Nissan Frontier

[Another Reader]

Dashboard Light shows the reliability over long periods of ownership. JD Powers is "initial quality," i.e. when the car rolls off the dealer's lot. I pay no attention to that unless the rating is lower than most. CR is not as reliable in their ratings as they used to be.

[golfnut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader Dashboard Light shows the reliability over long periods of ownership. JD Powers is "initial quality," i.e. when the car rolls off the dealer's lot. I pay no attention to that unless the rating is lower than most. CR is not as reliable in their ratings as they used to be.

Guess they all have their flaws. Dashboard Light only goes up to 2015.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader CR is not as reliable in their ratings as they used to be.

Curious as to the reason for this statement. What has changed at CR to make their ratings less reliable?

[W2R]

Thanks for bringing the Nissan Frontier to my attention! F is thinking about getting a new used vehicle sometime before too long, and I loved the reviews at Edmunds dot com which said (among other things),

Quote:

The interior, though durable, has a low-buck look and feel. The cabin allows in plenty of noise. The Frontier's engines burn fuel with the abandon of a failed missile test, and technology and advanced safety features are few and far between.

OK, noise and bad fuel economy is not great, but we especially liked the phrase that I put in bold. Sounds like a more plain, old fashioned truck with fewer fancy electronics which is what we both prefer. Also he likes the relatively low price in comparison with some other vehicles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman The Nissan Frontier has been in the market for many, many years. And they're very good mid size trucks, if just a little archaic in styling. But they do last a long, long time

"Archaic" is music to our ears. We miss the styling and simplicity of vehicles way back when.

[REWahoo]

FWIW, a couple more data points on the Nissan Frontier...

CR shows with the exception of the 2017 and 2018 models, the reliability of the Frontier has been very good dating back to 2009. CR also shows during that same time period owner satisfaction has been very low, meaning when asked "would you buy this truck again?" a majority of owners answered no.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader CR is not as reliable in their ratings as they used to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Curious as to the reason for this statement. What has changed at CR to make their ratings less reliable?

All ratings providers have their biases.
I've scratched my head many times over a CR report that gave an item a higher score than others but subtly dissed it in the verbiage.

[Willers]

We almost bought one this year (decided to keep our Audi) because it is getting a remodel next year. It is a much less complicated truck than the others on the market. I considered it because of its lack of sophisticated electronics rather than in spite of it. I've had a 2008 Xterra since new and it has been rock solid. Nothing but a preemptive repair on the radiator and some brakes. That's it in 120K miles and 11 years.



That platform has been bebugged and I'd buy one in a second if I needed a new truck.

[GTFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfnut Guess they all have their flaws. Dashboard Light only goes up to 2015.

I checked my car (2015 CR-V) and as expected it's at the top of the ratings for compact SUVs.

With, um, the Jeep Wrangler (!?!?) - who knew an FCA product would be that good