The Nissan Path

Greetings,

I am a Noobie in need of a high quality, relatively low mileage Pathfinder or QX4 from what is appears to the R50 Body Generation.

First, a little background - I will be starting a new job where public transportation will not be available and it will be a 25 mile commute one way. I live in No. Virginia and while we don't get much snow, the snow we get causes unbelievable gridlock - like last Wednesday!

I have a car but I need something for the snow, so this will be a second car for me.

I did my research and quickly ruled out a bunch of SUVs - Explorer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Envoy/Trailblazer because of all the horrid consumer reviews. I thought the Explorer would have been my first choice because I wanted an American make but not after reading those reviews.

On the other hand, the reviews for the Pathfinder, or it's cousin - the QX4, were so favorable that I thought that Nissan had to have written them... Oh, I also looked at the 4Runner but it's more pricey - I'm looking at spending $10-11k or a little more if a really exceptional car were available.

I'm looking for a late model R50 Pathfinder or QX4 - a 2002, 03 or 04. I prefer luxury too - I would like the 2004 Platinum Edition but would look at an SE if it were exceptional.

I am hoping this community can guide me and answer my questions. One particular car that looks great but has high miles - 108K is a '04 LE in Platinum Pewter. It's a 1 Owner car offered by the same Nissan Dealership that sold it originally. It looks great but the miles are high. Is 108K too high for what appears to be a well maintained car? BTW, they're asking $11.2K for it.

The next car is a '02 QX4 with only 51.5K miles. It's beautiful but not as clean looking as the Pathfinder. It's offered by a local Chevy dealer and they want $12K for it. Also, the Carfax is not provided. So I don't know if there are any issues.

Either car would need to be inspected by me and my mechanic if I feel it was warranted.

Finally, there is an outside chance that I would get an Xterra. How do these compare to the Pathfinder/QX4. Obviously, they would be much more of an off-road vehicle. Would it be comfortable as a 'commuting car'?

Thanks in advance!

Jerry

Get the Pathfinder Le Platinum Edition, its basically the holy grail of Pathfinders and really hard to find. Also for $11,200, its really good value. (In Vancouver B.C. Canada, where I live, normal '04 Le's go for near $17,000). 108, 000 miles is nothing to these trucks, ive got 161,000 miles (257,789km) on mine. Buy the Platinum!

Chris wrote:Get the Pathfinder Le Platinum Edition, its basically the holy grail of Pathfinders and really hard to find. Also for $11,200, its really good value. (In Vancouver B.C. Canada, where I live, normal '04 Le's go for near $17,000). 108, 000 miles is nothing to these trucks, ive got 161,000 miles (257,789km) on mine. Buy the Platinum!

I had my eye on three. The nearest one (in Glen Burnie MD) was literally sold just before I got to the dealer. The salesman and I talked and he told me that this car was in spectacular condition - and it looked it. I was totally convinced me that I had to get the Platinum Edition. The second one had higher miles (139K) but was priced accordingly - $8.8K. However, this one was under contract and it sold immediately. Despite the miles, the car looked even better than the first one. Or at least from the pictures. The third car was the one I got - in Canteen green and beige interior. This car, other than color, was identical to the first car. Both have roughly the same mileage, looked brand new w/ excellent Carfax reports and both were one owner cars!

Anyway, it's perfect and so far so good. It is surprisingly fast and powerful and handles like a sports car, or at least compared to my wife's Z71 Suburban. One observation - it is noisy even compared to the Z71! I'm not complaining though!

There's a nice 2004 LE Platinum for sale on ebay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-Nis ... 338wt_1165

It's got low mileage and the dealer has 100% positive feedback...

I was recently in the same boat as you. I live in the thumb area of Michigan. So we get some good snows here. I also was debating on the similar suv's you were looking at grand cherokee, explorer, etc... and the reviews... I just couldn't buy one and be comfortable with it knowing the things I had read. And by accident I ran across some stuff on the pathfinder and started to look into it more. I was shocked that I hadn't heard more about it. I have an 02 and I bought it with a little over 58k. paid just under 12k for it. They were not willing to go very low from sticker because they knew they would sell. So I might have paid a little high (sticker was 12999) I bought it from a nissan dealer and it had the car fax. I would not buy a car without seeing one. Doesn't matter how nice it appears. If they don't show it, or don't show them for any cars (if it's like a privately owned used car dealer) there is usually a reason that they don't. There is a dealer in the town I live in that is known to buy JUNK and make them look amazing. He's a crook. Anyway, I think the 108k is not bad for the car. I have been told by a few people that for the most part, the amount of miles doesn't matter to much for imports. Obviously 200k is a bit much. but the miles themselves is not much of an indicator on it's condition. There weren't many for sale when I was looking. I believe there were about 4 for sale in a 200 mile radius. (these were of a certain year range and price range). So I would definitely go look at it, because people don't sell them very often. Another good sign of their good reputation. Good luck man! Don't give up.