking into buying an R50 here locally in Az. Found one close to me on Craigslist, it's a 2 owner 2003 Pathfinder with 135K miles. Seller is asking $4500. I'm going to look at it tomorrow. It's only a 2wd version, LE, Maroon exterior with black leather interior. Everything looks very clean in the pics, no issues on the carfax, first owner only drove it 13K miles in the first 10 years, been in Az all its life so there should be not a spec of rust, interior and exterior look new. I'm not looking for an off-road vehicle just something that will get me down the forest roads to camp and trips to the lake to Kayak. 

 

Wondering what I should look out for or if you guys have any tips on what to inspect closely prior to purchasing. The only issue the seller says is the drivers seat does not adjust but that should be an easy fix. I've tried to do as much research as I can about the R50. They don't seem to have many major issues other than the occasional IAC failures that take out the ECM. If you guys have any pointers or places I should pay close attention to I'd really appreciate the advice. This will be my first Nissan, only ever owned Toyotas, but nothing about the R50 seems to be very complicated or difficult to work on which is what is attracting me to it. 

 

Also, I should note that I do not plan to daily drive this Pathfinder, it will pretty much me used for camping trips and road trips around my state. It might see 6-8k miles a year but most of the driving I plan to do will be road trips away from home between 300-700 miles round trip so I need something that's going to be reliable and not leave me stranded. 

Edited July 7, 2018 by Mike289

[AlabamaDan]

I'd get the later model like you're looking at with the 3.5.    135k?  Has the timing belt been done or does the 3.5 have a chain?

 

 

[Slartibartfast]

 

The 3.5 has a chain. Check if it's burning oil. Some of them are fine, some of them (like my dad's '03) burn a quart/1000 miles. There was a rust recall on the front strut towers but it sounds like you should be in the clear on that front.