2005 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab NISMO 4x4 review from North America

Rear u-Joint @ 22000 miles

Right Engine Head @ 21000 miles

Continuous coolant smell

BSR galore.

Had good luck with Nissan until this one.

Apparently the new generation of Frontiers have u-joint problems. Good thing if you have a warranty since you cannot purchase individual u-joints at this time and you can only get the complete driveline assembly ($500).

Took the vehicle in for routine service and it was noted after 3 days that I had to replace my thermostat as there was blockage in the cooling system. After 5 days of driving the truck with an extensive coolant smell in the cab and also the exterior of the truck, I checked the coolant and it was down 2 litres. I had assumed that the smell was due to coolant burning off since they never cleaned the engine compartment. After 2 days of it sitting at the dealership they informed me that it had low compression in cylinder # 5 (30% of what it should be) as well as the other two cylinders on that bank. 5 weeks later I got my truck back after they installed a new head, machined and reset the valves. All of this was done because they stated that it was overheating which was never displayed on the instrumentation nor the computer. The dealer had to subcontract all the work because they were not familiar with the new 4.0L engine.

The truck has been back to the dealership 3 more times as the coolant smell is still strong but this time there is no coolant loss.

Not pleased with Nissan at all as they cannot locate the cause of the smell which wasn't there until they changed out the thermostat. The rear u-joint went 1000 miles after the engine rebuild.

Very expensive vehicle to own if the warranty expired. Will be selling this soon.

The only plus I have to offer is that the engine does perform well and the Rockford Fosgate stereo system is very very good (even better than the Bose system I had in the 2004 Maxima). The sunroof and roof racks finishes the exterior nicely in this truck. 4 wheel drive system works flawlessly too but I still won't buy another Nissan as they are nowhere near as reliable as they used to be.