All you need in a SUV

Author's Rating:

Pros: Durability, Comfort, Options, Quick for a SUV

Cons: Headroom, Premium Gas, Misc.

Handling And Control:

The Bottom Line: 
Looking for a SUV, look no more, for the price you get near luxury and reliability to go along with that.

Author's Review
My wife and I just got married and I was driving the better vehicle, so she wanted a new one, just kidding. She was driving a Saturn at the time, I still own my Pontiac, which was better :) Anyway we live in New York, his past Winter was not fun for her. The Saturn, for whatever reason, is very low to the ground, which makes it very hard to drive in the snow, even though it is front wheel drive and her Saturn also had traction control. So we were on the hunt for a new vehicle, but I wanted to get a SUV, my Pontiac doesn't have that much cargo space, plus I wanted to make sure she would not have a problem in the snow. My wife also didn't want the feeling of driving a truck, she wanted something that felt more like a car. Her father has been driving a Nissan Pathfinder for about 3 years now and hasn't experienced any problems. So our choices were the 2001 Ford Explorer and the 2001 Nissan Pathfinder. The Ford Explorer that we were looking at was the XLT, standard features, plus a few options. For the same price as the Ford we looked at the Nissan Pathfinder LE, with the leather package. Right away the Nissan offered more "luxury" features then the Ford. When test driving the vehicle my wife felt that the Pathfinder drove like a car more then the Explorer, which felt like a truck. So after test driving both vehicles, looking at www.edmunds.com, and given Ford's recent history, you guessed it, our choice was the Pathfinder. Lucky enough the dealer had one on the lot, and it was at the time that they were trying to get rid of the 2001 models because the 2002 models were coming in a few weeks. So of course I like to bargain, and we got a great deal. We got more money for the Saturn then the Kelly Blue Book trade-in-value, we also got 3.9% APR, plus $3,000 off the sticker price. Not to mention the Pathfinder that was in the lot also added an in cabin microfilter, tow package, auto start, and limited slip differential. So now that we have the vehicle I have listed below the PROS and CONS of the vehicle.

PROS:

Durability:
Given Nissan's history, this Pathfinder should last a few years. We only have the vehicle for 3 months, but have no problems with it at all.

COMFORT:
The Nissan Pathfinder LE, with the leather package, is extremely comfortable. Make sure you are have your seat belt on, the seats are a bit slippery. The heated front seats work very well, takes about 3 minutes to warm them up. The driver side seat is completely adjustable and with the memory setting works rather well if two people drive the car frequently.

OPTIONS:
The only option we really wanted was the Leather Package, which is includes items like heated sets, memory settings for the driver's seat, etc. This is all we could have asked for, and given the price it wasn't a hard item to think about. Comparing it the Ford it came out to be less in price.

ENGINE:
Ok everyone already knows that the Pathfinder has a new engine in it that produces 240 horsepower, blah blah blah, so I will not bore with all of that. I can say this much, it is quick for a SUV given it's price and I have had zero problems on the highway maintaining speeds around 75mph-80mph. Gives a nice kick at high RPMS, or when it drops to second gear. It also holds 3rd gear up large hills, then pops back into 4th gear once you are at a flatter surface. This provides some extra pop if you need to get the hill quickly.


CONS:

HEADROOM:
My wife is 5'7" and I am 5'10", we have no problems with headroom. We do have friends and family that are 6'+ and they have hardly any headroom. My father-in-law tried it out, he is 6'2", and he had to crouch is head down to fit. This must have changed with the new model, as I said before he drives a Pathfinder and has no problems with headroom.

PREMIUM GAS:
I read an epinion review and it was right on: Premium Gas = Empty Wallet. Now the Pathfinder doesn't require premium gas, but Nissan states that if you want to hold them to the 0-60 times, you must use premium gas. If you don't think you will jumping off the line at lights or really hit the engine up hard for speed, then you can gas up with Regular. Nissan does not recommend mixing the octane levels, this will screw up the computer. While my wife doesn't "jump off the line", I do, so we fill it up with Premium. The city MPG is not the greatest, we average 15 MPG city. On a trip to Maryland we averaged 20 MPG. Also the gas tank is not that big, I would really hope they increase the size of the tank for future models. We go approximately 200 miles and have to gas up again, this becomes annoying.

MISC.:
These are some options I would like to see on the vehicle:

- When you put the shift selector in gear the doors should automatically lock.

- Have a radio that changes it volume depending on engine noise, I know GM has an option on their radios for this.

- Larger fuel tank, as I mentioned before.


Well there you go. Hopefully I have given you some new information about this vehicle, have fun shopping, and remember you can always negotiate the price.