2009 Nissan Titan Base model from North America - Comments

Nothing so far.

Wanted to share information on my 2009 Nissan Titan base model pick up truck.

Since my faithful 1996 Ford F150 was starting to fall apart (ashtray/compressor/front end noises/front gas tank going south.. and other little things).. I started looking for a new or good used truck...

I went to Ford first, and their trucks are very nice, but they wanted $28,000 and I didn't have that...

I went to Chevy, and their trucks also drive very nice, but they wanted 24,000 for a base 1500 model.. I didn't have that...

I later saw an ad in the local paper for 10,000 off MSRP on a Nissan Titan truck... they had 5 trucks available with that discount... but three of the models were 4 door and had sticker prices of 33,000 with the discount; they would have cost about 23,000... I didn't have that.. so I looked at the other two, which were extra cabs... one was a base model that had one option group on it for 1500.00 extra on it.. you get a bed liner on it/alum wheels/tinted windows/sliding glass/and chrome pieces... sticker was 28,450.... after rebate and discounts it would have been 18,450 (this is the one I should have got, but didn't).. the other one was a base model with a sticker of 27,075.. which with the 10,000 off was 17,075... this is the one I bought.

The truck was white and simple with steel wheels/no tint/no chrome pieces)... I thought I would be able to get the alum wheels and tint for cheap later... boy was I wrong... tinting was expensive (180.00).. and I haven t been able to find any used Titan wheels on the craigslist.. so I should have paid the extra 1500.00 for that option group...

Both these king cabs also have only the basics... no keyless/power door locks, and crank up windows and manual mirrors, which means you have to get out of the truck and play with the outside mirrors... you have to move up the the move expensive models or option group to get those items...

Also the state taxes and fees section plays games with your 10,000 off (at least in California)... they base the taxes and DMV fees on the discounted price only... So my taxes and fees were based on the 5000.00 off from the dealership, which was 22075.00.. Which made the taxes and fees higher than it would have been if the taxes and fees were based on the net (after discount and rebate).. of 17075.00... after they figure and taxes and fees then they take the 5000.00 rebate off... which here in California... you end up paying 600.00 plus extra for taxes and fees...

Here are the pros and cons of the truck so far on my base model:

Pros:

Strong and powerful engine.

Good smooth and quick shifting transmission.

Nice clean design on the truck body.

Good feature of rear doors opening almost 180 degrees out.

No rattles.

Heavy duty bed and frame.

Bumper has a rating of 5000 lbs of towing power (which saves me from having to get a towing kit installed... also use caution in drilling the hole for the hitching ball, because it's very hard to cut the plastic out of the way from the top... better to come up through the bottom of the bumper with a 1 inch drill.. also the bumper takes a 1 inch ball and shank).

Very good front seats.

Good commanding view of the road.

Very nimble for a big truck.

Rear seats move up and out of the way

Cons:

Low gas mileage.

Very firm suspension (coming from my 96 F150, which drove like a car compared to this).

Crank windows (base model).

Manual outside mirrors (base model).

No powerlocks or keyless entry (base model).

Very dark gloomy interior... all black (base model/not sure about the more expensive models).

Large turning ratio.

Large dash and slanted front window take up too much room that could be devoted to the interior... If you are over 5'10", you need to push the front seat back further, which leaves very little room for the rear occupants.

In conclusion it's a good basic truck (in base model form) with a lot of power and a quick/smooth transmission... it has a very firm suspension... it is very well built with no rattles and only noises from around the windows and the exhaust system (if you get on the gas)...

Also from a distance it looks smaller and more compact than it is... but it's not, it's big and

heavy duty.. so if you are coming from a older Ford or Chevy (1/2 ton model).. be prepared for a change in power and suspension, and the height of the truck....

Also I feel bad for Nissan corp having invested over 1 billion dollars in the plant that builds these trucks... and they hope to sell 100,000 a year of these trucks... and I know they are not because you need to give the public a few more bells and whistles on the lower end model... and if my truck was selling for over 27,000 (before rebates and discounts), they could not be selling many of them... Hopefully the new model will come with a upgraded base model... but hopefully they won't change the powerful engine and smooth transmission.. and the solid feel of the truck....

Wanted to follow up with comments from my original posting.

I found wheels for my base model truck. The cost was 400.00 including balance and mounting of my tires from the base wheels. They were a five spoke design that were dark gray in color... not sure what model they came off of.... Perfect with my base model which had no chrome pieces on it...

They had cheaper stock alum wheels on eBay for a lesser amounts... 6 spoke and 5 spoke wheels... but since I was a first timer on eBay, I was not sure how to pay and about shipping... so I got these off of craigslist...

They look great... also some caution has to taken in getting the wheels installed... make sure the people who are going to put the wheels on know how to handle the tire pressure sensors that come on each tire...the sensors are in the valve stem.

Also try to use your old sensors if possible, and if the set you purchase has its own sensors... keep them as a back up... the cost of each sensor (4 of them) is about 100.00 apiece.. so they are expensive little devices...

Also I notice that when I got the steel wheels home... they had a lot of scratches on them from the installers equipment... if possible make sure the installers equipment is up to date and has the necessary protective parts that are in contact with the wheel...

Also the same place (Traders in Santa Fe Springs, CA) had the bedrug on sale for 170.00 dollars... regular price was 379.00... The bedrug is a bedliner that is a hi-tech astro turf/velcro/carpet type material that fits in the bed of the truck... it great for me because my knees can't take the hard plastic when I knee my way up in the bed...

Some cautions should be used with the purchase of the bedrug... the price to install it is $80.00.. so I did it myself to save money... if you are going to do it yourself, you might go on the bedrug site for better instructions than the ones in the box... they are very confusing... also the box is light but very large... and the bedrug is held on with velcro strips, so use caution with strips falling onto the bedrug because it's also made of velcro type material.. and when it falls onto the bedrug, it sticks like glue...

Consider investing in more velcro strips... the tailgate area goes on easily (the tailgate section comes in the kit)...and the left and right sides go on easily... the flat part and front of the bed is where more strips are needed... also when you put the strips on the bed, then attach to the bedrug... make sure you know what you are going because they really stick first time out..

The velcro strips need about 24 hours to set up and you must do this in warmer temperatures...

I also had the window tinted for 99.00 at a local tint shop (180.00 if you get all 5 windows done on the king cab) for legal tint, which means the back three windows... I put limo tint on, which is the darkest tint... it looks good and hides everything behind the front seats from people looking into the rear of the truck...

Some caution should be used in tinting the truck... when driving during early morning or late sunny days where the bright light is coming in at eye level... it is sometimes hard to look out of the side tinted windows when turning or moving over a lane on the road from the reflections of the sun onto the tint... Also make sure you or the worker who installs the tint cleans the windows very carefully... because I found a few areas where lint was under the tint... which means it wasn't perfectly free of matter on the window...

So far 400.00 for the wheels... 99.00 for the tint.. and 170.00 for the bedliner.. for a total of 669.00 invested...

Next step will be a keyless entry system with alarm. So far I have run into a few problems with getting the system installed because the shops say that the set up on the Titan truck has a cable system in the door instead of the easier to install rod type door system... which means the adulators that must be put into the doors (two adulators are required for the king cab)... don't have anything to grip onto like they have with the rod type... will post later if I find a place that will guarantee the cable type install...