I took Wayne's post and chopped it into MS Word. According to the statistics, the original post has the following characteristics:

Pages - 8

Words - 4,080

Characters (no spaces) - 19,163

Characters (w/ spaces) - 23,229

Paragraphs - 80

Lines - 350

Or, to put it into perspective, just a short note to Smiley <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/nana.gif" alt="" />

Oh wellà
It appears IÆll NEVER live-down my reputation for loquaciousness! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />


Cheers! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
Smiley

um...



I'm sorry, but I don't have a dictionary on-hand

Here's another angle to compare from: what are the relative insurance costs for each?

Dunno, but this can really add up over the years.

Randii

Did u already throw out the Ascender 5 passenger out of the equation? I think the prices compare with Axioms. 275 HP, pretty nice interior, side airbags, and a lot of other nice features not offered on Rodeo and Axiom. Also, OnStar is available if you want.

Randii,
Great question. I actually checked that first, long before test-driving. It's part of what I asked the nephew if he checked because there are some bizzare models out there that have very high insurance rates.....and some that are very low. You're right, it completely slipped my mind when I posted.

I'm in Arkansas now and don't have my figures, but here's what I ran into for mid-level insurance (100/300/100 if I remember right):
ò Liberty: Cheapest insurance. About $125/year cheaper than Rodeo
ò Rodeo: Middle.
ò XTerra: About $75/year more than rodeo.

...all in all, not a huge difference, but it adds up. If everyone goes out and runs their numbers and says: Wayne's Wrong! Remember:
1. I'm in Arkansas (i.e. not at home) and pulling #'s out of my head.
2. Insurance will vary by both where you live, and what company you go with. A pickup truck on a Mexican Border town using your neighbor, Smiling Sam's Insurance Company, will be different than a pickup truck in rural North Dakota with "Mutual of the Rock Solid Farmers of the State." (Financially stable Mutual of Omaha, Famers, State Farm, etc)

But if you do run the numbers, please post them--using all 2004 vehicles, and list your area and limits. Progressive has the easiest on-line form (no talking to an insurance salesman!), but I found USAA gave me the best rates, and they didn't make me purchase gap insurance.

NOTE: Gap insurance covers what you owe on the loan vs the market value of the vehicle when you drive it off the lot. Most people are trading in cars that they owe more on than the book value (Debt Loss 1), then buying a new car that depreciates when they drive it off the lot (Debt Loss 2). Insurance companies were getting stung, so they came up with Gap Insruance as requirement. Once you pay the loan below the book value of the vehicle plus pay off the loss on your old loan, you can drop the gap insurance. Just like house insurance, however, you have to ASK to drop it or they will keep collecting as long as you own the car loan.

Wayne, in MY case, USAA saved me more money, than ANY of the others, by at least $30 a month. I pay 105 a month, and I am 24, dont have the best driving record(many tickets in the past) two vehicles, both 00s with full coverage. All in all, I am not paying much. In TX, is cost alomst 160 a monthy, for full coverage on my 92 z28 convertible...so..it really does depend on your location...

Good looking out on your (IMHO), very thorough review..

Chase

I have changed oil on a Jeep Liberty, a bit odd...The drain plug is a little more than 2 feet away from the oil filter, get my point? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> I work at a rental car company, we have a lot of problems with soccer moms renting the Jeep GJ and Jeep Liberty. One woman came in shouting WHY DOES MY JEEP ONLY REACH 20 MPH! I Had to bit my lip not to laugh as I found the 4wd shifter was in 4wdLO. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

I finally got my chance about two weeks ago to do a test drive and personal evaluation of an xterra. My findings were somewhat similar to above.

I personally like the way the xterra looks. However, as soon as I sat in the drivers seat I was very bummed. The deeply recessed instrumentation guages were entirely too recessed. When the steering wheel is at all in your way do not bother looking down to see what the speedometer or the tachometer are reading, because they are only visible at one angle. The Xterra is not a race car, for this reason I am not too much of a fan of the instrument cluster.

Also I found the engine to be lacking in power as well. Sadly lacking in power. Perhaps with smaller stock tires this would have helped.

For a plus, I did like the larger stock tires, I was also genuinely impressed with the handling as well.

Earlier someone asked where they come up with all of the ground clearence on the nissan. I thought that was a good question. I did like the skid plates on the xterra, they were a little bit wussy for my offroading side, but compared to most protective skid plates they were fairly stout and well located to do some good protecting.

The leaf springs on the xterra are not my choice, in fact the whole rear suspension looked cheaply contructed. Not enough leaves in the pack, and poor cheap construction of hangers (both shackle and spring hangers that is)

As for the ground clearance, I did like the rear axle. It was well tucked up to create good ground clearance. If the rodeo had the same size tires stock it would be much closer to the xterra in ground clearance. They are measuring to the rear axle, which is the lowest point on any solid axle vehicle. So in this case the nissan axle will soon be available with a full on e-locker made by eaton, and it has pretty great ground clearance. Much in the same fashion that a toy 8" axle does.

As for the front end, I looked at the xterra IFS and found it satisfactory, however, given the choice I would take Isuzu, mostly because of the Isuzu IFS being very stoutly constructed but still yeilding just a little more ground clearance on the front end. So yes the nissan has more ground clearance. But more clearance where it really matters (in the middle and on the front), that is a good question. The length of the xterra with all of that protective underbody stuff makes it not exactly ideal for breakover angle. With some modification I could see it going somewhere though.

Alright well that is my own personal review. All in all I liked the xterra, and I beleive with a few generations they will find their niche and I beleive it has the capability of becoming a great reliable vehicle like the Toyota 4runner, mostly the development of the interior and an engine change are what is needed for this vehicle.

Well anyhow, I just thought I would get that out, and also make one disclaimer, I love offroading, so my review would be highly slanted in that regard.

Also I found the engine to be lacking in power as well. Sadly lacking in power. Perhaps with smaller stock tires this would have helped.
The Supercharged gets it up to 210 HP, but it sucks Premium gas to do it.

I did like the skid plates on the xterra, they were a little bit wussy for my offroading side, but compared to most protective skid plates they were fairly stout and well located to do some good protecting.
I must have missed something. The front skid plates I looked at were described in the brochure as cosmetic and were made of plastic when I looked at them.

They are measuring to the rear axle, which is the lowest point on any solid axle vehicle.
Not true. On the Jeep Liberty, the low point is the U-joint connecting the driveshaft to the shaft running into the differential. Bad design.

One thing I did miss was the tube steps that you need for smaller people to get in easily / to reach the roof. One good rock hit an the 10" of metal hanger that connects them to the frame will curl up and pin your doors shut.

I would *LOVE* to see a picture of that.

All in all I liked the xterra, and I beleive with a few generations they will find their niche and I beleive it has the capability of becoming a great reliable vehicle like the Toyota 4runner, mostly the development of the interior and an engine change are what is needed for this vehicle.
Will not happen. Their plans are to drop the "Pathfinder" from the name of "Pathfinder Armada" and make it the premium monster. The regular Pathfinder goes away, and the XTerra is moving into that niche. We'll have to wait and see if they introduce something at the "low end" to replace the XTerra.

A bad deal, as they had a pretty decent low-price 4x4 that sold well--why change what works?

Thanks for the additional input.