The Nissan Path

Hey guys ive obviously heard about the coolant leaking into transmission in the 2005-2010. So I was thinking about getting a 2011-2012. I currently have a chevy trailblazer 2006 128k and it is no longer reliable. Im done buying American heard Nissan is preety good. Is the 2011-2012 a reliable vehicle and do they have lots of problems? Its either the pathfinder or 4runner. I was looking for one under 36k I thank you in advance for your helping me with this deciscion

mikeyhill wrote:Hey guys ive obviously heard about the coolant leaking into transmission in the 2005-2010. So I was thinking about getting a 2011-2012. I currently have a chevy trailblazer 2006 128k and it is no longer reliable. Im done buying American heard Nissan is preety good. Is the 2011-2012 a reliable vehicle and do they have lots of problems? Its either the pathfinder or 4runner. I was looking for one under 36k I thank you in advance for your helping me with this deciscion

IMO I would go with a 08+ V8

most bugs were worked out after the 07 year model
the radiator issue is easy to solve with a new radiator - not a big deal
i'd look for an '08 or newer, and put a new radiator in it
this way, you would have more options by not eliminating the '08 through '10 models (if that's important)
the V8 has a bit of advantage over the V6, however, the V6 is no slouch, and just as good (if nor even a bit better) than the V8, unless there is a lot od serious heavy towing going on

Been looking at the 2010-2012 le model v6 I don't tow anything so the 6 should be fine. A Nissan tech was telling me these years are good. I was limiting myself to those years so I can pick one up with lower miles I really would like stay under 36k. Saw a 2010 with like 23k certified preowned for $24,500. Do you guys think it pays to get a certified preowned or look for a cheaper one and get a after market warranty?

'11+ should be quite reliable. The '08-'10 isn't bad except for the radiator. I'm at 120k and the only real repair I've made is a power window switch.

The 4Runner has the potential to be more reliable but I don't think it's significantly so. They're very similar vehicles but the latest 4R is a little more efficient and a nicer design. When I was shopping the 4R was well behind the PF. The '10+ 4R was a big improvement over the prior model. The biggest difference between PF and 4R though is price....you'll pay $5k+ more for a similar 4R.

I would go with the '11 or '12. The '10 models not only were subject to the radiator issue, but also the upper timing chain issues, which is a bit more of a job that swapping out a radiator or bypassing it. The last year or two of a model run are almost always the best years to buy as far as reliability as most of the new model bugs have been worked out by then.

Yea think im gonna stick with 11-12 now just got figure out if I wanna go with certified preowned from a Nissan dealer.. buy private or dealer auction manheim than buy a 3rd party warranty

If it's well under 100,000 miles, you can still get a Nissan extended warranty even if you buy the vehicle from an auction or private party. I used to be a mechanical inspector for several third party warranty companies years ago and most of them were pretty sketchy. One thing to check if you go that route is to make sure the warranty covers seal failures and subsequent damage caused by them. That was an easy way for the worst of these insurance companies, which is what a warranty company actually is, to deny a claim, as most automatic transmission failures, turbo and supercharger failures, power steering failures and expensive brake system failures tend to be caused by the failure of one or more seals.

Do u happen to know of any good warrantys to get?

Well, keep in mind when I was doing inspections, it was the mid-1990's, so I don't know how any of these companies are today or if they are even still around. The best companies I dealt with back then were GE Capital, Corinthian Management, and Warrantech was pretty good. The worst I dealt with back then was Pheonix-American out of Florida; the seemed to look for ANY excuse to deny a claim.