Overview & Reviews

The Nissan Xterra is a traditional midsize SUV with seating for five and serious off-road capability. Thanks to stout body-on-frame construction shared with Nissan's Frontier pickup, the Xterra is a beast on the trail and can tolerate a fair amount of abuse. The downside is that this Nissan lacks the on-road polish of car-based crossover SUVs you might buy instead.

The Xterra debuted for the 2000 model year. Later Nissan Xterras are similar in appearance and personality to the early models but have a slightly longer wheelbase, a roomier interior, more power under the hood and a few extra features. If you want a reasonably priced off-roader and find the Jeep Wrangler too crude for everyday driving, the Xterra is worth a look.

User Reviews:

• 

  A Sporty Sport Utility - 2004 Nissan Xterra
  By Non-X-Terra-Driver - January 10 - 10:00 am

  Perfect if you want a SUV that can go off road without hurting its feelings and you want to feel like you are in something sporty. Drives like compact pickups (well that is what it is built off of). Plenty of places to tie down cargo inside and out. Don’t get it if you plan to stay in the suburbs all your driving time. Perfect if you are into the outdoors like hiking, biking, camping, hunting, fishing, etc.

• 

  2005 Xterra - Still runs great! - 2005 Nissan Xterra
  By WylyGT - January 3 - 2:46 am

  My 2005 "S" Xterra 4WD with all the options of the "SE" still runs great and is fun to drive! I dont have fog lights and never found a pre-fab kit to install or I would have installed them. The only failures was the original battery - as usual on all new cars and the rear shocks had to be replaced at about 55,000 miles. The Xterra tows my 19 Bayliner just fine. Plenty of power every where I go. Off road is a blast! Now I have over 80,000 miles on the SUV and havent had a brake job! (Had to have one every 25,000 miles on my GM cars.) I hope to buy a new Xterra in a couple of years. Nissan makes a great car/SUV. NOTE: THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC!

• 

  Recall and all the known issues - 2005 Nissan Xterra
  By usmcjarhead - December 29 - 7:11 am

  Hardy J…in PA. Bought a 2005 Nissan X terra from Sheehy in Glen Burnie, MD. I did research on the Xterra’s before I bought the SUV and people were OK with the model and the gas mpg were crappy. I was happy with mine for months then…..the fuel sending unit went out, had the sensor recalls done, I paid for the front hubs out of my own pocket and now…..the radiator leaked into the transmission just like Nissan expected. 100’s of people texted, wrote, emailed, complained about all the known issues with the xterra’s. All the issues were like text book. Some owner issues were paid under warranty, some paid out of pocket, some had financial help from Nissan Corporate and some bit the bullet and were out of thousands like me. I can not afford to pay for the radiator replacement, new tranny and replace the catalytic converts. Contacted Nissan corp., they said I was way passed the warranty for the tranny and radiator repair. Nissan knew the Xterra had issues with the 2005 to 2007, but they would not recall all the issues. I’ve seen many sites with some pissed off owners because they are left with a lemon. I never knew I would get screwed by a car manufacture. Some owners were in the middle of the road with their families when the tranny died. Its worst than the issues with the Camrys killing people. The Xterra is a nice SUV minus the 2005 to 2007.

• 

  2009 Xterra - 2009 Nissan Xterra
  By George - December 23 - 4:43 am

  I have the S with tech package, 4WD, 6M. I rented a 2006 and traveled 2000+ miles and it was a rough ride at that time. Nissan has made some wonderful changes in the suspension and engine power. The 2009 is more sports car than SUV. A true joy to drive. Very little road noise. Hands free blue tooth is great. The Rockford Fosgate music system is out of this world 8 speakers and a sub-woofer. The back seats are stadium placed so that the back seats are higher than the front. Lots of cargo area. This is my 3rd Nissan the other 2 (Stanza & Altima) I got 190,000+ miles out of them. I know that this one will do the same. A week is hard to tell much about a car, but its long enough to say its great

• 

  shame of American Nissan - 2005 Nissan Xterra
  By zeus48 - December 22 - 9:39 am

  I bought a 2005 X-Terra because I very much like the VQ engine series and their automatic transmissions. The first thing was the cheap interior seats began to shred. At 60K the paint is flaking off the roof and the factory knows it had white paint problems (no roof clear coat) at the factory and sold the vehicles anyway. No help from the dealer or factory. I bypassed the radiator w/a tow external cooler. The gas guage sender is failed, the fuel vapor recovery sytem is failed and now the loop cam chains need replacing along w/ the tensioner. I love driving this truck but it is a mess considering its age. I believe the responsibility rests with American Nissan management and cheaper is better

• 

  Nice truck - 2006 Nissan Xterra
  By Grouch - December 21 - 12:06 am

  Lots of room inside, though difficult to get in and out of rear seats. Confident and sure footed ride. Really enjoying it.

• 

  My 2000 Xterra SE 3.3 liter V6 - 2000 Nissan Xterra
  By jerrymax - December 20 - 8:03 am

  I bought this car almost two years ago and have put 15,000 miles on it. It is great in snow and ice in 4 wheel drive mode. Easy to shift from 2 to 4 wheel drive system. The 3.3 liter V6 is adequate, not fast, but you dont get an SUV for speed. Valve gaskets had to be replaced at 154K. Only complaints; no dashboard clock and dashboard instruments are very dark. On a sunny day if youre wearing sunglasses you cant read them unless dashboard lights are turned on. Vehicle is very rugged. I actually think this 1st generation Xterra looks nicer than the 2nd generation. 4 full doors and great visibility make it more practical than the FJ Cruiser. I would highly recommend this vehicle.

• 

  08 xterra off road automatic - 2008 Nissan Xterra
  By Zee06Mikey - December 4 - 3:20 pm

  Truck is built very well. Good brakes, handling and performance. Seats are comfortable. Paint and build quality is spot on perfect. After a couple days of ownership noticed a rumble vibration at 35 mph and after a couple of trips back to the dealer service and driving other new ones all xterras 2008 seem to have this noise. Hopefully there will be a TSB soon to address this noise.

• 

  Great SUV, Bad Gas Mileage - 2004 Nissan Xterra
  By Elway - December 3 - 2:00 am

  Have only had the vehicle for a little over a month. It has surpassed all of our expectations so far. Have joined the Nissan Xterra Club of Southern California and put our Xterra to the test. Awesome 4X4.

• 

  Great - until after 100K - 2006 Nissan Xterra
  By nomaddriver - November 27 - 1:13 am

  Bought my 2006 Xterra new... LOVED IT. The design was awesome. It was a bit rough (its a truck after all) but comfortable overall. Powerful engine, though hard on gas. All sweet for first 3 yrs/ 65K miles. After that things started to all apart. Fuel sensor crapped out so I couldnt tell how much gas is left based on the fuel gauge. The driver windows stopped working. U-joints went. By the time I passed 100K, the transmission fluid leaked into the radiator and vice versa. Spent $1500 to replace the radiator and flushed the trans. only to have them tell me that I need a new transmission - $4-$5K (at 110K I wasnt able to go in reverse). Couldnt afford it so traded it at a loss.