Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Nissan Frontier opinions

I had a 16, 4.0 2wd. About 22 on the highway. Built like a tank. I loved it. One complaint I had it didn’t have a very tight turning radius.

my '97 Taco routinely did 26-27 on a tank ( I4 with a stick). The 2009 (i4, auto) never even came close. 20, maybe 21. It was a dog. The only Frontier I've owned was an early 90's model, and that little truck would go ANYWHERE, except past a gas station.

Love mine. 2010 with 97,000 miles. Nary a problem.

Love mine 2010 76k miles. nothing but tires, wipers & battery. 20 mpg in town driving

I have a 2012 4-door, short bed Pro-4X. Bought it in late 2011. So far has been a great truck, very powerful, ok gas milage. getting 18.2 avg. Been very pleased with it, use it for hunting and fishing and general running around. Not any problems at all. Would by another, YMMV.

If looking used, suzuki is the same truck

My daily driver is a 2008 4-door short bed. Bought it in 2009 when the copper mines were laying off, and the dealer hadn't sold anything for a month. Odometer says 177K, but the speedometer went out about 4 yrs. ago. Don't need it anyway. Estimated actual mileage is 250K. Grandkids' school bus turns tighter, but the only two things that really bug me are 1) it's not 4WD, and 2) it's not a Toyota. Still, the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. Batteries, brake pads, wiper blades, overdue oil change every summer. Hauls cargo like an ant. Hood is just the right height for a rifle rest.

Looked at a minty 2019 4WD 4 door last week, 31K mi. $23, 500 seemed like a pretty good price to me. Might buy another.

I posted this on another forum.

I am going to review and compare these two trucks. I just traded in a 2013 Tacoma that had an MSRP of just over 26K and bought a Frontier with an MSRP of just over 27K. To take negotiating skills out of the picture, I want to compare the price everyone can get. Allowing a $500 increase in between the two model years and taking into account a $500 rebate on the Frontier at the time I made the trade. We can fairly accurately say these two vehicles were priced damned near the same, and that dollar for dollar match will be the basis of this comparison.

The Tacoma Prerunner had a 4 cylinder while the Frontier SV had a 6 Cylinder. MSRP on comparably equipped 6 cylinder models shows the Tacoma coming in 4-5 K more. The 6 cylinder Frontier pulls very smoothly and strongly and it is reasonably quiet. It is rated at 6300 pounds of towing capacity which is why I wanted it. The Tacoma 4 cylinder is crude and noisy. When you get on it, it can get out of its own way, but not much better. It has a 3500 pound towing capacity. I typically got close to 23 MPG in the mixed driving I did with the Tacoma. I don't know where things will settle out with the Frontier, but I am guessing close to 20.

With the engine differences out of the way we can do a more direct comparison. Appearance is subjective so I won't key on that. Both vehicles seem to have good, deep paint. The outermost part of the fenders on the Tacoma were that rubberized plastic. On the Frontier they are painted steel. I prefer the Tacoma set up. I have looked at a lot of Frontiers in parking lots and the all seem t have dings in the fender metal. The Frontier has chrome bumpers the Tacoma black painted. The Tacoma has a hard plastic bed where the Frontier has a factory spray in liner. Things slip badly in the Tacoma bed but not in the Frontier. Both trucks have rails in the bed for tying stuff down. In addition, the Frontier has a bed extender.

The Tacoma came with stamped steel wheels and budget tires with very street oriented tires. I could never get mine balanced despite several trips to the dealer. The Frontier comes with aluminum rims and BF Goodrich Radial Long Trail T/A tires with a more aggressive pattern. Mine are smooth and transmit very little noise. Finishing up the exterior, the Frontier has fog lights and a tow package but the Tacoma doesn't.

The Frontier has heated seats, intermittent wipers, dual vanity mirrors, a back up camera with warning sonar, dual zone temperature control and auto dimming interior mirrors. The Tacoma has none of that.

Consumer reports scores the Frontier much higher in the test that they conduct. In fact for 2015 the Frontier is the only truck Consumer Reports recommends. Driving the Frontier does show it to be more refined, but not as much as CR would have you believe. They will both remind you that you are driving a truck. Road noise isn't as bad in the Frontier and it doesn't transmit road surface irregularities as badly. Handling on both is surprisingly good. The Frontier has a bigger turning radius. Enough to make a difference. The Frontier front seats are more comfortable. Laurie noticed this too. Back seats on both are small, but on the Frontier they are smaller. The riding position in Tacoma is odd. The cab is higher, but the seat is very low to the floor. The Frontier seat is higher relative to the floor. Both give good visibility with minimal blind spots.

In cab storage is nominally better in the Tacoma. Controls are straightforward and intuitive in both. The blue tooth phone interface is much simpler with the Tacoma touch screen panel. Connectivity with the Frontier is pretty cutting edge but I don't really care about that. Nissan uses more hard plastic on interior surfaces. They look pretty similar in both trucks but feel different. I can't say one is any better than the other. The seat material on the Frontier seems more substantial. At a year and a half and almost 39K miles my Tacoma had some wear on the seat fabric. Both trucks have similar reliability ratings with Consumer Reports. My Tacoma had front disc brakes and back drum brakes. The Frontier has 4 wheel disc brakes. I have no idea how either handles off road. I don't reckon too many people ever do technical off roading.

Only time will tell, but in a dollar to dollar comparison, the Frontier offers much more than the Tacoma.

I have a farmer friend who has put 275,000 miles in his Nissan pickup. Still doesn't need to add oil between changes. I recently bought a '13 Xterra, which was built on the Frontier chassis. Absolutely love it!

I also dislike sitting on the floor, of a Tacoma.

I also think the Nissan 4.0 is a solid engine, despite the MPG. The Toy 4.0 is also good one, but the newer Tacos have the 3.5.

If I were shopping for a mini-truck, I'd buy a gently used Frontier. And I like my Tundra, Highlander, and Toyota in general for their quality.


I know the OP isn't interested in the 4WD version, so the following isn't relevant to him. However it might me useful to others shopping for a mini-truck.

The Frontier is a fun truck offroad. And all the tender bits underneath are tucked up above the bottom of the frame rails. Smart design, especially in some of the global markets that it's sold in. Not so with the Taco.

Tender bits on the Taco, below. Crossover pipe in particular. I know, doesn't apply to the OP but might be for others shopping.

I have been driving Frontiers since 1988. I love 'em.





I bought this 2010 a year and a half ago. Had 44,000 miles on it. It had always been garaged. I got it for $16K off of carguru.com I should be arrested for stealing this truck, such a price on such a good truck.
What a great truck! 4WD with the 3.0 engine.

I bought my first one new in 1988, put 150K on it, let the girlfriend drive it one day and she totalled it. Bought another new one, brought it up to North Carolina and in 6 years in the salt and snow it was all rusty. Had 250K on it. Sold it to a local guy, he took the bed off and rebuilt the frame, put a new bed on it. Last I saw it had 350K miles and still running.

Nissan is as good as Toyota and a new one, or a used one, is about $4K cheaper. Toyotas have fancier dashboards.

Thanks Guys. Appreciate the real world experience.

Oh yeah, I meant to say. Last May the girlfriend and I drove from North Carolina to Yellowstone Park. Girlfriend has a Lexus.
But we took the 2010 Frontier. My girlfriend said the truck was very comfortable. She said the seats were very comfortable and she thought it rode as good as the Lexus.



Frontier challenges the Rockies. Snow in May.



It is a work truck! I have a steep 1 mile long gravel driveway. One day at the quarry, by mistake I put 2,000 pounds of gravel in the little Jap truck.
By God that rear end was sagging, tough load for a 1/2 ton truck. I figured I would blow every spring and shock on the truck.
No, I drove it right up the driveway, shoveled out the rocks and the little truck was fine. No damage.




Plowing the drive way with my previous Nissan, with the home made snow plow, "The Snowminator."

I don't trust car and driver. Ive seen them pimp crappy vehicles.


Ive owned mostly Tacomas and Tundras and would not hesitate to save some money and get the frontier. Guys that I know that have them, love them and trouble free

Not a Frontier, but had two Hardbody pickups. Bought a new 1991 and had very few problems. Nice little truck until it rusted out so bad, that I was ashamed to drive it. A/C still would freeze you out and everything still worked. Sold it to a guy I work with, he got a couple more years out of it until the frame dropped down from rust. Sold it to him with 260,000 miles for $500. Suspect it had maybe 300,000 on it upon death? LOL

Bought a 1997 Hardbody and still have it today for a beater and back-up vehicle. 121,000 miles and a rust bucket. Still runs like a champ though and had only minor problems. Exhaust was the biggest problem with both of them. They have a down slope towards the rear that collects moisture and rots out, because it does not get hot enough back there to burn it out. Drilled a drain hole there after replacement, but maybe only got an extra year out of the exhaust and the 1997 is running without a muffler now.

Still have the Napa receipt from the last purchase of "lifetime exhaust". If I ever decide to fix it, about the only thing to take into them would be a muffler clamp cut in half and two inches of tail pipe!

Please get your camera's out and show a picture of your frontiers with over 200k odometers....

Dark outside, I'll get one tomorrow.

Good God, I am so busted! The one I sold with 250K, that the new owner told me, four years later, had 350K miles, I don't know where it is! Can't get a picture.
I guess, according to you, I made it up!

I had a 2010 crew cab Pro-4X for a little over 4 years. I accumulated about 80k miles on it (bought with ~45k, sold with 127k) including several cross country trips. Other than gas, oil changes, a battery and tires, I never put a dime into. Our family outgrew it or I'd probably still be driving it. I seem to remember averaging about 19 mpg back/forth to work with it.

I have a 2013 Frontier. Bought it new and have a little over 90K on it. Only issue I have had is the check engine light will come on and it has to do with the vent from the gas tank. It dries out and the light will come one. If we have a week of wet weather it will go off again until we have a couple weeks of dry weather again. It costs about $1000 to replace all the parts so I just live with the light going on and off. Other than that it has been a great truck. I'd buy another.

FWIW: When I bought my truck, a similarly spec'd Toyota was $3000 more - not worth it to me. I get 16-18mpg around town, 20 going 80 down the interstate and around 22-24mpg when going down the highway around 60mph.