GeekDrew
Diamond Member
My dad has an 06 Nissan Frontier SE 4x4 Crew Cab on lease. His lease will be ending within a few weeks, and he wants to know if I'd be interested in buying it before he turns it back in. He said that he'll sell it to me for his payoff price, $15,500. It has just under 34,000 miles, and I think that it's in excellent condition. I say that only because I know he babies his vehicles, he's not been involved in any collisions, and he always has the routine maintenance done in a timely manner. I'd still have a mechanic thoroughly review it before I bought it, if I decide to go that route. Just browsing AutoTrader, it looks to me as though $15,500 is definitely a better price for that model than I'd ever be able to find at a dealer.
Right now I have an 04 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP CompG. It's a good car, I suppose... I've had to replace several things multiple times though, so it makes me worry. It's going to hit 80,000 miles within a day or two, and the aftermarket warranty will also be expiring soon. I usually drive 20,000 - 25,000 miles per year. I'm thinking that perhaps it would be financially beneficial for me (long-term) to sell the car now, and buy the truck. KBB values my car at around $6,900 right now, so I think that I'd be good to get $6k out of it, and a friend (who is also a mechanic) is willing to buy it for that. He (and several other mechanics I know) recommended selling the car at my earliest convenience, because they figure I'll run into problems with it within the next year. I'll hit 100,000 miles, warranty will be expired, I'm kinda hard on vehicles, and I'm going to be doing a fair amount of long-distance (to me, 4+ hours from home qualifies) driving.
I've done a lot of reading about Nissan Frontiers online in the last few days. The biggest complaint (by far) is poor fuel mileage, getting 15-16 in the city and 19-20 on the highway. I can live with that. There are miscellaneous other complaints that I've read here and there, but none seem to be very significant. I looked it up on Consumer Reports, and they report that it is a "good bet", and is "better than average". I think that it would be nice to me because I can haul 4 or 5 people in it (if necessary), and it also has the truck bed for hauling (and a hitch for towing). I've had to borrow my little brother's truck several times lately, for multiple reasons... I don't *need* a truck, I don't think, but I like sitting up higher off of the roadway, don't mind paying for the extra fuel, and it would definitely come in convenient when I do need to haul or tow stuff. The Frontier also looks like it would be easier to work on (than the current Grand Prix) if I wanted to modify it in any way (add lights, replace head unit, hard wire accessories, etc), which appeals to my inner geek.
Does anyone have any thoughts, or reasons why I definitely should or should not buy the Nissan? Any "gotchas" that I should look out for, that might not have been mentioned in reviews and other forum reading?
Thanks!
Right now I have an 04 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP CompG. It's a good car, I suppose... I've had to replace several things multiple times though, so it makes me worry. It's going to hit 80,000 miles within a day or two, and the aftermarket warranty will also be expiring soon. I usually drive 20,000 - 25,000 miles per year. I'm thinking that perhaps it would be financially beneficial for me (long-term) to sell the car now, and buy the truck. KBB values my car at around $6,900 right now, so I think that I'd be good to get $6k out of it, and a friend (who is also a mechanic) is willing to buy it for that. He (and several other mechanics I know) recommended selling the car at my earliest convenience, because they figure I'll run into problems with it within the next year. I'll hit 100,000 miles, warranty will be expired, I'm kinda hard on vehicles, and I'm going to be doing a fair amount of long-distance (to me, 4+ hours from home qualifies) driving.
I've done a lot of reading about Nissan Frontiers online in the last few days. The biggest complaint (by far) is poor fuel mileage, getting 15-16 in the city and 19-20 on the highway. I can live with that. There are miscellaneous other complaints that I've read here and there, but none seem to be very significant. I looked it up on Consumer Reports, and they report that it is a "good bet", and is "better than average". I think that it would be nice to me because I can haul 4 or 5 people in it (if necessary), and it also has the truck bed for hauling (and a hitch for towing). I've had to borrow my little brother's truck several times lately, for multiple reasons... I don't *need* a truck, I don't think, but I like sitting up higher off of the roadway, don't mind paying for the extra fuel, and it would definitely come in convenient when I do need to haul or tow stuff. The Frontier also looks like it would be easier to work on (than the current Grand Prix) if I wanted to modify it in any way (add lights, replace head unit, hard wire accessories, etc), which appeals to my inner geek.
Does anyone have any thoughts, or reasons why I definitely should or should not buy the Nissan? Any "gotchas" that I should look out for, that might not have been mentioned in reviews and other forum reading?
Thanks!
