The 2019 Nissan Frontier soldiers on with little in the way of substantial changes. If you tick (or untick, we suppose) the right boxes, you can walk away from the dealership with a new truck for under $20,000. And when you compare that to other new vehicles in a similar price bracket, you’re not doing too badly. You get a …
Meet the new Frontier, same as the old Frontier
Did you check the VIN to be sure it was a 2019 and not an unsold 2005 sitting somewhere on a Nissan dealers' lot?
I had a 2011 Frontier Pro-4X with the Premium package years ago. It was a good truck, although I never towed with it.
I remember one time there was a huge mud pit by our work, so I would constantly drive through it in 2WD to see if I would get stuck. Finally did, just put it in 4WD, locked the rear diff, and pulled itself right out as if it was pulling away from a stop sign in a neighborhood.
We have the Xterra Pro-4X which is the same 4WD system and it's a really nice setup. I've had no concerns with taking it where we want to go.
Z31,
Funny thing is unless you dropped it to 4lo It didn't even lock the rear diff. IT only truely activates in 4lo
I drove a 2008 one of these with the v6 and a manual transmission from SC to Alabama for some rock climbing. It was novel, but for such a small truck it got terrible gas mileage.
In reply to morello159 :
That's not only Nissan, I've been looking at "mid size" pickups and for highway mileage:
Nissan Frontier - 20 mpg
Toyota Tacoma - 21 mpg
Colorado/Canyon - 24 mpg
Ford Ranger - 24 to 26 mpg (4wd and 2wd)
I'm liking the Ranger in 2wd at around $28k but $8k will buy a lot of gas.
There is a sweet spot in the Frontier lineup somewhere between the base and the Pro4X. It delivers solid performance, a decent size, excellent reliability, and tons of utility at a decent price. THAT truck is what has kept the Frontier in the lineup for so long. Many people don't need a statement, they just need a truck.
In reply to pinchvalve :
Probably the SV 4X4.
Yeah, it's ancient, but you can get one way under MSRP. I like Frontiers quite a bit and would own one if I didn't need a full size truck for kid hauling duties.
Back in 2011-- I had just had a 2nd windshield put in my MINI that year and the very next day it got bullseyed...fed up, I swung by the dealership right then. I spec'd out my dream Frontier -- a Pro-4X (maybe still called Nismo back then) crew cab, white with a black interior. They wanted to sell it bad -- I threw out a lowball offer and told them I would trade the MINI. They offered me several thousand over what I expected for the MINI and accepted my lowball offer and were even willing to do a dealer trade for the exact truck I wanted and have it there in 2 days.
They called my bluff and I had the pen in hand and just couldn't quite make myself do it. It amounted to about 12k off MSRP, but that was still a $27k unplanned purchase after tax.
In 5 years, when I'm down to 1 kid that needs hauling, I may retire the Tundra and do a used Frontier...or maybe they'll still be selling new ones?
Tyler H said:In 5 years, when I'm down to 1 kid that needs hauling, I may retire the Tundra and do a used Frontier...or maybe they'll still be selling new ones?
It wouldn't surprise me if they were still churning these out in 2024 unchanged.
I haven't looked, but wonder how this effects used values. Why pay for a new one when I can find a well cared for 2009 that will be exactly the same thing?
Neighbor has an insurance rental currently. Nice truck but he hates the mpg. Not sure of the spec. I can see it from my window seat but it's raining out. I've only ever driven an hourly rental once. Seemed fine. 
Klayfish said:I haven't looked, but wonder how this effects used values. Why pay for a new one when I can find a well cared for 2009 that will be exactly the same thing?
Think how nice it would be to have all the parts availability on that 2009. All the JY parts and aftermarket /oem parts available. Heck 10 years later you can still get a low mileage used engine or trans.
Klayfish said:I haven't looked, but wonder how this effects used values. Why pay for a new one when I can find a well cared for 2009 that will be exactly the same thing?
I was actually looking at them a couple days ago, and '09s in Virginia were still $7-12k
nutherjrfan said:Neighbor has an insurance rental currently. Nice truck but he hates the mpg. Not sure of the spec. I can see it from my window seat but it's raining out. I've only ever driven an hourly rental once. Seemed fine.
I hated the one I rented when my 1st gen Colorado broke down. It wasn't Pro 4X. It was too big, was clunky inside, sat up too high and drank gas. Too much chrome as well.
In reply to triumph7 :
Same reasaon I ended up in an F150 instead of a mid-size. I was out the door for $33k in my 2wd 2.7tt-equipped F150 and I get 25-26mpg on the highway. Much more space inside, better tow capability, big ass 36gal gas tank. It's annoying to park in garages but that's really the only downside.
If I was in the market for a mid-size pickup, the Frontier would be my first pick out of them all:
My goal would probably be the King cab 4x2 in SV trim and Value package. Seems like the 6-speed option has been discontinued on this trim with the V6?
I had a 2018 Frontier as a rental recently and I liked it. V6 4x4, 4 door... not sure what trim it was exactly.
I thought it was pretty great as far as trucks go. Drove nicely, handled pretty good, decent power at 8k feet, was pretty comfy. The steering felt pretty vague on center... my only complaint.
Seemed like a lot of a Tacoma for a lot less of the price.
Had an '08 for several years and it was a pretty decent truck. At about 55K miles, I heard a squeaking coming from the engine bay and thought maybe the water pump was going. Nope, they said the timing chain was bad and it would cost $2,100 to fix. I found out that Nissan had known about the timing chain issue since about 2005, didn't fix it until 2010, and there were at least three class-action lawsuits against Nissan as a result. After raising hell with the dealer and Nissan, I got it fixed for about half the original estimate, but it pissed me off and I sold it six months later. No more Nissans in this house.
^Does every new engine design have to suffer from something like this? Seems like new engines get designed and for the first 1-2 years everything is OK. Then something catastrophic that they almost all do hits once people start getting to the 3 year/100K mark. Everyone's engine suffers the apocalypse by 125K and a class-action lawsuit hits. The car company has to go back and fix every single one of them that has less than 100K while losing millions of dollars in the process. Everyone who paid to have it fixed themselves in the first few years gets ultra angry. Everyone with over 100K on their engines when they blew finds out it won't get paid for since it didn't happen early enough loses their minds. Junkyards fill to the brim with the model. Then the car company redesigns the time-bomb part for the last two model years (in which only 3% of the sales of that generation occur), then goes and design an all-new engine again and the process starts anew. It's a wonder they design new engines at all. A slant six or 305 never did that crap!
GCrites80s said:A slant six or 305 never did that crap!
That's because most of the cars they were attached to rarely made it to 100k miles before they were worn or rusted out? That's also before the internet, when everyone could broadcast their pain far and wide. If there's one thing that racing for a decade in Lemons has taught me, it's that everything breaks.
While that certainly is true in regards to endurance racing (who knew SBCs would suck at this?) and finding limits, when given the opportunity to go over 100K in a car that didn't rust to death the older engines rose to the occasion. They didn't have some $6 part deep in the middle of the engine shred thereby plugging all the oil holes and making it jump time at 60K miles while being used as a commuter car.
I wouldn't kick the old/ new frontier out of bed for eating crackers.
It does everything I would it need it for, but I agree, would hope that it was at a lower price point. Considering their technology and investing has been paid for.
Did a local dealer search. A couple more for $29k and $31 with leather and or dual zones a/c etc.
2wd start at $21k
Not buying anything soon.
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