The Doug DeMuro imitation, alone, is worth a thumbs up! Tacoma guy here - but this Frontier is perfect for your needs. Truck looks to be in pretty good shape for age. My only concern would be frame rust and functioning AC. This would be concern with a Taco of this vintage. Good luck with it!
Remember, Nissan can't be judged by Taco standards. The earlier Taco was notorious for frame rust due to defective design, and there was a massive recall to replace entire frames. Nissan has used a bulletproof boxed frame for YEARS, and it just doesn't have those Taco issues. Ironically, Toyota fanboys like to rip Nissan for their "old-style " frames, but they obviously work better. Taco finally copled the boxed frame concept for 24.. I have a 1987 Nissan. Granted, I'm in CA, but my frame is just starting to show surface rust where the paint is worn from age. Nothing structural.
Bought a 99 single cab with 56k on it 90 days ago. Bench seat, auto, cassette, all stock. Love my 1st gen right down to the body style. Plenty of power for a 4 cylinder Auto. Wanted a Tacoma but not willing to pay the tax. Only comparison was an 07 Ranger. Motor sluggish compared to Nissan.
I've owned 3 Hardbodies, 1993, 1996, 1997; all manual transmission single cab. All made to 200K miles with minimal maintenance. I was flipping houses and those trucks made me a lot of money.
I’ve owned all three the Colorado, the Dakota, and the frontier. I currently still have the frontier. I wasn’t a fan of the Colorado, I miss the power of my v8 Dakota but the frontier just handles like no other and will go anywhere with slightly bigger tires and no lift in the XE trim. Mine is identical to yours color, year, engine etc. but has the king cab. My major gripes are lack of aftermarket support and it is one of the worst vehicles known to man to work on due to space limitations. Overall I love my frontier it has 230,000ish miles and is still on the first engine and trans running strong. I’ve owned it for 3 or 4 years now and the only major problems I’ve had (left vehicle inoperable) have been various electrical gremlins. Overall very solid trucks.
After 50 years of Nissan, THAT'S the first brand I look at for reliability. Same Hardbody for 30 years, and 428,000 miles. And it already had 204,000 when I got it. Almost 40 years old now. No Toyota is better than that. Million Mile Frontier on TFL truck channel says it all. Toyota fanboy myths are just that. And new Mexican soft Taco is falling apart. Current Frontier is getting rave reviews and even fanboys are converting to Nissan.
My first truck was an 05 Frontier 4.0L, it racked up 300k miles before it was unfortunately totaled after I was rear ended earlier this year. So in May I “upgraded” to a 2018 2.5L and I absolutely LOVE it. I’ve upgraded the exhaust and paired it with a K&N filter to hopefully give it a bit more pep as well as some lighter wheels. Shits gonna take me to the ends of the earth.
i have a 2002 SC longbed. bought it in 2005 for $20k with 47,000 miles and just recently went over 100,000. i mostly just used it for surf fishing and to haul stuff or as a weekend and snow driver. i'm pretty happy with it overall.
I too had a hard time choosing btwn the two. I found a white one in the same spec as your beauty. I was pretty much sold on it until i sat in it. I'm 6'2 and 300 pounds. Not a good fit. I ended up with an 06 tacoma I've had 9y now. The 05+ frontier styling didn't do it for me. If I had your build I'm sure I would have bought that 01 frontier I looked at. I'll add that i DO like the brand new ones.
I just bought a 2003 Frontier XE crew cab 4 WD drive, with the V-6. Mine has the shorter bed and I prefer the shorter overall length. I also had the requirement of a manual tranny. The leather interior is in very good condition. But our trucks are very similar. It is in very good condition and I paid about 6 grand. It has 200,000 miles and runs like new. I am happy. Thanks for the video. I have owned many Toyota pickups. They are nice but overpriced.
The 2.5L 4 bangers are SLOW but they’re reliable and hella easy to maintain, especially the manuals. I saw a guy who had a 2012 manual and put one million miles on it and it was still running strong. I’m rocking a 2018 4 cylinder, picked it up from the dealership earlier this year with only 21k miles on it. My previous 05 4.0L 6 cylinder racked up 300k before it was totaled but everything still worked just fine.
Have you seen the 4 cyl million mile Frontier on TFL truck channel? It will encourage you a lot. Nissan bought it back for their museum. Yours is just broken in.
You can still get at these reasonable priced. Found a 2004 v6 4x4 crew long bed manual trans 205k miles $4500. A toyota of that be $9-12k, a dodge dakota , chevy colorado, ford would be in a junk yard as scrap metal.
I have a 2001 nissan frontier with the same engine. Mine has 218k miles and still runs fine. I get decent power out of mine too but the gas mileage definitely isn't great.
the funniest stories i hear from first gen frontiers is from nissan dealer workers in brazil that had tons of piles of rear suspensions because these fall so often
I grew up with my dad driving an 05 before he gave it to me as my first truck and the only two big issues I can remember were the shocks and struts going out and the radiator hose deteriorating. Everything else was regular maintenance.
Funny, not an issue here...what can go wrong? It's just leaf springs. My 1987 Hardbody has 428,000 on original springs, and carries up to a full ton to this day. Only shocks have been replaced. Can't do better than that.
Sorry bro, but that’s a second gen Frontier. You may claim this is just a face lifted D22, but it was more than that in ‘01. Different engines, frame updates, interior, axles, etc.
Are you referring to a Nissan D21 or maybe a pre-facelift D22? The D21s were called the Nissan Hardbody in North America and the first generation Nissan Frontier (D22) years are 1998-2004, facelifted years are 2001-2004. This Frontier is a 2004, so final model year of the D22.
@@roro-boboin Australia they made them up to 2010(might be later but 2010 newest as fair I know) known as a d22, the zd30 is superior motor but as a 4wd so many better options, still daily mine and thrash it
The early Hardbody 4 banger like mine is a Z-24i. After 1998 was the KA24, then the D40 went to the "corporate" 2.5 4 cyl. That's what the Million Mile Frontier has on the TFL truck channel.
My 01 Frontier XE 2.4 cylinder has 309700 miles. I bought it new and until this year, all I've had to do is replace the radiator and the brake booster. The transmission is having trouble starting off in 1st when I first start out. But once it gets going it shifts fine until I put it in park. Then I go through it all over again.
