Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Frontier on my mind

Got the itch for a reliable used pickup for a 2nd ride for reasonable price.

I'm leaning towards a '20 or '21 frontier crewcab with the 3.8 v6.......can't help but want 4wd as well, just in case I ever need it.

Drove the truck framed boxy pathfinders up until 2017 with no issues.

Currently a '22 4runner is my primary show ride.

Would appreciate input on the frontiers......and recommendations.

I drove a '16 SV with the 4.0 liter V-6, it was an excellent truck, I gave it to my SIL when their car broke down and they needed a new vehicle. I'm currently driving a '23 Pro-4X with the 3.8, which has 50 more HP and still gets better mileage, due to the 9 spd transmission, I guess. I'd rather have the old 5 speed transmission, but the 9 spd is okay, it DOES do a LOT of searching while going uphill on the interstate, though, and that's annoying. The extra gearing is for taking off with a heavy load, it shifts 4 times getting to 40mph.
This new truck has got too many gadgets and "stuff" on it, really, but it's a damned nice truck, and I'd much, MUCH, rather have a naturally aspirated V-6 than the new Toyota motors in a Tacoma.
I still have a hard time figuring how my new 4WD with a more powerful engine gets better mileage than the older, larger V-6 in the 2WD '16.
You might go over to https://www.clubfrontier.org/ and read up on the '20s and '21s, I think I'd go ahead and buy a new one, the early ones had some bugs that needed worked out, that has happened and they're solid little vehicles.

My '23 is my sixth Nissan pickup, I've been driving them, off and on, since 1977. I kinda like 'em.

I just traded my ram 3500 in as I don't have the 5th wheel anymore.

Picked up a 23 fronteir sv with 14k on it. I much prefer the non turbo 6 of the fronteir compared to the other turbo options. The ride is fine for a truck and the engine has plenty of pep.

I'm happy but only 1500 miles into it.

I've been looki9ng for a used Frontier also. Seems like there are lots of 22-23's with hardly any miles on them. Wonder why that is?

I think their lease returns.

Great trucks! I’m still driving my 2011 I bought new, 155K miles.

what kind of gas mileage are you guys getting...bob

I get between 22 and 24 depending. I live rurally, 4x4. I'm pleased.

If not that, I think many may also be rentals being sold. Lots of trucks of similar age with very similar mileage.

We looked at the Frontiers when making a recent purchase. There is certainly a lot to line about them. We ended up with a Tacoma due to their reputation for longevity. This truck will go to my son once he is in college, and will hopefully last him long into adult life without a car payment.

I have the base 2wd, inline 4 version 2019.

Bought it used but really clean in 2020 with 20,000 miles on it.

It just rolled over 97,000 mostly highway miles.

All good so far except just last month the Bluetooth stopped finding my iPhone. I browsed around and it’ds apparently a software problem between Nissan and iPhones.

Can’t brag on the mileage, 18 maybe 20 on the highway.

I've never owned a Frontier with the 2.5l $ banger, but the older 2.4s gave me 25mpg without fail, and were nigh on bulletproof motors. I didn't like the 2.5l after test-driving one, they seemed gutless compared to the older motor. Mine had the 5 speed transmission, though, perhaps yours has the automatic?

As far as used .....should the 9 speed transmission on the frontiers worry me at all.....vs the 6 speed Toyota?

I'm not worried about it. The only transmissions I've been told to avoid were the yearly nissan cv's in the rogues etc.

I just bought a 2022 with 15000 miles. Happy so far. First tank got 21 MPG calculated the old fashion way

I just got back from a trip to Missouri (from Kentucky), and averaged 23.6 MPG driving home. I DID notice a large difference when I accidently put real gas into it (non-ethanol). With real gasoline, I got 25.6+ MPG in mixed 4x4 and 4x2 driving on muddy gravel roads and thru pastures and such. Couldn't afford to burn "the good stuff" all the time, so it was only one tank's worth of "real gas", but it sure ran smooth on those rough country roads.

A lot of my traveling was on I-64 and I-70, and that's where I got the 23.6 MPG, of course, large parts of that were flat ground. I really like my '23 Pro-4X, it gets two MPG better with 50more HP than my '16 did with it's larger engine.

It wouldn't pencil out to use pure gasoline all the time, but under some circumstances, the extra juice might keep you from getting stuck in crappy conditions.

How do the bed dimensions compare between the crew cab frontiers and the crew cab Tacomas.......look pretty simarly tight to my nekked eye.

Never mind.....both offer long beds that would satisfy my needs.

'25 SV 4x4 long bed crew cab followed me home....

Still a bit dazed n confused about the way I went about doing that.

I looked for a used long bed, never found one so ended up with the standard bed. Still trying to figure out all the electronic stuff

With Nissan on the rocks right now, is the manufacturer or dealer offering any incentives ?

There's was a hullabaloo about a special sale event but my deer-in-the-headlights approach has affected my recall of many details.......I was truly an embarrassment to this forum as a campfire member.

So, it's been 2.5 months in this frontier and I gotta say.......

I like this truck. It fits me and my needs pretty well, no complaints so far. I don't tow anything......gots plenty of gett'em up n go for my routine.

I'm considering a 2013 Frontier SV extended cab 4x4. The cab feels more comfortable to me than my Dad's 2003 Tacoma ex cab 4x4. Thanks for the info and links.

Cant help on the Frontier, but I had a 2014 Nissan Sentra. Besides the schitty CVT trans which I had to have replaced ($4000+) it was a wonderful car. It only failed me one time. I had a coil go out on the way to work. Simple fix, sold the car with 241k on it and going strong. It was a great commuter.

I work for an agriculture company in the southeast US. We do a lot of work in TN and MS where many of the trucks (Frontier and Titan) are/were made. Upper management felt like it would look good for us to drive locally produced trucks when the prices started increasing so much on the Fords and Chevys. We use them exclusively, and have been since 2017. All Frontiers and all crew cab 4x4. They have a pretty hard life in the fields, and have held up better than ALL of the other brands we have used which includes Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge. This is just my experience as I have been a regional manager and have to keep maintenance up on all of them since 1997. I usually put 60K+ miles a year and some guys more, so we usually replace about year 3. Now were replacing about year 5, and I still have some spare 2017's in use. I'm currently in a '22. I have also owned 6 Nissans of my personal use, 4 Trucks (me) and 2 cars (children). I'm currently running as a personal vehicle a 2022 Titan XD 4x4 Pro 4X.

They may not be the best, attractive or most flashy vehicle on the road by any means, but I would argue that they are tough as nails, very few drivetrain issues, lots of power, and very reasonably priced for today's market compared to Toyota or the big 3. My last Titan came with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, but sadly they discontinued the XD models in 2024.

Best of luck locating one. The last few we sold last winter (2017's) were high miles and pretty rough, but fairly sound mechanical wise. They sold at 9K each.

I brought home a 2013 SV 4x4 extended cab (I believe the Nissan terminology is King cab) last Tuesday. 95 mile ride home was quite comfortable, ride was very nice compared to my F250. I'm considering getting a Softopper for it and am thinking about floor mats for mud/snow protection. I'll try to get some pictures up.

The Frontier is a great truck. My favs are the 2nd Gen. Here's my 2018 SV 4x4. I've done the following mods: Pro4X skid plates, 2.5" strut lift, SPC upper control arms, Firestone airbags, Decked drawers, 33" Falkens, NISMO roof rack and a 40Watt GMRS radio. She's got 80K on the clock now.

I agree about the 2nd gen, but my Hardbody SE with the 3.0 and 5 speed manual was my favorite. That's a beautiful truck there!

I had a couple of early 90s Hardbodies. They were great trucks!

Motor pic of my Frontier. She's a bit pampered... lol

That's as nice a Frontier as I can remember seing, VMaxSplat. Well done. I had a Hardbody V6, 5 spd, King Cab back in the '90's that served me very well. I'd not be ashamed to own another.