General Comments:
Spent several months sorting out what vehicle I wanted that would fulfill my needs of a cross-country touring machine. Went the gamut from low end Suzuki Station wagons to Subaru to BMW to Toyota to Nissan. Looked to stay as small as possible while still allowing room to lay down in the back (I'm 5'11) and carry stuff. After all was said and done it was narrowed to Pathfinder or Armada along with Toy Landcruiser or Sequoia. The Path won out for being able to deliver all the needs in a smaller package and based on previous and current Nissan ownership.
Bad's with the vehicle are few and aren't really problems, but more like things that were passed up for one reason or another:
Front windows rattle a bit when more than 15% of the way down or up.
It is a SUV so there is body wallow on turns.
The rear suspension is totally made for grocery getting as towing anything at 50% or higher of its rated capacity will cause the rear to squat excessively in stock form.
If you fold all rows flat you must move the front seats forward to make space for the 2nd row to fold forward, a problem if you are tall or like to sit back.
Front seats are not nearly as comfortable as the same year Murano, but are also a different design.
No automatic front windows down for passenger side.
No Xenon headlights as on the Murano or overseas Pathfinders.
Unable to have the windows roll up or down by holding buttons on the key-fob as in other models.
Navigation interface isn't as user friendly as it could be, ie: touch screen
Lack of "frills" of some manufacturers like auxiliary input jacks or bluetooth on the stereo.
No built in AC110 outlet.
Goofy Glovebox configuration rendering top 1/2 of it more of a "mystery" location as you can't see in it.
4wd system not really true 4wd. It is 2wd as one front and one rear wheel drive that when the system sense's slippage it will apply the brakes on that slipping wheel to redirect power to the wheel with grip, causing some fun noises. The differential does not have any limited slip/locking abilities.
The goods on the vehicle:
Plenty of power.
Aftermarket support is gaining speed.
Quite a bit of room inside when seats are folded flat.
Navigation system has tons of information and seems to work a little bit better/faster than my Garmin Nuvi 660.
Can eek out 20.5 mpg with relaxed driving style rather than stop light racing.
Lots of power outlets, both switched and always on, 3 up front 1 in the cargo area.
Rear AC/Heat manageable by front controls or rear controls.
Lots of cup holders and just "spaces" to put things all over including large water bottles.
Large center arm rest storage with smaller center console storage locations.
Overall I have been happy for the past year with it and figure I will continue to be happy. Maintenance is easy on the vehicle.
23rd Nov 2009, 10:04
It does have a full lock and low off-road 4x4 system as well as an on-road 4WD system.