2016 Nissan Titan XD - SL 5.0L turbo diesel from North America

Summary:

Excellent lighter duty truck for towing and commuting

Faults:

Nissan has had recalls on the truck for:

- Fuel tank vent hose

- Turbo cooling line

A reflash of ECM and TCM have also been done. The transmission was rough shifting and the timing seemed off consistently for the first 15,000 miles or so.

Nissan dealerships are very inexperienced with the diesel engines and often only have one diesel technician. This can make scheduling appointments challenging.

General Comments:

I use the truck for a 70 mile round trip to and from work and I tow a 28 ft ~7,000 pound camper all over the country. When towing, it is my opinion it maintains confidence and stability as well as the 1 ton trucks that I have driven with similar trailers in the past. Because of the diesel, the responsiveness on the highway with the trailer is great, and even in north Carolina and Tennessee, the truck maintains speed on the hills using only 5th and 6th gear. The ride back and fourth to work is quite comfortable and quiet for a full size truck, and the height at which you sit is great for headlight glare, visibility, etc.

The truck handles how I would expect a 7,500 pound truck to in the snow and ice. Needs plenty of stopping distance, but is not pulled around by ruts in the snow. The traction control is quick and the 4 wheel drive has only been needed in 4"+ snow falls so far. I am anticipating some improvement once I replace the OEM tires.

Fuel economy in the winter time drops by roughly 2.5 MPG (likely because of the cold temperatures in NW Indiana, the winter diesel mixes, and using the remote start). I average about 17 in the winter, and 19.5 in the summer (mostly highway). The truck averages 11 MPG towing the trailer at 70 mph down the highway.

The more broken in the truck gets, the smoother the transmission and engine get to the point where now it is very smooth and steady unless you mash the pedal down. Then the shifts get rough again. The first 15,000 miles or so it shifted like a dump truck, and engine revs were sometimes out of sync with the trans. That does not occur any more now that I am at 23,000 miles.

I think that Nissan drastically underestimated the payload capacities of the truck. I have had 1,500 pounds of rock in the bed at one time, but still had 2" of suspension left. The rating on the Diesel SL is only about 1,600 pounds.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th June, 2017

2nd Jul 2017, 03:03

Great review - please keep us in the loop in the future :)

9th Aug 2018, 19:37

Thank you. We need more reviews of the Nissan Titan XD diesel.

10th Aug 2018, 16:59

It's good to hear good things about the newly designed Titan pickup truck from Nissan. Nissan needs to sell more of those trucks. Last year they sold about 50,000 of those Titan trucks in the USA, which isn't bad for a new truck on the market, but compared to the Ford F-series truck, which sold about 800,000 Ford small trucks last year, it still has a ways to go. But hopefully things are looking up for it.