Holy Crap Are These Bumpers Expensive!

Listen, I'm all for the expansion of aftermarket products for Nissans...really I am.  I've bought my fair share of front and rear bumpers from the aftermarket for my Xterra and Frontier and all have held up well whether from Shrockworks or my favorite builder BTF Fabrication.

That said...and while the product offerings for the new Nissan Titan are a bit more limited...the prices on these bumpers is insane...$2200 before shipping (sure to be another couple hundred) for a front bumper??  And its not even a winch bumper... And near $1700 for a rear bumper?  That is crazy talk.

You see Addictive Desert Designs advertisements in all your typical offroad magazines and at SEMA this past year but I can't help but thinking their prices are a reflection of their speed to market, minimal competition at this point and high marketing expenses given that equivalent bumpers go for 1/2 or even 1/2 of these prices.

I'm sure the quality is substantial...but is it near $3000 for a front bumper good?  No shot.

Yours Truly on the Nissan Nation Podcast!

Yup...interviewed about the NISMO Stuff Racing Frontier, its history, its present and its future.  Great working with Daniel Grooters (who has his own Nissan racing effort underway) and David Boyd to do this.  Keep up the good work boys!

Scroll down here to play episode 37 of their podcast where my long segment is.

Episode 37 of Nissan Nation Podcast!!

June 11th...The Next Era In Nissan Trucks Arrives...

Nissan has begun hyping its pickup history of late and it has revealed that they will reveal the next generation Nissan Frontier on June 11th.  The video below every so briefly covers Nissan's 80 year pickup history and closes with the shot of the new vehicle under a sheet.  You can see the new LED headlights and the standard Nissan "V" grille.  Also seen are a roof rack system of some kind and an almost bowtie shaped shadow on the lower front grille that I am unsure of...

The big news is that it will be in showrooms (at least Australian showrooms, manufactured in Thailand I do believe) either at the very end of '14 or the very beginning of '15.  Hopefully that means it will be here in the States at the same time as well.  My poor '09 will no longer look like a "modern" Nissan truck...oh, well...maybe I can tow it around with a new Cummins Diesel Frontier!

2015 (?) 2016 (?) Next Generation Frontier Details To Be Released!

Well, we kinda knew it would happen sooner or later but no less authority than Nissan's Global Boss Andy Palmer at last weeks NYC Auto Show revealed that they would begin releasing info on the next generation Frontier in the coming couple of weeks.

With the Titan (introduced in '04 as an '05 model) seeing its complete redesign, the Frontier and Xterra (if it were to continue to exist) were next on the hitlist.  Now that the Pathfinder has returned to its own, unibody, more "refined" model it leaves open the question of how related the Titan and Frontier would be given in their current form they ride on the same basic platform.

Pressed by Australian journalists in NYC and the Aussies get the Frontier in both a 4.0L Petrol and a 2.2L turbo diesel badged with the "Navara" name, Palmer would discuss that no diesel version of the Patrol (the Infiniti QX80 here) would be produced (disappointing many there as well as in the Mid East).  What he did indicate is that not only would the details on the Frontier's replacement come shortly but that "it would be logical" if that replacement also spun off an SUV variant.  Given that the Xterra is the current Frontier's SUV clone, it would seem "logical" that the Xterra would be living on in the next generation of "smaller" truck and SUVs within Nissan's portfolio.

Quoting Palmer "should go back to that basis of good durability, good quality, and good reliability. If I was doing a pick-up, that’s where I’d start...It’s around about the same [size as the current model] - one-tonne pickups are fairly generic in terms of their overall dimensions..I think it’s about what you deliver on fuel consumption, what you deliver on styling...these are the key differentiators for that kind of pickup market"

To me the first part sounds an awful lot like the Xterra's original tag-line of "Everything you need, nothing you don't" while the fuel consumption and style sound a lot like a diesel with a bold design--much like the original Frontiers were, being the first to introduce the quad cab and other queues.

Should be an exciting month or so!  Oh, and given they are releasing this info right now, I'd say the next generation Frontier should be about six months to a year behind the introduction of the next Titan which means, as the next Titan will be introduced in Q1 '15, I'd look for the next Frontier later that year...and with a diesel as well and that means a diesel Xterra could be in the cards as well...

Andy Palmer talks about next generation Frontier and Xterra...

Update!!

Now confirmed that at least in its overseas version it will house a 3.0L turbo diesel and will spawn a 7-seat SUV based upon the same platform...now the 3L diesel isn't much of a surprise but a SEVEN seat SUV is a big surprise...Maybe Nissan feels that people don't want a 5 seat SUV anymore but a body on frame 7 seater??  That seems a bit odd and it also flies in the face of thinking that this rugged SUV (vs. the soft-roading Pathfinder) would hold closer to the Xterra demographic...and it now appears that the reveal of the vehicle will be within the next month per this report...

Next Gen Navara/Frontier/Xterra update...

2014 Tokyo Auto Salon--Nissan Models

 The Tokyo Auto Salon takes place the weekend of 1/10/14 and is Japan's answer to SEMA, showcasing not only concept and tricked out versions of vehicles from the major manufacturers but those from aftermarket companies as well.

Nissan is a regular attendee and '14 will be no exception.  As is typical the models being presented range from the hardcore race ready to the merely whimsical.  Japan has a love for what we probably would deem to be "silly" vehicles (Hello Kitty adorned kei cars for instance) but...it sure keeps things interesting.

Two GT-R models will be present including the GT-R Nismo GT500 racer that competes in Japan's Super GT Series and a GT-R Nismo with a special option package tuned for the Nurburgring.

The Deltawing derived ZEOD RC that is due to enter LeMans will be present as will the X-trail X-tremer concept (the future Xterra here in the States??  Perhaps).

Less hardcore are the Aero Style Leaf, Nissan March NISMO S and a gold and pink accented Dayz Roox Highway Star (a Mitsubishi co-produced product) amongst others.  So, if this isn't anything revolutionary at least it gives us something to look at direct from Nissan.  Hopefully there will be some other non-factory related showings as well.

2015 Nissan Frontier and Xterra??

Automotive News is one of the most well connected, serious and reliable sources of information within the auto industry.  They are about as dry as dry can be, making the Wall Street Journal seem like Playboy in comparison.  So it is if they report something, I generally take it as gospel.

Which is why I am pleasantly surprised to see them report that yes, the Nissan Titan is being redesigned for 2015 by Nissan but that the Frontier and even more shockingly, the Xterra will be "refreshed" for 2015.  Multiple reports have claimed the demise of the Xterra is imminent.  Its sales have dropped to levels as poor as the Titan and has not seen an update (like all of Nissan's body on frame offerings) of a serious nature since '04/'05.  The Frontier can soldier on respectably as it is the only small/medium pickup on the current market other than the Tacoma and is seeing increased sales to over 60,000 units a year in '13. 

Hearing that they will continue with the Xterra through '15 makes me think that either Nissan believes they can scavenge some sales from Toyota when the FJ ends its production in '14 or that they really are going to produce a next generation model.  My only disappointment is that Automotive News says that the '15 Xterra and Frontier will only be "refreshes" meaning smaller changes to sheetmetal, body cladding and interior options--no major redesign like the Titan.  This is bad news for the Frontier as not only will it continue to have the Tacoma to compete against but the new Chevy Colorado that is being introduced at the '13 LA Auto Show.

Regardless of how good the Frontier and Xterra were back in '04/'05 they are both showing their age--particularly the VERY low mpg Xterra and both need some serious attention from Nissan and they need it now.
2015 Xterra and Frontier...

Old Xterras Never Die They Just...

just get sold for $1100 to a new owner and then spray painted, sold to a used car dealer and sold for $6000...

Or at least that's what has happened to mine.  I sold my 2000 Xterra about one year ago for $1100 to a private buyer who said he wanted a winter vehicle for his girlfriend.  At the time it did not drive though it did run.  I estimated at the time that it needed about $3000 worth of work to really get it on the road and inspected again.  The work required would be new brakes, rotors and drums all around, new tires all around and some serious alignment work.

A year later (I have grown to believe in some kind of purpose driven fate as I've seen too many instances of random happenstance result in a seemingly predestined outcome) I am picking up Chinese food for dinner and the order is delayed so I sit down and randomly begin perusing one of the free auto flyers listing local dealership inventory.  Flipping through, on the third page (I would never have seen it if the ad was on the 10th page as my order was ready fairly quickly) I spot a black 2000 Xterra for sale for $5995.  Hmmm...it has big tires...Huh...it has a winch bumper....Wow...it has fiberglass front fenders....Hey!!  That's my old truck!!

Looking it up online at the given dealership it appears to have received a small amount of work to get it inspected and up for sale and it "looks" really good--shiny with good paint and great offroad setup.

I assume the brakes have been repaired as the rotors where broken and the pads shot and truck undrivable at the time I sold it.  But outside of that, little has changed.  The tires on it are still the old ones that I had on there that are COMPLETELY shot and exhibiting massively uneven wear.  It does look like someone has spraypainted the wheels and rear bumper to hide the rust on the steel, have added blacked out corner lights on the fenders, put in a new passenger side front seat (as I had removed mine and tossed it) and removed waterproof seat covers as well as adding a high lift mount on the hood.  So I'd estimate that they've put some $1500 worth of work into it and are now trying to sell it for some $6000.  With some 146,000 miles and a TOUGH life having gone to Labrador, Kentucky, the beaches of North Carolina and numerous HARD offroading trips (as well as some significantly "custom" suspension work, I would have a very hard time paying more than say $1500 for it as you are going to near immediately have to dump another $1000+ into it for new tires.

Good luck to whoever buys it (if someone buys it) and I'm glad to see it still out there and running...but this just shows me the ridiculous nature of typical used car dealership pricing and  reinforces my decided lack of sellers remorse.

My Old Xterra For Sale...

First Generation Xterra Still Being Produced!!

In China that is...

Originally going under the "Paladin" name and by Nissan in China it has now been handed over to Zhengzhou Dongfeng, renamed the AoTing and is produced as a commercial vehicle.

The body has remained fairly similar to the original design--ther is still a hump in the roofline and a bulge in the tailgate but the engines powering the SUV are decidedly different that what we saw here in the US.  Instead of the Nissan 3.3L gas engine the AoTing receives either a 2.4L Mitsubishi gas engine or a 2.5L diesel.

Per the linked article the 2nd generation Xterra has never seen Chinese shores but some 13 years after its introduction to the world, the original Xterra design soldiers on.

I recently (in November I believe) sold my 2000 Nissan Xterra after 10 years of ownership.  It was a great truck and traveled as far North as Happy Valley/Goose Bay in Labrador and as far South as Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky.  With some 140,000 hard miles on it, it was time to go as I drove it less and less.  It will live on in someone elses garage as the first generation Xterra evidently lives on in another part of the world.

China Car Times article...

Front Bumper & Lights Update

Its coming along nicely on the other side of the country.  The photo here is of a second customer of BTF's bumper.  This bumper should be identical to mine except for the lasercut logo in the skidplate.  While this customer chose to go with a "SD" logo (San Diego Padres I do believe) my choice was just for BTF to cut their own logo into the steel.  No sense is doing something over the top or stupid.

You can also see the LED lightbar in this photo as well.  This lightbar won't be the only auxiliary lighting source on this bumper as my version will also have an additional bar that will go over top of the LED lights from which two additional HIDs will hand down from.

Nissan Xterra Aces Long Term Test Report...

From 4Wheeler Magazine.

I'm not sure their praise could have been any higher.  Just goes to show that Nissan got it very right with this platform and made an excellent vehicle that soldiers on seven years after its introduction virtually unchanged.

I can only hope that the Xterra is continued in some form into the future.  Given the number of new models Nissan has stated it wants to introduce over the next few years, not replacing the Xterra would mean they would need to come up with two brand new models to gain the addition of just a single one overall.

I see some sort of platform sharing again between the Frontier, Titan, NV, Pathfinder, Xterra, etc. that will allow them to keep development costs low while appealing to as wide a market as possible.  Fingers crossed!!

4Wheeler Magazine's long term road test of Nissan Xterra...