2017 Nissan Frontier

[Camprunner]

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
Originally Posted By: Camprunner
The Frontier frame will hold up much better then a Toyota Tacoma in the rust belt.


What are you basing that on? Nissans are some of the worst-rusting vehicles out there.


I am basing it on the fact that my uncle works for a local Toyota dealership here in Western Massachusetts and he replaces Toyota Tacoma frames on a daily basis some as new as three years old! This same dealership also ownes a Nissan dealer and my uncle works there as well and he has yet to replace a Nissan Frontier frame.

Also my 2012 Nissan Pathfinder "same frame as the Frontier" has no rust at all on it where as my 2006 Toyota 4Runner after five years was so rusted underneath that I decided to trade it in early. Toyota truck frames have real issues with rust!

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
JTK,

It’s his money / decisions, so if he really likes Nissan then it’s good that he found a good deal on a low mile truck.

Personally I really like the looks of this smaller pick up truck.


It was a good deal for him for sure. I found the truck, did all the leg work, negotiations and drove him to/from the dealership. He wrote the check!

We didn't find out until later on that this truck was actually a rental (does NOT say it on carfax). It's not a big deal to me, especially how clean and low mileage this truck is. The problem is, like any rental I've ever seen. It only has 1 key, 1 FOB. I went through this with our Quest a year ago with the same dealer chain (Quest was missing the spare tire even!). They act all surprised like it's never happened before. "Hmmm. Yeah, we'll try to find that other key/fob". They will supply new stuff and I got this in writing.

I finally got to drive the new Frontier. I like it! I would have expected the driver's seat to roll back a bit further being a crew cab, but it's fine for me. It's no problem for the FIL and he's an inch or 2 over 6' tall. I've seen it mentioned about the turning radius, or lack thereof. I think you'd have a tough time getting the drivetrain to bind in 4x4, given the football field you need to do a circle in this truck!

An oddity I found and maybe I'm missing something, but I couldn't locate power mirror adjustments for the outside mirrors? If this is true, I haven't seen a vehicle without P-mirrors or at least a joystick since maybe the early 1980s?? It's got bluetoof and steering wheel controls for the radio, phone and cruise, power windows/locks, but no power mirrors? Perhaps these were optioned and built to be rental queens? IDK.

It does ride and drive nice, has plenty of power and a nice engine growl. The 5spd auto behaves nicely as well. Looks nice under the hood. Easy to get at the coil-overs, and trans dipstick. Looks like the trans takes Matic-S and the transfer case takes Matic-D.

My FIL doesn't really need the truck until after he retires in a few months after 45yrs with his employer (WOW!)

It will probably be with me until I get a hitch on it, get it treated with Krown and get a bug guard on it that he wants. I may add some body side moldings for him and whatnot too if I get a chance.

 

[Ed_T]

I thot I read somewhere and recently that the Frontiers have a problem with coolant mixing with ATF after the problem happens. Can't recall the source of this 'info'.

 

[HemiHawk]

Originally Posted By: Ed_T
I thot I read somewhere and recently that the Frontiers have a problem with coolant mixing with ATF after the problem happens. Can't recall the source of this 'info'.


This was corrected around 2010. It was an issue with the radiator/trans cooler. No more pink milkshake in current models.

 

[Camprunner]

Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
Originally Posted By: Ed_T
I thot I read somewhere and recently that the Frontiers have a problem with coolant mixing with ATF after the problem happens. Can't recall the source of this 'info'.


This was corrected around 2010. It was an issue with the radiator/trans cooler. No more pink milkshake in current models.


Correct and the issue with the timing chain eating the plastic timing chain guides was taken care of around the same time "More a fault of Borge Warner who made the chains then Nissan.

Current drivetrain is exceptionally reliable many after 2010 have over 200,000 miles with little issue.

Check out ClubFrontier.org great site with lots of help if you have questions. Good luck with the new ride!

 

[JTK]

Yep, the ATF/coolant mixing thing is a non-issue now like said. ~2010+ use a separate cooler for the ATF. It's about a 16" x 12" fin/tube cooler in front of the radiator, to the left (facing the front of truck). There is a power steering fluid cooler too.

Oh.. and I found the power mirror buttons. They're by your left knee when at the wheel.

 

[lego]

We have 2011 Xterra and 2013 Frontier SV. Xterra is based on Frontier chassis.

Overall very happy with Nissan, they are our 5th Nissan car/trucks in 15-20 years.

V6 motors will go 200,000 with just oil changes (we did have head gasket and power steering pump leak @ 175,000 on 2006 Xterra)

My wife drives Xterra for work 20,000 + miles /year.

I drive the Frintier less than 8,000 miles year (bicycle to work and I have 4 motorcycles).

It is not too tall, so dirt bike is easy to load. Tows small boat well.

I take many day trips to go skiing, so I had some corrosion and rust issues already. Brake rotors, Air Condenser Coil had to be replaced.

Over all we like our Nissan trucks a lot.

 

[jimbrewer]

Best car I ever owned was a 1984 Nissan pickup. It was like two cars and the money I saved was the down payment on my first house

I bet FIL is about my age. The price doesn't seem all that great compared to what a new truck can offer, which I guess is why they don't sell all that well.

Truth is, geezers (and a lot of non-geezers too) give out before their trucks. There's always plenty of space in the bed of the standard bed F-150 after I shovel wood chips into the bed for a solid hour.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
.... The price doesn't seem all that great compared to what a new truck can offer, which I guess is why they don't sell all that well.


I'm not sure I follow?

I don't think ~$23600 + TTL is a steal by any means, but it's still ~$5-6K less than a new one and this one looks/smells new and only has 8500mi on it.

When this dealer chain originally had about a dozen of these exact 2017's in various colors, the asking prices ranged from $23000-25500. Of course as supply dwindled, the pricing got closer to $25500 from the shady SOBs. Having all the lower priced ones printed out in hand, the manager actually told me "Yeah.. well now the market has changed". I wanted to walk, but the FIL didn't.

 

[Broo]

The Frontier (and the 2WD Tacoma) are the best for people who actually carry stuff in trucks' bed and don't want to use a ladder to reach for it.

I never rode in a Frontier, but I sat in one at car car show. The seating position is great !

Good buy IMO.

 

[JTK]

The dealer made good on extra key and FOB situation. They mailed us THREE extra keys and FOBs! Lucky day I guess. I'm assuming they're cheap as it's just an old school ignition key with a separate FOB.

I'm totally loving this 2017 Frontier. I've only driven it a few times, but I like the way it rides and drives, plus the utility of the seating and open bed.

Mods so far are an AVS bug shield that I installed in about 5min with 4 screws and no drilling. $63 shipped off eBay.

I also ordered a pair of what Nissan calls "Wind deflectors" for the rear wheel wells. They're like mud guards that go in the front of the rear wheel wells. For what ever reason on this truck, the brackets (see pics) are there and look really ugly without being covered by these wind deflectors. I found them for $38 shipped, but then found out they don't come with mounting hardware, which requires plastic screw grommets to fit in the square holes. A bag of 10 of those was $18. The deflectors were at my door in like 3 days. Still waiting on the grommets.

 

[Sierra048]

Originally Posted By: JTK
The dealer made good on extra key and FOB situation. They mailed us THREE extra keys and FOBs! Lucky day I guess. I'm assuming they're cheap as it's just an old school ignition key with a separate FOB.

I'm totally loving this 2017 Frontier. I've only driven it a few times, but I like the way it rides and drives, plus the utility of the seating and open bed.

Mods so far are an AVS bug shield that I installed in about 5min with 4 screws and no drilling. $63 shipped off eBay.

I also ordered a pair of what Nissan calls "Wind deflectors" for the rear wheel wells. They're like mud guards that go in the front of the rear wheel wells. For what ever reason on this truck, the brackets (see pics) are there and look really ugly without being covered by these wind deflectors. I found them for $38 shipped, but then found out they don't come with mounting hardware, which requires plastic screw grommets to fit in the square holes. A bag of 10 of those was $18. The deflectors were at my door in like 3 days. Still waiting on the grommets.

That's odd. Our SV came with then already installed. Not sure why a rental company would remove them. Maybe they aren't standard anymore.

 

[JTK]

^ Odd to me as well. The other used 2017 from the same origin we looked at, which also happened to be white, also had the brackets in place, but no wind deflectors installed. The way there's some stone chips and whatnot on these brackets, I'm assuming they've never been there.

What's more puzzling than this, a co-worker has the same truck, but a dark blue 2014. It doesn't even have the brackets in place?

 

[geekster]

Just looked at mine, bought it a few weeks ago, it's a 2017 SV and it has the Wind Deflectors already installed on it.

 

[JTK]

Is yours a king or crew cab?

I'm wondering if Nissan is like Subaru and Toyota, where all of them have to go through a "distributor", where items are installed like bumper guards, mud flaps and auto dimming mirrors. Possibly those going straight to rental companies skip this process?

Anyhoo, further frustration with the wind deflectors. P/N 93882N (RH) and 93883N (LH) if anyone cares. The deflectors are a perfect fit, but the $18 bag of screw grommets I mail-ordered don't fit in the square holes in the metal brackets. It looks as if ONLY model years up to 2015 use P/N 01281-00831. Unfortunately that's what I ordered not knowing this. No one mentioned it over at a busy Frontier board either.

You need 8mm x 8mm or P/N 01281-00022 or aftermarket A14331.

 

[geekster]

Mine is a crew cab. That stinks on the grommets.

I think you're right about the distributor arrangement. Mine already had the wind deflector on the hood installed. It was used and was the same scenario as yours. It was just too good of a deal to pass up. Also I was having transmission issues with my GMC Canyon that the dealer wouldn't/couldn't resolve.

 

[JTK]

^ Thanks geekster.

I was at lowes yesterday and I picked up 6 license plate mounting screws & grommets for cheap that should work for mounting these deflectors. Problem is, I want to touch up a big stone chip on the fender lip you can see in the one close-up pic I posted above before I put the wind deflectors on.

I also ordered a set of stick-on black OEM body side mouldings off eBay for $98 shipped. Keepin' the FIL happy. LOL.

 

[geekster]

Your welcome JTK

I honestly enjoy driving the Frontier. It's not as quiet or smooth to drive as the Canyon, but it has it's own character and it's rather appealing. The 4.0 is also a peppy little motor and I like it....minus the fuel economy. For me the criteria is fitting in my garage and none of the full size options fit.

 

[JTK]

I ordered a set of these OEM body side mouldings online for the Frontier. Retail is about $200, but I got them for $89 shipped off eBay. Does anyone here have them on their late model Frontier Crew?

999G2-BRKH3C2
999G2-BRKH3C1 are the P/Ns. They are intended for 2005-2014 model years, but obviously will fit on a 2017 as well.

They are MUCH larger, chunkier and heavier than I expected based on the pics online. I also did not expect them to be gloss black. I was just curious to see how they look on the Frontier.

Once the weather breaks, I'll do a dry run with them first...

 

[JTK]

I got the BSMs installed today. They were a little tricky for a non-professional like myself. They are bulky and made of hard plastic and are designed to fit into and around the recess or crease in the doors. I used blue painter's tape for lining them up and for a test fit, but still managed to miss the mark a wee bit here and there. This forever will bother me and my OCD, but the truck's owner is thrilled with it. These are actually for "super black" Frontiers, but I think the black compliments all the other black components on the truck.