Well, Oppo, For Better or Worse, We Expanded the Fleet

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 08/24/2020 at 21:54 • Filed to: None

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I know that Nissan doesn’t get a lot of love around here, but after test driving all of the mid-size offerings, we decided that the best fit for the best price was a Frontier. This little truck came home with us over the weekend.

We really had to buy something new because dropping our daughter off at college meant that the Outback is no longer available as a second car. I know there haven’t been many changes in the Frontier in a very long time, but I see that as a good thing. Parts should be plentiful and cheap. Being a relatively simple design, there’s not much to break. Being a fairly late model, it has bluetooth, backup sensors, and a backup camera. It had a bit over 50k miles when we bought it. It’s a long bed (6 ft, hah!) with a spray-in liner and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It’s so clean it looks like it’s never carried a load of anything.

The trip back from Texas was as we hoped - non-eventful. The little truck is surprisingly quiet, even if it rides like a truck. We tried out everything and it works fine.

There are a few flaws as one would expect with a used truck. We have to put in a new windshield and the tires have a year, maybe two, left in them. The windshield would have been replaced at the dealer today, but we needed to be back in Louisiana, so they knocked a few hundred off the price to cover the cost of a new windshield. It has a few minor paint scuffs and one door ding. Neither are a big deal.

Overall, it’s just about everything a kid could want in his first vehicle. It’s a hell of a lot nicer than my first truck!

Brickman > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 22:07

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I dont think I ever seen a long bed crew cab Frontier.

+1 uniqueness  

jminer > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 22:09

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I quite like the Frontier too, had one as a month long rental and other than it being very thirsty was quite enjoyable.  The honest truckiness of it appealed to me and it’s pretty capable.

Bylan - Hoarder of LS400's > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 22:17

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Nobody will know it’s not a brand new 2020, and don’t these have amazeballs resale value?

Trucks are gut

TheRealBicycleBuck > Bylan - Hoarder of LS400's 08/24/2020 at 22:20

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The resale values are only climbing. We started looking back in March and really should have purchased back then. I think we paid about $1,000 more than what we would have just a few months ago. 

shop-teacher > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 22:21

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Solid little rig.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 22:26

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Congrats! I like this so much better than the domestic trucks.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Brickman 08/24/2020 at 22:52

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I t is a strange combination! It even came with the bed extender which takes the length out to about 92".

TheRealBicycleBuck > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 08/24/2020 at 22:55

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Thanks! My son is a bit over 6' tall and he found the Frontier to be the most comfortable option. Strangely enough, my wife, all 5'2" of her, also finds the Frontier to be quite comfortable.

Urambo Tauro > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 23:04

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Haven’t had the opportunity to drive all of the late-model small midsize truck offerings, but FWIW the Frontier has earned my favor over the Colorado. I have a deep appreciation for long-running if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it platforms . I also like the Frontier’s relative technological simplicity, as opposed to the Colorado’s unnecessary feature bloat. Speaking of bloat, the Colorado’s chunky styling and excessively tall bed rails are a big turn-off to me as well. Give me a Frontier any day.

Brickman > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 23:18

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long boi ;D

Boxer_4 > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 23:19

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I liked these when I sat in one at the Chicago Auto Show a few years ago. This would be my choice if I needed a later model pickup - though I’d go for the King Cab in my case .

TheRealBicycleBuck > Urambo Tauro 08/24/2020 at 23:39

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Tall beds on a small truck are a ridiculous trend. It’s like they are taking design cues from U rkel.

Or maybe Pappy.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Boxer_4 08/24/2020 at 23:43

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I was pushing hard for the King Cab. It made more sense to me for a kid. The King Cab also comes with a long bed which also makes more sense to me. My wife really wanted the Crew Cab so that it could be used as a bug-out vehicle in case of hurricanes. My little WRX doesn’t handle water very well.

This one fell into our laps. Crew Cab with a long bed. I didn’t even know that combo existed before we came across it.

CB > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 23:46

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This is the second Nissan purchase this week. We’re really bad at hive-mind buying cars.

Urambo Tauro > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 23:51

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LOL can’t unsee!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/24/2020 at 23:52

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Well done. Especially given the talk of an all new Frontier. With Nissan being both financially challenged and pretty much on its own for the development (as opposed to the smaller RoW Navara/Triton/Alaskan utility ) it’ll be bound to have some corners cut...

TheRealBicycleBuck > CB 08/24/2020 at 23:59

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I know! It isn’t brown, diesel, or a wagon!

TheRealBicycleBuck > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media 08/25/2020 at 00:02

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I wasn’t buying something new for a teenager anyway, so we have at least a couple of reasons to avoid the new model!

Future next gen S2000 owner > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 00:22

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It’s not competitive when new but great deals can be hand in the used market. Gas mileage isn’t great but those trucks are fairly dependable.

Future next gen S2000 owner > CB 08/25/2020 at 00:23

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Who was the first? It’s only Monday a fterall.

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 00:25

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I really like these in pro-4x trim with the roof rack. It's a good honest midsize pickup truck. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 00:31

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I was close with the Titan angle then. They are great little trucks but lack the modern appliance aspect that most people want in their “utility” vehicles. They’ll run forever and there are already parts truck a plenty in junkyards.

Also, the long bed is uncommon and goooood. It’ll make a great second car. Or wait, you said “first car?”

CB > Future next gen S2000 owner 08/25/2020 at 00:53

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dtg11  bought an XTerra.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/25/2020 at 07:21

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First vehicle for my son, second vehicle for the household. We’re trying to keep the number of vehicles and number of payments down to a reasonable number. Having fewer vehicles than drivers also helps with insurance. As long as we don’t really need four vehicles, we save thousands between car payments and insurance. We could get an older vehicle and pay for it with cash and only get liability insurance, but any savings we gain on the payments and insurance are easily lost on big  maintenance items and reliability. We tend to travel far since family lives far away. A breakdown on a long drive is not a good risk for us. I’ve had to deal with that several times as a young adult and it’s an expensive pain in the ass. 

Manny05x > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 08:08

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I regret now not buying one of these when i was car shopping.

Speed > 3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata 08/25/2020 at 08:38

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Amen

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 09:11

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I get that. A lightly used newer vehicle well proved on the reliability front is a good choice for car that will have to do everything whenever. I could go on about cars that would give you just as little trouble for half the money but the truth is that in general, the newer, less miles, and better maintained a car is, the more you can get out of without undue trouble. Especially if you are planning on using it for long drives. You just never quite know what you are getting even with a pre-purchase inspection.

My family went the liability on a beater route for me because our private school was just far enough away that I really needed my own car to get there. You couldn’t just take the spouse down there with the spare key and make me walk home.

Plus, I paid for most of it on my own and I was free to make up the difference for full coverage if I wanted to. I didn’t, which made me drive extra cautiously. Not that that makes me crash-proof, but it helps. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/25/2020 at 09:28

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Those are good insights for a young man to have. With both of our kids attending private school and both of us parents working, we had to have a third vehicle so the kids could get themselves to school and back. Before our daughter was old enough to drive, I would drop them off before work, then pick them up after work. They had time to kill both before and after school which they filled with studying, clubs, or athletics. Overall, our situation has changed. My wife isn’t working right now, one of the kiddos is off at college, and the other is now old enough to drive himself to school. Funny thing is that the pandemic is working in our favor. My son is now attending school online, so his need for transportation is reduced.

When our son finally goes back to school full time and my wife starts working again, we’ll have a need for yet another vehicle. In the meantime, we can enjoy the financial advantages of having fewer vehicles in the household.

Things were much different for me when I was a kid. I, like you, had to pay to play. While my mom provided a truck (which she had wrecked and didn’t repair), I had to pay for part of the insurance and all of my gas costs. I started working in earnest when I was 15 and haven’t stopped since. Even before I was 15, I always had some scheme to make a little money - mowing lawns, construction grunt, selling items at a flea market, etc. My kids are spoiled on the working side, but they made up for it with hard work on the academic side.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 10:03

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I’m more like your son in that regard; They paid for my gas and insurance so that I wouldn’t have to work during the school year with the expectation I really bust my butt chasing those grades. It worked enough to get me into the best school in the state (and a juicy full tuition scholarship) so I didn’t waste the opportunity.

Future next gen S2000 owner > CB 08/25/2020 at 10:14

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Ahh right. Wasn’t that last week?

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/25/2020 at 10:16

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That’s great! My daughter landed full tuition at an out-of-state college and is one credit shy of being a sophomore on her first day at school. She should complete her degree in three years instead of four and picked a program that lets her complete a master’s over a single calendar year. If she sticks with it, she’ll be out with an MS in four years and have almost no debt.

With the exception of lab courses, my daughter’s school has gone 100% virtual. They plan to have all lab work completed by Thanksgiving so all of the students can return home.

With most of the school going virtual, many of the students dropped their housing contracts. The campus emptied one dorm and plan to use it to quarantine anyone who tests positive. Everyone who moved to campus was instructed to make a “go” bag so they could be quarantined immediately and nobody would have to dig through their room to find essentials they would need in quarantine.

How’s your school handling COVID?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 10:34

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Aside from in the fraternity houses, everyone has been wearing a mask with very few incidents and social distancing has been good. Two houses have already had enough positives that they moved the people who were well, not the ones who were sick. Predictable, but hopefully they don’t get the whole school shut down. I somehow feel safer here in the center of the largest city in the south than I would at the private school I graduated from. Don’t get me started on them. There’s free testing here which you are encouraged to do every week. They’re handling it very sensibly. 

All of my classes are online except for one studio class. It only starts in person this week and there is enough room in the buildings that they have been able to totally separate the first years from the sophomores while usually we would occupy the same floor. And studio sections are divided to allow social distancing where we don’t all come in at the same time. 

Most people are here in person (though one group project involves someone in China who can’t communicate through the usual apps or text messages, which is annoying).

TheRealBicycleBuck > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/25/2020 at 10:44

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Overseas collaborations are always a pain to deal with, but it happens in the working world too, so it’s good experience. It sounds like the school is making good efforts.

Studio classes, except when collaborating on a project, are usually a good place to socially distance. My graduate work was in a school of architecture and my old office overlooked one of the studios. Some of the freshmen studios could be quite scary, especially w hen people are using sharp instruments for model building. During my time there, someone cut themselves every semester . Thankfully, the wounds never involved more than one or two digits on a hand. :D

Boxer_4 > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 11:41

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I don’t think I knew that combo existed, either.   Single and extended cabs make more sense to me for truck stuff, though crew cabs make more sense for family stuff. It really depends on what you’re needing in a truck. As a single guy in his later 20s, a King Cab would suit me just fine.

I have a feeling that truck will serve you well for quite a while.

stiggums > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/25/2020 at 13:12

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Welcome to the family. They t ain’ t much, but they’e r honest trucks...

TheRealBicycleBuck > Boxer_4 08/25/2020 at 13:13

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Thanks!

My first truck was a single cab and I swore I’d never have another. My next truck was an extended cab. I drove that one for 18 years. I was leaning heavily toward a crew cab F-150, but I’m considering a Frontier for myself. I should be in the market for something new in three or four years. 

CB > Future next gen S2000 owner 08/25/2020 at 14:43

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It was within seven days.

Future next gen S2000 owner > CB 08/25/2020 at 15:07

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Good point. My mind only operates on a work week schedule.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > TheRealBicycleBuck 08/27/2020 at 17:39

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I approve!