Xterra, Grand Cherokee, Other?

[bdg848]

I've looked at a 2010 Nissan Xterra, checking out a 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee tomorrow, roughly the same price but the jeep has 120k miles vs 150k on the Nissan. I will mostly be driving around town, gravel, snowy midwestern roads with one or two big hunting trips to the mountains per year. I don't feel I need to go crazy with the most off road capable vehicle out there due to where 99% of my driving is but I do want to get where I'm going when I need to. Which would you choose between these two options specifically? Or maybe I should look at something bigger like a Tahoe 4x4 which will make the long road trips out west more comfortable for passengers and more space for gear. No rock crawling so 4x4 anything should get me most of what I want I think? Lets say Jeep GrCher vs Nissan xterra and winner vs something like a Tahoe 4x4. Any thoughts? I think I have looked at too many features and stats and have lost the ability to make sense of them anymore haha.

 

[handwerk]

Toyota 4Runner

 

[kda082]

I’d go Xterra over GC and 2nd the 4runner. Find an older gen and save some money. Or crew cab truck with top.

 

[Brendan]

Had an XTerra between 10 and 15 years ago, loved it. Driving a Grand Cherokee Trailhawk now. Love it. Both are neck and neck for the most capable (stock) off road vehicles I've ever had. With the grand cherokee it does depend on which package and 4WD system you get. But, for an older vehicle I'd probably pick the XTerra, especially if it has the 6 speed, followed by 4 Runner if talking smaller SUVs.

With that said, I miss my pickup. I'd probably be looking at a Tacoma with a topper, or even a full size with a topper. I just can't get on board with the big SUVs when I could have a covered pickup bed and still seat 5 adults.

 

[CBreeze]

I don’t think any of the above is the answer. As a guy who drives cross country (both ways) a couple times a year I value a transmission without an overdrive which keeps me from going too fast and missing out on the beauty and splendor along with seats with 300,000 miles on them, leaf springs, and the lack of cruise control, which combine to help keep me alert along the way. It’s a great grocery getter around town as well, in all conditions

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[Desk Jockey]

How big are you and who ever else will driving it?

i was shopping for an SUV when the extra first came out (2000?). came down to a Cherokee, Durango and ex terra. I went xterra and it was a great car. The others felt smalller to me And the Durango with the rear AC didn’t have enough head room for me to sit up straight. Flash forward and I owned another xterra and a frontier. All three were relatively maintenance free and drove fine. I drive a tundra now and think there is still a bit of a quality advantage over Nissan, however you pay for it.

as far as going bigger, it depends on what you need. An xterra or Jeep can haul a lot in the cargo area with the back seat folded down. For me and my solo adventures or with just a buddy and gear the xterra was fine back in the day. I could even sleep / snuggle with my girlfriend in the back with the seats folded down but not stretch out fully. Towing and hauling a bunch of people ano gear, maybe go bigger. Keep in mind, that when you jump up a class to 150/1500 sized vehicles everything gets more expensive, fuel, oil change, brakes, etc. all goes up in price. My friend just had to do some major repairs on his 2011 diesel f250. He probably could have bought a nice used xterra for what he spent. If you can get away a smaller vehicle it will cost you a lot less in the long run.

i think newer jeep and others have closed the quality gap recently but Jeep’s made 10 years ago and with more than 100k miles on them don’t seem to hold up as well as some other brands. If I were looking at 2010 vintage vehicles with higher mileage, I think I would be tilting toward the nissan or maybe looking for a Toyota 4 runner.

 

[def90]

What motor in the Grand Cherokee?

Without knowing that I would take the higher mileage Xterra over the Jeep if they are in the same ballpark price wise.

 

[browning2480]

Tahoe owner here. Not sure that model year of Jeep, but what I have found is they don’t get great mileage. You could move to a Tahoe and have the same fuel cost with more room. I have an 03 that has 285,000 miles in it and it makes two trips west every year. It will take me in and out of anywhere I want to go and places I probably shouldn’t be.

I see the 4Runner comments and I was looking at them for my wife. Problem is they are outrageously expensive.

 

[Fatcamp]

I have had a third gen 4runner for awhile. Great vehicle but space is limited for sure. Gen 4 6 cylinder engines have head gasket issues, buyer beware.

I vote Tahoe.

 

[JBrew]

Having been in the same situation, wishing i'd known then what I know now...get the Tahoe. More room, better ride, gets you anywhere you want to go with a set of tires on it.

 

[bdg848]

What motor in the Grand Cherokee?

Without knowing that I would take the higher mileage Xterra over the Jeep if they are in the same ballpark price wise.

Its a 3.7 V6, Laredo trim level

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I don’t think any of the above is the answer. As a guy who drives cross country (both ways) a couple times a year I value a transmission without an overdrive which keeps me from going too fast and missing out on the beauty and splendor along with seats with 300,000 miles on them, and the lack of cruise control, which combine to help keep me alert along the way. It’s a great grocery getter around town as well, in all conditions

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That's a beaut! Those 3rd Gen AMC V8's are even getting hard to find now. I should have scooped one up 10 or 15 years ago.

 

[Next Ridge]

my grand Cherokee seemed like a glorified sedan. I loved my 4runners, tough, reliable, up lots of mountain roads. The only thing I like more than my 4runners is my Tacoma

 

[Titan_Bow]

I hit a deer several weeks ago and Progressive is totaling my Xterra. I had a 2012 Pro 4x model that I bought 5 or 6 years ago. It only had 6k miles on it and it had 166k when I hit the deer. Felt like it was just getting broke in. I never had any issues in the 160k miles I put on it. I love the Xterra. The Pro 4x trim has removable back seats. So you can pull the seat bottoms, lower the seat backs, and get 2 8 gallon Rubbermaid Action Packer totes. They are the same height as the lowered seat back. With the front seats pushed forward, this gave me just hair over 6ft of flat space. It’s nice being able to just sleep in the truck and not worry about setting up camp or hauling a RV. If you are looking at a pre 2011 model, do some internet searches on Xterra SMOD. There was a known but fixeable issue with the transmission cooler that would created the Strawberry Milkshake of Death. Totally fixable if it hadn’t presented the problem yet, but they got a lot of bad press for that issue. All in all Nissans have been great to me. I’ve got nearly 500k miles out of a 2004 Titan and 2012 Xterra combined, and never had any mechanical issues other than routine maintenance.


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[KBC]

Xterra pro4x. Has a factory locker and isn't a heep...I mean Jeep. I had a first gen Xterra and loved it. With close to 350K kilometres, about 200k of which had a lift, bigger tires and lots of abuse. The interior didn't rattle and squeak like my similar age Cherokee with half the mileage I had before it. I was under the impression that the transmission issue starting with the 05 second gen Xterras was taken care of by mid 07 but maybe I'm wrong. The early second gens I think you could get with a 6 speed manual in the off road model with a locker but it's been awhile since I had a big nerd boner for xterras haha.

Japanese reliability without the Toyota tax.

 

[bdg848]

I drove the Jeep today and didn't feel like it was that impressive. The xterra had 2w/4hi/4lo but this particular jeep was just 4hi. I feel like that dosn't offer me anything over a 4x4 tahoe or similar large 4x4 SUV other than better angles on approach/departure but I'm not going out trying to get stuck for fun so the angles don't matter to me that much. I really think the Xterra trumps the jeep...now I just have to decide between small, really capable suv or larger, slightly less capable but more cargo room SUV. I also looked at a 07 Pathfinder and that seems a little bigger than the xterra but still very capable offroad...That could be the ticket if I can find one in good shape. The particular pathfinder I drove today was junk. I drove it for two minutes and turned around because I thought it was going to break down on the test drive.

 

[ramsdude47]

I wouldn’t write off a Subaru Forester for the wildly improved MPG over what you’re looking at.

Gas probably won’t be cheap for the next 4 years.

 

[Billy Goat]

Tahoe.

 

[Wellsdw]

I can’t remember the exact year range but the xterra and frontier around 06–10’??had a known transmission issue at the transmission cooler. A lot of people will unload them when they are know to fail. Thinking it was around 100k. Basically ruins the transmission.

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

My daughter wanted an early Xterra and we wouldn’t get it for her because I saw so many of them laying on their side or roof on the highway when they first came out. They were apparently very tippy at highway speeds if you needed to do any kind of evasive kind of maneuver.

So of the original two I would go with the Jeep. I believe that year still had the straight six 4.0 engine. It was a beast that would last forever.

Personally I would prefer the Tahoe but having had a 2007 Yukon XL I would want to see the history of the vehicle maintenance because the 5.3 engine would have issues and sludge because of the system that would cut out 1/2 the engine when coasting or under easy conditions. It would then burn a quart of oil every 1000 miles. It was so bad that GM didn’t offer a crate engine for the 2007-2009 years. That would start on average about 35,000 miles. At a little over 100k I thought I was going to have to either have a rebuild or new engine put in when I parked it one day for a few minutes and came back and the second it was put in drive I had this hellacious nose coming from the cams and lifters. I limped home and my mechanic said it was common. He said a engine flush sometimes fixes it about 10-15% of the time so he would recommend that otherwise it’s much more costly if it doesn’t work. He did it and I was lucky that it worked.


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