General Comments:
I bought this truck in Nov of 2007. The dealership was no b.s. and the truck on the Internet ad was the truck on the lot. For about $300 I upgraded the wheels, 6 disc changer with input, floor mats and a few little trinkets. Not a bad deal. So far I have been more than impressed with the truck.
Now the mileage is abysmal, but it says so right on the sticker, and trust me, it's pretty much dead on. The sticker states 12/17, and so far I average 13-14 combined and 17.5 on the highway maximum. No shocker there.
The truck is very comfortable and roomy, and you have to love the full open rear doors (King cab). Talk about access!
It comes stock with a steel drive shaft, transmission cooler, skid plates, manual override on the shifter (which it's AWESOME to be able to select which gear you want to tow in - you guys who tow know what I'm talking about), and other goodies you don't usually find on base model trucks. And who can argue with 318 HP and 385 ft lbs tq. which makes this truck fast, fast, fast!
I installed my own tow equipment, but it is all plug and play - no splicing, cutting or cussing! I recently towed about 6000-7000lbs 100 miles with no brakes on the trailer, and the truck did incredible. The larger brakes on the 08's really shine when it comes to stopping a load, and she just chugged up the hills like nothing, staying between 2000 and 3000 RPM's between 60 and 70 mph.
Nissan did it right with this truck. The only possible downfall is the 2.93 geared rear end, which in OD can sometimes cause the truck to hunt gears - not often just in hilly terrain. Just pull it into 4th and keep going. So far driving in 4th has not affected my mileage at all. The transmission is very low geared, which makes up somewhat for the high geared rear end. Not sure why Nissan thought that was a good idea, but it seems to work.
Previous years had problems with rear end seals leaking and brakes warping, but it all seems to have been fixed in 08.
Another problem is the gas gauge. It's not the most accurate. When the handle clicks "full" and shuts off, another 2+ gallons can easily be put in, and when getting down under a 1/8 tank, you might want to find a place to pull over and get gas. The computer will say xx miles to empty, but I usually find on "E" I can only fill up with 22 gallons into a 28 gallon tank. The gauge is not a deal breaker, but on long trips can be an annoyance.
If you shop around a bit and don't insist on bells and whistles, you can easily drive one of these BRAND NEW trucks home for less than $18k. I did!