The good people at Nissan saw fit to invite me as a representative of CurbsideClassic to attend a dinner and driving event focused on the new 2017 Nissan Titan. Most of you have probably heard/seen/read something about the new Titan XD (perhaps best described as a 5/8 ton truck) but the focus here was on the addition of the regular 1/2 ton Titan (non-XD) to the range.
The event was held at the Denver Coliseum, which Nissan seemed to have rented out in its entirety. Upon arrival I was ushered into the main arena where I was greeted by several staff members, handed my name badge and informed that we would first be enjoying dinner, then given a walkaround tour of the truck and after that be heading outside to sample various trucks on both an On- as well as an Off-road course that had been laid out for us.
While I was waiting, Nissan had erected sort of a maze and gathering area lined with huge displays and video presentation proudly explaining Nissan’s rich history of trucks. Some of them were obviously familiar to me (and you) but a couple were new.
There was one panel that spoke of the early 1980’s trucks and pictured was the first one that was built in the United States in 1983 – If you attended the Lane Motor Museum gathering this summer, you saw this particular truck in their collection.
Once the invitees had all arrived, we were ushered to the dinner area which had a buffet consisting of selections from an excellent local BBQ place with all the trimmings as well as beverages and dessert. I sat at a table with two other attendees (there were around twenty in total) and we chatted trucks and writing etc while we ate.
There was a short introduction of our hosts and product specialists while we ate. The food was absolutely delicious, by the way. Nissan USA now being HQ’d in Tennessee apparently helps in selecting a quality BBQ vendor.
After dinner we moved into another area of the arena which was set up sort of camp-fire style with a new 2017 Titan where the campfire would normally be. Off to one side was big brother, a Titan XD, and on the other side was a table with selected components from both trucks to help explain the differences between the two.
One of the Nissan representatives then walked around the whole truck and explained some of the features that were on it while his colleague followed him around with a camera whose feed was displayed on a huge screen above the truck so that we could all follow along with whatever detail he was showing.
What I found interesting is that the sample truck was a Titan SV which is the second step up from the bottom of the range, there are several levels above this version and only one below it. What was most interesting is that this was far from the most loaded model but was still very well equipped with no obvious signs that you would have missed out on stuff by purchasing this level.
For example the seats were a stain-resistant cloth, and when I crawled all over the truck later in the evening, I found that the cloth was very soft, had excellent “feel”, and seemed far nicer than what I’ve seen in some competitors. Leather seating is a reasonably priced option but for my money I would probably stick with the cloth.
Now, I’m the first to admit that I do not know everything about trucks, I have somehow not owned one as part of my 44+ vehicles to date but have eyed them over the years. I don’t profess to know all the details of every manufacturer and every model but this one seemed nicer than the equivalent level offered by the competition. By “nicer” I mean the quality of the plastics, carpet, seats, and other materials that you’d see and notice on a daily basis.
Nissan will also be introducing different cabs (Regular and King in addition to the Crew featured here), but the cab here is identical to the one on the XD version, the differences between them are underneath (frame and hardware) and wheelbase as well as bed length. This regular version has the common shorter 5.5 foot bed while the XD has a longer bed.
All of the regular versions share a (related but significantly revised from the old Titan) 5.6 liter V8 engine that produces 390hp and 394lb-ft of torque with the standard 7-speed automatic transmission while gas mileage is rated at 15 city/21 highway and 18 combined with a 9393lb tow rating. (The much bally-hood Cummins Diesel V8 is available in the XD version only.) Is this all class leading? In some ways yes, in some ways perhaps not, but the focus of this truck is for the regular guy, maybe someone who uses it to commute, haul stuff on the weekends, maybe pull a normal sized boat or snowmobiles or whatever. Pretty much the way that most of the other ½ ton trucks are used most of the time.
Does Nissan think they are going to take over the market? I doubt it, many people are simply too entrenched in their own brand loyalty to ever consider it but perhaps some people want to switch to something new, or they aren’t a fan of the Toyota Tundra, or they just want a different option. It’s a big market, even a small share of it can be a very good result.
Some of the standard features and optional extras include acoustic glass on the front side windows as well as the windshield to reduce noise along with is apparently a large amount of sound insulation and better door seals, a multifunctional rear seat that can be folded up with a compartment below that is lockable and differently configurable, hydraulic body mounts to isolate the cab from the frame and reduce NVH, several bed rail and cleat configurations to help make securing loads easier, factory applied spray-in bedliner, a 120V outlet in the bed area along with a plethora of lighting in the bed and more.
Obviously the more entrenched players in the segment offer even more customization options but this seemed like a very good start for Nissan’s second attempt at the full-size truck market after leaving the original Titan withering on the vine for a bit too long.
This particular model (SV, 4WD, Crewcab) starts at $40,700 and with the options mentioned above comes out to around $46,000 on the sticker. Leather would be an additional $860 per the online configurator. I guess the end price depends on your own bargaining skills. My local dealer tends to be fairly aggressive…
One other thing that was touched on was the amount of American involvement in the design and construction of these. The truck was designed in California, the engines are built in Tennessee (Gas) and Indiana (Diesel), the truck is assembled in Mississippi (with some components from different countries, admittedly), and overall seems to be very “American” even though Nissan is obviously a Japanese company.
Personally I’ve always been more concerned with where a vehicle is actually designed and manufactured rather than where the HQ is as I figure even if the profits go elsewhere, there are still plenty of wages being paid to the locals that design, engineer, and build the things that in turn would use that money to spend on things that I (and you) may produce or offer.
After the walkaround we were led outside where after a short safety talk, we were split into groups and some started with the on-road and others with the off-road course. I started on-road and climbed into a truck with the Nissan “professional driver” along with a couple of other people. The driver led us around the course that was laid out in the Coliseum parking lot.
One would have thought that the lot would be smooth, however what made it perfect for this experience is that it was apparently built on an old landfill and as a result has settled and buckled over the years to resemble a mix between a moonscape and a drive-in theater lot with serious elevation changes and off-camber turns laid out within the course.
The course let us sample full-throttle acceleration (quite good), panic stopping (minimal bounce but I think I now have seat belt marks across my chest), a slalom section (surprisingly responsive for the size), bump stretch (it was bumpy, we bounced around but apparently in comfort, I did not bonk my head) and an emergency lane change section (I think I would have missed the moose if this was real and we didn’t roll over so that was a success).
I did notice something while sitting in the back. While there are three different places/handles to hold on to, none of them were perfect. The handle above the window was too high to comfortably reach, the angled one at the top edge of the doorframe was too far forward and the one in the doorpanel itself was too far back ending up mid-forearm. There really needs to be an angled one near the front edge of the doorpanel. On the plus side there are apparently 14 (!) cupholders in each truck along with oodles of storage spaces.
You’ll notice that my somewhat poor pictures of the lot make it appear as if it was nighttime. Well, it was, which added a whole new dimension to everything. Still, the headlights did a good job of illuminating everything and nobody got lost on the course as far as I could tell. I just had my iPhone (sorry) as opposed to some of the others, one of which had this giant camera and was running all over the place taking pictures of literally everything and himself becoming an obstacle to be avoided.
After my first run, they asked if anyone would like to try a diesel, Yes Sir, hook me up! It turned out to be the XD version with the Cummins V8. Much of the course felt the same but a bit more muted as the difference is about a foot in wheelbase, 1000 pounds of extra weight and the diesel engine that builds torque fairly quickly but off the line takes a moment to get going.
I actually preferred the throttle actuation on the diesel as the gas engine, if anything, tips in too quickly making the start a little lurchy if that’s a word. The diesel was more like an older Mercedes in that respect. The diesel V8 was VERY quiet, nowhere near the rattle of a Cummins inline-6 as in the Ram, I don’t think I even recall hearing the engine.
After that I did the off-road course. Once again, I must confess that in addition to not being a truck nut, I am also more of a paved road guy and couldn’t really tell you what was or wasn’t impressive about the Nissan as compared to other trucks.
What I did recall is that in one section where we were balanced on two diagonally opposed wheels and sort of rocking back and forth, the doors still opened and closed without any binding and the way it can descend a steep hill without ANY driver involvement at a walking pace while braking itself was very cool.
Just as impressive were the cameras that would show you the path your passenger side wheels were taking (as you might want to know if near a boulder or dropoff) as well as a forward image with predictive lines (opposite of a backup camera on a modern car) that worked great when cresting a ridge when all we were looking at was the moon straight up but knew that somewhere in front was another truck.
I believe this camera setup is optional (or perhaps included with the Pro-4X package) but Nissan has had a good reputation for some time with its cameras, notably its all around ones, which make it look like you have a birds-eye view around the vehicle.
After this I headed back inside and looked closely at the sample truck that we did the walkaround on as well as the parts table. The XD components are certainly much heavier than the regular ones but even those seemed very beefy.
The front brake rotors for example, the ones on the regular truck are big and felt heavier than the ones I recently replaced on my Mercedes GL450, which I thought were huge and heavy already.
Then I looked at the XD rotor and tried to lift one up, I’m not kidding when I say that it was difficult to lift one-handed and I don’t think I could have walked the length of the building with it in one hand. The frame sections on hand were clearly different as well and there were a few other key items to play with.
Looking at the truck I was struck with how far back the engine is in the chassis, much (most?) of it seems to be under the firewall. If being serviced a stepladder or laying on the front end is probably the best option.
Many of us bemoan the height of trucks so I tested reaching into the bed from the side. It turns out that I can stand flatfooted and if I am willing to jam the side of the bed into my armpit (OK if the truck is clean, not if wet or filthy) then I could touch the bottom of the bed of the truck.
Picking up a suitcase or 5-gallon bucket would be no problem for me as long as they were near the side. For reference I am 6-foot 1-inch tall. The tailgate was damped on the way down and assisted on the way up. I think any of my kids would be able to handle it without a problem.
Obviously my time with the trucks was limited and the driving experience was very prescribed. I liked what I saw but can’t really judge all of its merits without the opportunity to try it for a longer period of time but don’t have much of a comparative basis anyway.
I did drive my Mercedes GL450 to the event since I figured of my fleet it was closest to a Nissan given that Nissan (Infiniti) and Mercedes currently have a few joint ventures in place and it was the most trucklike. Overall I think the Nissan Titan actually has a better ride than the Mercedes, it is vastly more spacious inside (mainly width of the seating areas) and the Nissan Titan was certainly faster and perhaps even quieter.
I am thankful for the invitation, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. Nissan also made sure I left with some stuff as pictured above to remember my evening (Thank You!). Would I consider a Nissan Titan? Actually I would, I really liked the basic level interior which on the competition I generally have issues with until optioned up into the stratosphere and it seemed a fair value overall.
I have no idea how aggressive Nissan dealers are with selling these compared to the competition but it seems that Nissan corporate wants to see more of these out on the road. The reality is that I would use it for regular driving duties and some hauling work, it would be convenient but I know I would rarely if ever tax its abilities to the hilt based on what I saw at the event.
Nice to see a write up on the 1/2 ton new Titan. I’ve been very happy with my purchased new 2004. It is about to turn over 15k miles, but now that I’ve decided to put the ’86 Jetta in storage for now and just pay insurance on one vehicle, it will start to get more then just 1k miles on it a year. In January I can get a collector plate for the Jetta and get low cost insurance.
Nissan had intended to replace the original for around the 2009 year with a rebadged Dodge, those plans fell through when Chrysler was sold. This is the reason the 1st generation was produced until the 2015 model. I am glad to see Nissan went with it’s own design as opposed to a Chrysler rebadge. As an added bonus my ’04 truck looks almost identical to the 2015 model!
They have proved to have almost bulletproof engines and transmissions, the 5.6 and 5 speed automatic go 200-300k miles and more with few failures if maintained, acording to the forums I’ve checked out. Early 4wd models had front diff problems and the early locking rear end assemblies were failure prone, we replaced quite a few under warranty on earlier trucks. Mine being a base 2wd model with the non tow gear ratio or locker setup is the type that has been shown over time to be the most durable. I did change to synthetic rear diff oil and installed a finned aluminum diff cover that the ’05 and later Titans came with, just to update it. There also was a recall for front rotors warping, I never had a problem but had the pads and rotors replaced with the updated recall parts, since it was done at no charge anyway.
It has a smooth highway ride and loads of power, if I set the cruise at 65 I can get 20 MPG highway. It gets around 14-15 MPG in town, if I drive it easy. When I first got mine the throttle was very touchy, and it was hard not to spin the tires taking off. After a while, the engine and transmissions adjust to your driving style and the touchiness goes away, and the transmission learns to upshift quickly when driven gently. When I replaced my battery, I spun the tires the first time I took off, and the transmission didn’t want to upshift as quickly. After a few miles it relearned my driving style and returned to it’s more leisurely mode.
I’m still trying to get used to the huge grill and the side gills on the new model, but the interior of the 2nd gen is nicely upgraded. And the now direct injected gas engine has 375 HP as opposed to the 305 HP in my ’04. I considered a Frontier, but while the King cab in the Titan has a useful back seat, the Frontier’s King cab was basically useless for rear seat passengers that have legs. And the V6 Frontier’s MPG was only about 2 MPG better than the V8 Titan. I was working for Nissan at the time, and between the employee discount, the 2k rebate Nissan had for everybody at the time, and the fact my Copper Metallic XE model had been a dealer trade and on the lot for 9 months enabled me to get it for only 18k, so this sealed the deal. I actually would have had to pay more for a V6 2wd King cab Frontier, and would have had the smaller bed and useless back seat to boot.
I don’t know how well the new Titan will sell, after the first couple of years the original Titan sales started to drop off quickly. I hope Nissan sells enough to make the new truck worthwhile. Nice to see Jim representing CC get wined and dined by Nissan, I’ve been really happy with my Titan, smooth highway ride and lots of power, yet it will loaf along at 1600 RPM at 65. It’s 6ft 7 inch bed works great for landlord and home improvement duties. I didn’t really buy it to tow, but it’s rated at 7600 lbs in it’s non tow package version with the 2.96 rear, the 3.23 tow equipped versions were rated at 9200. I have installed a factory Nissan hitch, have thought about buying a light weight travel trailer, so I’m good to go if I decide to. I finally had to replace it’s original battery a few months ago, since it lasted 12 years I went with another factory Nissan battery.
Pardon me, but this is an advertisement for a new truck. No CC material here and very disappointing to see this.
Some (many? most?) of our readers also own and purchase new rides, we figured this might be somewhat informative and I will write up whatever opportunities I have to do so. We do plenty of “Future Classics” posts and had the opportunity to look at something brand new to the marketplace that’s a bit out of the norm (i.e. not one of the big-3 trucks). Some our readers from other places where this is not an offering may also be interested in reading about it.
I’m sorry to see you’re disappointed though, I figured one day this too will be a CC and God willing I will be around to write a post on one that I see curbside and then link to the (this) new review that I wrote twenty years ago. Or if you see one in 2036 you can take a pic and you or someone else will write about it and link to this article and marvel how nobody ever sees these anymore or how great the seats have held up etc. And if the pic was taken in Eugene, the left inside door panel will undoubtedly be missing…. I know I enjoy seeing the new-car reviews and buyer’s guides that several of our contributors feature that are from years gone by. It’d be nice to feature our own material rather than Road and Track’s or Car and Driver’s or whoever’s.
It’s certainly not meant to be an ad, I didn’t get paid a dime to view it, nor write about it. I did get a meal, a hat, and a cup which I fully disclosed, and that I was welcome to refuse, whoopee. I also drove 58 miles each way to attend this in my car with my own gas and spent an evening away from my family in order to do so. But obviously Nissan hoped that I would have an enjoyable evening and be positive about the truck if I found positive aspects to write about. I liked it (more than I thought I would), so I wrote about it.
But you are welcome to just skip past these features if you wish. I myself found it very interesting that Nissan acknowledged its own past historical trucks during this evening with a number of large visual displays of them. Out of respect to my hosts I didn’t dwell on those here more than I thought appropriate, after all, that wasn’t the focus here.
Then don’t read it.
I kind of liked it. I’d never be in the market for a Titan, but it’s still better to read and more honest than any of the car buff mag reviews
It’s unfortunate, but many PRINT magazines now have advertisements that TOO closely resemble “regular” road tests.
Having said that, I personally consider CC to be an online magazine that is admittedly focused on working class classics….but not exclusively and the comparisons to modern day vehicles is helpful/enlightening.
I’m really happy to see cc represented at a new car press event. I hope to see more articles like this in the future.
My brother considered one of these, but bought a 2017 Ram 1500 limited instead, real nice truck, but he cant wait to get rid of the R A M on the tailgate. The letters are big enough to been seen from the space station. Ridiculous.
It’s not much different than the massive letters that were stamped into tailgates 50 years ago…
Today the letters are bigger and in chrome.
Enjoyed your efforts and your good article. Thanks.
I was in a dealership 2 months ago buying a used vehicle, and had a chance to view a 2016.
An excellent review on what looks to be a worthy competitor. That said, I would never buy a NIssan USA product on account of their abysmal labor practices at their plants in Smyrna and Canton, which of course is where the Titan is assembled.
Of course, that’s beyond the scope of Jim’s review and Paul’s site, but it is still an unsavory part of the Titans’ history and development.
I wish Nissan well with their new pickup. It is generally good looking, although the front end does make it appear a bit front-heavy. That’s likely a subjective thing.
You are quite correct about the high degree of brand loyalty with pickups. It’s not as rigid as it used to be, but there are definitely some who won’t budge from their brand.
Oh, and having half the engine under the firewall sadly isn’t a new thing. My F-150 has half the engine under the firewall. And, yes, I did have to use a step ladder when replacing the EGR valve a few weeks ago. However, had the pickup been closer to the ground it would have been the same story as my arm is only so long and the valve was on the rear of the engine.
They finally smartened up at Nissan and styled this vehicle in California. It looks good and unlike the usual quirky attempts at styling that only sold at a price advantage, this will sell on its good looks.
This thing is hideous. But I respect your opinion.
Unfortunately, I have to agree. I this version of the Titan hideous to look at. Unfortunately, all the new trucks I’ve seen by both Nissan and Toyota have looked hideous.
Although I’ve never owned or driven a Nissan Titan, I’ve always been interested in it. What I’d like to see is a turbo diesel engine as an optional engine. Diesel may not be for everyone, but I’m sure there are people out there who will buy it, and drive it. I’d buy a Titan if I could order it with a turbo diesel engine, Cummins, Duramax, or whoever’s willing to provide a good engine.
Well, it’s your lucky day, the Titan XD is available with a Cummins V8 turbo Diesel engine.
I’d buy a Nissan Titan if I was in the market for a new truck. Hopefully, by the time I’m ready to buy a truck, the Cummins diesel will still be on the market. I’d prefer either a 4 cylinder diesel or a 6 cylinder diesel engine.
Was there a Nissan Junior on the 1960s or 1970s display panels?
A few years back, I was wondering if Nissan was going to hang in there with their big pickups. But it was undoubtedly a smart move to do so. It’s an uphill battle, but if they can chip away at the Big 3 mountain little by little, it may work out for them. Seems like a pretty attractive truck.
Looks like a copy of a Ford to me. I’ll stick to my Chevrolet trucks, thanks anyway.
I, too, wondered the same. I sold Nissans (including a few Titans) in ’09-’10, and even the dealership wondered then how on Earth they were selling at all. In today’s industry, 10 years is an eternity for a model change. There wasn’t even a mid-cycle “freshen-up”.
Also, I’m very glad that CC was represented at this event. Great write-up, Jim!
It does look very Ford to me too but I guess aping the main competition might work, certainly a different look to the Nissan utes we get here no V8 gas or diesel engines in ours either
Like some others, I have been intrigued by Nissan’s efforts at building their truck business. Not having been in that market, however, my gaze has been from a distance.
It has been interesting just how resistant the American truck market has been to Japanese manufacturers. But it appears that Nissan has a good product to sell.
Hmm… hard to beat the American brands, but I’d consider one. I’d go with the XD, though.
Warning: a new XTD (eXtended Test Drive) is coming!
(Just kidding)
BTW, yesterday I was simply not getting a comment box. I thought this post had comments blocked :/
The Titan looks OK if you compare it to the previous Titan. It falls short of its main competition though. And it looks like a Chinese knock-off of the last gen Fords.
It’s not a bad truck, but I don’t see much reason to buy it. The XD is kinda interesting but I don’t know if too many people are looking for the size and capability of a 1/2 ton with the curb weight and efficiency of a 3/4 ton.
I have a feeling this will be Nissan’s last full size truck. It’s too bad, I thought the original Titan was really well done all-around but wasn’t kept up to date.
I enjoyed this article, in particular the focus on the actual activities involved in a “press junket”. This piece had a very different feel than your average magazine puff piece, and that’s appreciated.
Checked out my local dealer recently, and the only XDs they had were top-of-the-line $70k crewcabs. I think there might be a legitimate fleet market for a stripped-down regular cab XD, which I would most definitely be interested in. American diesel reliability + Japanese reliability with all the rest? Yes, please. I know a manual trans is too much to ask, but that would absolutely flip me to a Nissan “5/8” ton.
I appreciated the focus on the actual activities as well, you usually don’t see that in these reviews. And it was GREAT to have CC represented at a new car event like this.
It can get a little tricky so be careful. Be too critical and you run the risk of not being invited again. Be too nice and it can come off as an infomercial. There are many outlets for automotive reviews these days and the power rests more with the OEs.
Back when Road & Track, Car and Driver and Motor Trend ruled the roost the press had the power. If you pissed someone off it’s not like they could write you off and give up 33% of their coverage that year.
Nice review. I guess I don’t see what will entice loyal american truck buyers away from their brand or Toyota loyalists away from a Tundra, for that matter. It is a catch-22: if you try and innovate too much, then the relatively conservative truck buying base will shy away and if you produce a conservative interpretation like this one then you can’t woo them away from their preferred brand. I agree that this seems likely to be the last hoorah for Nissan with full-size trucks.
It seems that Nissan could have created a larger market share by going after the mid-size truck market with a thoroughly re-thought (and maybe rebranded) Frontier. It is a smaller market, but if you created a good enough mid-size truck you might find some full size truck shoppers as well as those already looking at mid size. Your competition is basically toyota and GM. Toyota is pushing the heavily facelifted Tacoma that dates back to 2005–good trucks (I own a 2006) but they are nothing special in terms of packaging or ride quality, etc. I think that you could sell a revolutionary mid-size truck, whereas you probably can’t sell a full sizer that is outside the box.
Nissan could have come out with a really sharply-styled Frontier with read off road and soft-road options and then some innovative features like a small diesel. Done right I think they win more overall sales than fighting the VERY uphill battle of going against all three domestics plus Toyota in the full size market.
I don’t buy the “full size truck buyers are conservative” line. Look at the best seller, the F-150. ’97 was a risky design, they separated out the SuperDuty, ’04 was an aggressive style and ambitious new platform, and ’15 was a big risk going to aluminum. They took another chance on the SuperCrew. And the EcoBoosts. Billions of dollars worth of risk invested in their most critical product.
And don’t forget the ’94 Ram and the coil sprung ’09 and now the EcoDiesel. Dodge/Ram has also been aggressive and have been rewarded in the marketplace.
GM on the other hand was not aggressive enough with their 2014 remodel, which led them to push the 2016 refresh out ahead of schedule.
If you need more evidence, just look at all the frickin’ bling on new trucks. Even the Tundra, from Toyota, is gaudier than a Christmas tree.
I’m guessing that a new Frontier probably isn’t all that far away. The current Frontier is after all based on the now-superceded Titan chassis so it could make sense that they will do it again. When this Titan started development, the mid-size market was essentially considered dead. Only in the last year or so have the manufacturers woken up and realized that there are sales out there after all with the success of the Colorado/Canyon and the refreshed Tacoma as well as Ford now looking to bring the global Ranger here. Frontier currently rides in a sweet spot of being able to offer a low-price entry. But a new one could easily garner more share. I’m guessing they will focus on rolling out the rest of the Titan sizes (regular, king cab) and then focusing on the Frontier.
Word is the new Frontier is due in the next year as a 2018 and will be the global Navara.
In the meantime the current Frontier, like you said, is the value leader small pickup and actually selling quite well considering how outdated it is, just behind the Colorado and about half of the Tacoma’s volume.
I await the release of regular and King Cab models. I wonder if they’ll make a non-XD crew cab/6.5′ bed model to compete with similar models from the Big 3.
Excellent article. This is one of the very few articles I’ve read about a new vehicle that didn’t seem to be contrived or directly descended from the talking points of the manufacturer.
With that said, let me offer one universal truth about new car reviews that come from these heavily orchestrated events
Most of these reviews are squarely focused on, “one point in time”. Anyone who is serious about buying a new car, ever, should give extra weight to actual owner reviews and long-term tests from publications that don’t rely on an advertiser’s whim. These usually give a far better picture of the ownership experience.
Case in point, consider how many automotive sites and magazines gave the Ford Focus an outstanding review a few years ago. Now look at what owners have to say these days? Quality issues have a way of outing themselves in due time, and no brand is immune from that. Not even Toyota or Honda.
This was an excellent article and thanks a ton, make that a three-quarter ton, for making it more than just a new car review.
Thanks and I don’t disagree with you. I think I was very clear that I liked it and that was my personal opinion based on what I saw, touched, and drove so far. I also was hopefully clear that I don’t necessarily have the truck and offroad experience to be able to tell you if it is objectively better or worse than the other offerings and that I didn’t have a very long opportunity to evaluate the Titan. If I were to be in the market for a truck I’d look at this as well as everything else. As with any vehicle, there are many subjective differences that a “review” that says something is great (or not!) must be taken with a grain or more of salt. Long-term tests and consumer reviews also have a similar problem in that they are one-off anecdotes but if you read enough of them you may be able to discern a trend.
My (albeit unspoken) belief though is that many of the super-brand-loyal truck owners out there may be well-served by actually comparison shopping the competition the next time around, some may be surprised by what else is out there and if nothing else, it forces everyone to raise their game. At the prices these things command it boggles my mind that people wouldn’t make sure they have the best fit for their needs. But it’s their money, so whatever.
What drives me nuts though is all of the huge discounts that are apparently available in the full-size truck market. I’d potentially be interested in a truck but am a little bit scared off by the possibility of perhaps leaving thousands of dollars on the table – not being a constant truck consumer I don’t know that I have a great handle on what is available. In addition there is SO much choice available, I can easily build what I want online, only to find that that combination doesn’t exist on a lot. While I’d have no problem (and would prefer) to wait for a factory build, I would not be willing to lose out on any of the incentives or discounts available to a lot-inventory shopper.
There are 2 billion ways to configure an F-150.
http://blog.consumerguide.com/how-many-different-ways-are-there-to-build-an-f-150-would-you-believe-2-billion/
So yeah, if you look on a lot you probably won’t get exactly what you want. But I much prefer having those choices to the way, say, Honda locks you into a handful of packages.
Oh, I completely agree, my point was that I don’t like the fact that I can buy a new Silverado that’s on the lot and get a $10k discount but if I want the same truck but must for some reason must have the $185 black Chevrolet bowtie for example then I have to order it and most of the discount goes away, in essence significantly driving up the cost of the option(s) that I want.
I understand floor-planning and the dealer cost of carrying the inventory and that the incentives are there in order to turn the inventory, but believe it’s all a massive shell-game. My unwillingness to play that particular game is what keeps me away.
I remember when Nissan was sold as Datsun. I was just a boy at the time, but I’ve known people who owned and drove Datsuns.
Interesting truck, but I think the ‘XD’ is searching for a market that really isn’t there. Ford tried with a heavier duty F-150/250 for a while that ended up pleasing no one. Build a real 3/4 ton and be done with it. Makes absolutely no sense that Nissan has 1/2, 3/4, and 1 ton full size vans, but will not build a true heavy duty pickup.
I have to agree. Nissan needs to offer different grades for different work loads. I also believe that for each grade, there should also be a different engine. You already have a V8 engine, now why not also offer diesel engines for each grade?
Great to see CC recognized in this way, and one of its contributors given the opportunity to go.
I’m not a great truck expert – I currently own my first, a 2012 F-150. Among Supercrew (four door) body styles, Ford produces a remarkable limousine like back seat. With a family of five using the vehicle for vacations, that is a big plus.
It seems like Nissan may have benchmarked this as the brief look I got at the 2017 at our auto show indicated one of the better rear seats as far as space. As others have pointed out, Nissan may have benchmarked the Ford just a little too much in the styling department. The tail lights are egregious, and the grill is pushing it. My friend and I were in a hurry in the Nissan section of the show, and we both said something about the “Nissan F-150” almost simultaneously, and the Ford looks might by why we didn’t give it a little more time.
Still, an attractive truck that is likely competitive in its segment – if the buyer demographic is willing to give it a chance.
When are Toyota and Nissan going to come with Heavy Duty duallie versions of the Tundra and Titan? Or is their market share so low (after all, Ford, Chevy/GMC and Ram have dominated the market for years) that it hasn’t bothered to do so yet?
I agree. You’d think there’d be room for more trucks like that on the light truck market. Why should Ford, Chevy/GMC, and Ram be the only trucks on the market to be available with dually rear ends?