The Nissan Path

I've been reading up on the forums here and trying to understand more about the 4x4 version of the pathfinder for a year or so. I am looking for an SUV for weekends and (yes.. honestly) a SHTF/bugout but I'm not the richest guy on the planet. After a lot of reviews and such I've settled on looking for a 2005 or a bit later pathfinder as the features Nissan has brought to us match my requirements. My car has me covered for day to day but an SUV would be better for more challenging conditions.

I found one vehicle that meets every checkbox I have and its local.. but the owner indicates it has only one issue... "transmission problems". From the experiences of all of you... is that kind of phrase more like a trip to my trusted mechanic or a trip to the bottomless depths of a checkbook?

Thank you for any/all of your insight. The facebook marketplace pictures make me think it might be worth a deep dive.

Be safe and have a wonderful weekend!

Jeffrey

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 211894106/

Welcome!!!

Some musings....:

As for the ad.."Transmission Problems" in an ad mean "needs new transmission but I don't want to say it outright".

In theory a truck like that would still be worth the price of its purchase plus a new tranny (especially if u are lucky enough to source a good one from a junkyard..)

But luck is not something to count on.
Also since the tranny is bad you cannot do a testrive to uncover other issues.


On the other hand at that price the truck is basically free.

Do you have a buddy that is very handy w/ fixing things who might help.... as a minum inspect the SUV if there are other issues lurking?


For a small group of people this may work but I would still pass even though, with luck, it might be well worth it
But counting on luck when big amounts are involved is usually a bad idea

The price isn't bad, but I would pass as well and agree with everything palmerwmd stated. The price is pretty cheap, hell, I'd even ask for less to be honest. If you can't source a used tranny, then a new one will be $$$ not including the install. If I'm not mistaken there may be some timing chain issues as well with early model years that you'd have to take into consideration.

Just for grins, if you get it for $1500 and put $5000 into it, you're at $6500. At that price you can start finding some if you look around with minor to no issues.

Thanks for the info all =). I'm pretty good with a wrench (engine) as I've rebuilt a few motors in my time but the transmission?.... that is FM to me.

I'll keep looking. I'd like to have a 2005-ish 4wd SUV as a bugout vehicle now that I live in west-central Florida (Hurricane Alley). I have a car, I have a 2wd pickup but I've been looking for a Pathfinder SUV as it combines the best attributes of my car, my truck and adds four wheel drive in a platform that is around 10-ish years old. I have a Nissan truck and my brother has a couple of Nissan vehicles so over time we've learned to maintain them.

Thank you all for your opinions they are appreciated. And at this time of the year... Happy Halloween!

Be safe,
Jeffrey