Xcellent! Party on with the X-Terra!

So my daughter is turning 16 in 2 months.  She's gotten all of her driving hours completed on her permit, so time to start looking for a ride for her. I wanted something with traction control and 4wd, nice but not too nice as I'm sure she'll put in "character". 

Wasn't quite sure what to get for her when Mike posted his Xterra Pro4X on the board here.  He bought my turbo miata from me and he's a good dude.  The truck is well cared for and an easy hours drive away.  So we chatted on the phone and most of the maintenance is done, he gave me two sets of wheels/tires and a box full of parts.  It also has some nice aftermarket rock sliders and a full skid plate setup on it.

The Pro4X package adds hill descent control, a lockable rear diff and "off road" lights built into the roof rack.  Don't think my daughter will use that stuff but when I get the truck back from her I plan on turning it more into an off roader for me, so I will!

Plans are my wife to take it through smog tomorrow so I can register it on Friday since I already have an appointment at the DMV to register my KTM.  Friday afternoon I'm having an interior detail done to it.  Then I need to remove the tint on the front windows and have an Apple Car Play head unit installed.  I'll toss on a new serpentine belt and start driving it!

Looks nice for a first car. Sounds like you have some good plans for it. My oldest is only eleven, so I have a while to figure this stuff out. It'll happen too soon, though, I'm sure. 

In reply to JeremyJ :

It's a heck of a lot nicer than the 1975 Mercury Monarch that was my first car!  That didn't even have power brakes or an FM radio.  This has ~125k miles on it but feels like it's got plenty left in it.  It will hopefully be a good car for my daughter thru high school and college...

She was a good truck for me. Glad to pass her on. 

Fun fact. I've done more laps of COTA in that truck than 2 out of my 3 sports cars I've owned. It spent a lot of time there when I was on Staff and working events. 

Here are a few pics over the years. 

Great first vehicle for your daughter. 

My daughter's first car the first time she tried to pull into the parking area at her mom's house. 

she' still driving it, three years later... 188k 

We laugh about it now, me maybe a bit more than her. 

Ouch!  Did a forklift pick it up outta there?

With any luck my wife will take it thru smog today.  Then I can register it this Friday am.

Oh no, much more expensive than that:

Wow, that's a rig.  Did you put the claim thru insurance?

In other news the Xterra passed smog yesterday, woot!  Have everything I need to register it this Friday am now.

Sweet. Didn't figure there would be any problems but it has been 3 years since a smog test. Glad to hear it. 

That's a great first car. Heck, I'd like it for my 14th car...

In reply to thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) :

It's WAY better than my first car.  Or second....

That's a really nice first car.  I drove a well-used 1973 VW Beetle in high school.  It wouldn't do over 70 on the Interstate, not for lack of trying.

I'm still waiting to take ownership of my first real off-road vehicle (FJ Cruiser).  I've wanted one since the Land Rover Defender 90 that I couldn't afford in 1990.  It worked out fine, I bought a '90 Miata instead.

Good luck with the X-Terra.

In reply to JoeTR6 :

I would've been ecstatic with this in high school.  I had my grandma's hand me down 1975 Mercury Monarch, 6 cylinder, no power brakes, AM radio equipped POS. 

I think this'll be great for my daughter and should be reliable for her thru high school and college.  After that I'll take it back, throw on a metal front bumper with a winch, add a locker for the front axle and take it wheeling around Colorado.

Funny thing was is I just got back from the area of town I use to street race and win money as a teen. It was my twenties where I had my series of craptastic $500 cars. 

Successful day yesterday!  Got it registered and plated, then I replaced the rear hatch struts with the new ones that came with the truck.

After that I had the interior professionally detailed.  Looks almost new!  I'll post pics when I get home from the base today.

On the docket is an Apple car play radio, doing an oil change and replacing the serpentine belt.

Pics!  Looks great!  Put the stock steps and bin of spare parts in my basement.

next up is an apple car play radio, do an oil change and replace the serpentine belt

Looking good. She cleaned up well. 

Nice choice. I own a 2010 Xterra and I can say that it is pretty reliable. It is my weekend off-road rig. Right now, I'm planning to buy an Arb bumper from 4wheelonline to have a more solid front-end protection.

Great first ride

Took the Xterra to get a stereo upgrade!  Got a ice Kenwood double din, Apple Car Play unit.  Got a XM module for free, had the steering wheel controls hooked up and the USB port put into the old cigarette lighter.

they did a good job, it looks great and work well.  Daughter is happy, which is always nice.

next up is an oil and serpentine belt change.

Well snowmageddon showed up.  It showed up late but hit hard.  Have at least 18" at my house right now and it's still coming down hard. 

Used the Xterra to get to work to clear the parking lot there.  Roads are a serious mess, no way the R could've made it out of my neighborhood, it's just too low. 

Ended up canceling patients for tomorrow, my staff will be stuck in their neighborhoods.   It's supposed to stop snowing around 3am, hopefully it does.  That way I can take the Xterra to work in the late morning and clear the lot again...

It works well in the snow doesn't it. 4WD + snow tires and plenty of ground clearance makes it go well. 

In reply to bmw88rider (Supportive Dude) :

Yep, plus the fact that it's cheap and I don't care if someone hits me.  And if I get really stuck I can throw it in 4wd low and crawl out

Almost got it stuck parked outside my office.  Got to try out 4 Low and lock the rear diff.  Happily that worked and I was able to power out. 

So yesterday was shovel/snow blow at the house.  Drive to the office and snow blow there.  Drive home and snow blow the house several more times.  Wake up this morning, snow blow the house.  Drive to the office, snow blow and clear the entrance to the parking lot.  Come home and clear the entrance to our driveway.  Drive to my wife's business and shovel her walk ways.  Drive home and have to clear the driveway to the house.  Again.

I'm done with clearing snow for awhile...

OK, time to do a tune up.  We bought spark plugs, engine air filter, cabin air filter, serpentine belt and engine oil filter.   We also changed a burned out front passenger turn signal bulb.

My daughter managed to do the engine and cabin air filters all by herself.  I helped her with the spark plugs. The drivers side bank, no sweat!  The passenger side bank?  Umm, yeah...  Pretty clear that Nissan just jammed this engine in here with no thought.  You have to remove the intake manifold to get at the passenger side bank.  That was a bit of a PITA.  Also not happy with how Nissan put the bolts for brackets behind the brackets, or underneath a bunch of other stuff.  Makes getting at them so much harder...

Got it done tho and it was clear that the plenum/plugs had never been changed.  Air filter was nasty too.   Took the truck for a drive and it's sooo much happier.  Big difference in power and smoothness.

See the Odyssey battery?  Good battery, but it isn't meant to fit there, it's sitting on two pieces of 2x4.  Not sure if I'm going to leave it in the truck or buy another battery that fits properly.

Next up, serpentine belt and engine oil change...