Looking to buy my first 4x4 on Monday

[Unsocial]

I'm trading in my 1995 Nissan PickUp for a 2000 Frontier SE CrewCab 4x4 automatic. The 95 is a single cab 5 speed. My grandmother sometimes needs a truck for her garbage and errands and such. She can't drive and stick and the single cab has no room what so ever.

I'm buying the 2000 from a dealership it has 140,000 miles, new tires, battery...beautiful condition never been wrecked, non-smoker owner, and only has 1 dent in the rear. They are asking $7,800 for this truck before trade in. It sounds like a good price to me, what do you guys think?

[Little Red Wagen]

Welcome aboard!


Take it to a mechanic you trust, get his opinion. If he gives ya a green light go for it. If ya purchase it ya gotta post some pictures for us. Good luck!

[Unsocial]

I know the dealer...we went to school together. They were asking 11,000 for it, but because we are friends he is letting me have it for $500 over what they have in it. On the plus side I got to see it before it was cleaned or put in the shop. They have gone through the engine, and replaced fluids, battery, plugs, wires, belts...etc. as well as new tires.

[steve0616]

If you have all the info for the truck go to kbb.com and enter the info and see what they say its worth. Its a good way to see what its worth.

Also, Welcome to the club.

[durrell]

Another great thing to do is check the Carfax history on it. The little bit of money for the Carfax could save you a lot of worries.

As for the price, I got my 99 KC 4x4 for about 9k with 88000 miles on it. Dad got his 99 KC 4x4 for 8500 with 64k miles..but the dealer called him later and said it had been a mistake. He still got to keep the price since all the paperwork went through..but yeah. That sounds like a good price compared to the pricing I've seen around here. With the tuneup, that is definitely a good price. I would ask if the timing belt has been replaced, though..because if it's at 140k and hasn't been then you're going to need to replace that.

Welcome to the club.

[dcobb]

Where art thou FindingNismo?

[Unsocial]

Well, had to pass on the truck today. Would not go into 4-L, and had a REAL bad metallic pop on both sides of the front end when you turned. Just sounded like there was more problems with it then I wanted to get into. Oh well, maybe next time....

[durrell]

Probably a good idea..you did put the transmission into neutral and not park in order to put it in 4-LO, right? Just making sure. And 4-LO is kind of tricky on our trucks anyway because you have to push down on the shifter and then push back all the way into 4LO. The popping was not a good thing, probably the front CV joints which means it was probably taken off-road a LOT and not taken care of. Or it had a rough 140k miles.

Good luck, hope you can find a good one so you can join us here.

[Unsocial]

Yeah, I put it in neutral, but the 4x4 lever wouldn't go into neutral or 4L. I hope to find one...I want one bad....lol

[durrell]

Yeah..those 4x4 levers can be tricky even on a working one like mine. I try not to have to put it into 4Lo unless I really have to. I have only been in one situation when 4Hi wouldnt get me out and I had to drop it into 4Lo. Good luck though, we always welcome a new 1st gen owner to the club..