Honda/Nissan/(Mitsubishi) merger

[oldGSfan]

Had a 2002 Nissan Frontier 4x4 crew cab longbed. My first new vehicle I ever bought. Really liked it. Had it for 13 years. Ran great mostly, till one thing after another started to go. All in all, a solid truck. I really liked the bold styling, compared to the others in the category at the time: Taco, Ranger. Nissan really seems to have softened on the styling since then IMHO. The later gens seem pretty bland to me now. We had a Pathfinder for a few years too. Also a solid vehicle. IIRC we traded that for a minivan because that was more practical for us at the time. Fuel economy on both Nissans was not great. Doesn’t seem like they’ve improved on that. Checking the numbers in the newer trucks shows they’re about the same. That’s over 20 years of development with practically no improvement in fuel economy. Doesn’t seem right. Once had a Rogue as a loner for a few days. I think it was when their CVT was still new. I hated that transmission. Couldn’t really pinpoint why. Just didn’t like anything about it.

Yes I agree, that's what I was sort of alluding to earlier, when Renault got involved it seemed the cars got really ugly, and really cheap. Sure, maybe they solved financials but dang, the cars looked awful. I had a Frontier too, a '98. I bought it new at such a discount that I sold it for a profit a year later. Never been done! My wife barfed into the dashboard vent and I had to sell it, on a cold day. On a hot day it smelled like an A's burger's burrito and would kill the sale LOL. Other than that it was pretty good but I was so cheap I bought a single cab, much too small. To my eternal regret, to buy it I sold a really clean '71 F250 Camper special with a 390 because it had a rear main seal leak I didn't want to fix, and I didn't want it soiling the driveway of the house I had just bought. What an idiot! I paid $1K for it and made a profit, but it was super clean.

[Rob S.]

I bought an '09 Infiniti G37 Sport/Auto. I was seduced by that 328 HP and the chassis and brakes. The price was good at 35K out the door. It only has about 95K miles on it now, and it has been pretty solid, but there are issues.

First is a harshness in the engine on any cool day, say 60 or so. It runs like it's got a bag of rocks in it, prob running on 5 cylinders. 10 minutes later when it is warmed up, almost on the dot, it cures itself. It's been to the dealership for diagnosis, and self-proclaimed Nissan/Infiniti VQ experts, and nobody can find anything wrong. I cleaned the throttle body after reading that may be the issue. Nope. That sux. Worse than that, the interior has disintegrated. The dashboard has turned into a fly-trap, i.e. a big gluey mess that defies cleaning. All the LED dashboard lights have poofed out. To replace those is not for the faint of heart, or wallet. I make do with an LED light shining on them, haha. Oh, all the thin rubber coating on interior surfaces lasted about 2 years, then turned into a mess. Jeez. Mechanically I had to replace the rear axle seal as it was making noises, and the heater hose behind the engine, which was not fun. Not bad, it's strong mechanically for sure. I just donated a few ounces of knuckle meat putting in a new starter, hey $80 vs over $500 to have it done is worth a bit of blood!

So no problems? "Pretty solid"?

[Rob S.]

My wife barfed into the dashboard vent...

You know what we say here at the GS Resources...show us the pics or it never happened.

Definitely intrigued by your wife.

[oldGSfan]

So no problems? "Pretty solid"?

Nothing blew up. Solid from a mechanical perspective.