2010 Nissan Frontier, what to look for?

Hey guys,

A good friend of mine has a 2010 Nissan Frontier that has been at his family's  house on Martha's Vineyard for many years. They've decided to sell it, and I'm interested in getting a pick up truck again. I don't know what trim level it is, but my friend says it's fully loaded.

It's an automatic, 4wd, V6, crew cab, short bed, and has some heavy duty roof racks according to my friend (possibly Pro-4X?)  The best part (or possibly not depending on how you look at it) is it has only 6500 miles on it. That's good and bad, considering it's been on an island close to the ocean all its life.

What aside from rust, should I be looking for? Do these trucks suffer from the transmission cooler issues that the X-terra suffer from?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris 

In reply to Mazdax605 :

I've been researching these recently as a replacement for our minivan. They generally get favorable reviews from owners and hold their value well. Mileage isn't great at about 20mpg max. 

The only real problem I discovered was some years(I think 2012 though) had issues with the radiator failing internally, causing a cross contamination of coolant and trans fluid, thus destroying the transmission. 

I think the issue was with the 2005-2010 ones.  I'd want to know if they ever received a letter from Nissan about replacing the radiator, and if so, if they ever had it done.

Hoping to go see it in a couple of hours.

Just add in an external Tranny cooler and all is good. I have an Xterra and with almost 90K it's been rock solid. Looking forward to doubling that mileage.

Being so close to the coast, rust would be my main concern.  

Well it turns out the truck actually spent most of its life in a garage in Maine. I finally was able to check it out this evening. It is a really nice truck, that drove like new, and had plenty of power. The chassis looks fine, and I will post pics tomorrow once I figure out how. It is an LE with leather heated seats, V6, auto, 4wd, Rockford Fosgate stereo, Short bed, aftermarket trailer hitch, running boards, beefy roof racks, cruise, tilt, PW, etc. Really clean, and 6800 miles.  Decent ride to for a shorter wheelbase truck. Alloy wheels have some corrosion on them, but nothing major, and the engine bay was really dusty, but free of leaks. I'd love to figure out the axle ratio, and tow rating. Would be better if it had the factory tow package, but I'm sure it's still capable as a light tow rig.

Sounds like a good pickup. Pun totally intended. 

We have one of those at our shop for a work truck, so generally abused.   Almost 50k on it now with no real problems.   My only gripe with it is that there is not 48" between the wheel wells and I had to drill holes in the tie down rails to give me a place to hook some tie downs.   I would buy one.

My only concern would be that it’s sat for so long. The red flags are a) Martha’s Vineyard. So lack of concern for a vehicles needs. B) low miles over a long period of time means it’s been sitting between being driven. C) are the owners older? If so, its Italian tune up time. 

Yes older owners. I guess it wasn't on Martha's Vineyard as long as I was originally told. It spent most of its life in a garage at the owners other house in Maine. If I can figure out how to post pictures, I can show the chassis is fine. 

Frontier shares everything drivetrain wise with the Xterra....engine, trans, radiator, transfer case, axles......  Being a 2010 you're right on the edge of Nissan having fixed the trans cooler issue. Look for a part number on the top of the radiator and reference google to verify its the updated part. If not, replace radiator with  new one, if it is you're good to go. I towed  my 4800lb camper 2500 miles through the smokey mnts with my Xterra with no additional trans cooler, and never had any issues. Lots of revs and 8-9 mpg though.  People that bypass the radiator based trans cooler in a attempt to fix the possible cross contamination on the cheap using a air to oil add on cooler usually end up with overheated trans fluid.  Just keep the stock radiator setup, as it works well. I  think the Frontier is rated to two up to 6500lbs, but having experienced  my camper, with as much drag as it causes I probably wouldn't go for much over 5,000lbs.

You may experience a annoying rattle, sounds like a heat shield rattle at about 2300-2400 rpm. That is a well known  rattle inside the variable length intake manifold. My 2012 had it despite the service bulletin stating it should have been fixed by then.  Easy fix, for almost free. Google and you'll find the bulletin. 

The rear axle seals are prone to leakage, but aren't that hard to replace despite what you may hear on the internet. Replace the poorly designed axle vent with a hose and filter.  

Its a solid truck. I'm at a bit over 90k now and aside from the rattle, i've had zero issues. I plan to keep this truck for another 150k at least, and have no reservations that it wouldn't be able to do that. 

I did fluid film almost every square inch of my truck, frame inside and out, inside all the body panels and such. If you're in a rust prone area that would be a good idea, though I do not think these models are particularly rust prone. 

I'm pretty sure Frontiers have the same electronic limiter Xterra's do  on the throttle. From 0-just under 40mph the throttle is limited to around 65% or so. After that speed it opens all the way, and you can feel the difference. Its irritating to me, and makes the truck feel......"soft" off the line...like you know it has more power, you're just not getting it.  This can be undone by all the popular handheld tuners out there for about 300 bucks. Haven't tried it yet, but it's on my to do list for modifications. 

Timing chain issues were common on older vehicles, but should be sorted before your truck was produced.