Ok so the 02 is dead and gone,.. lookin at an 05 now. wondering if anyone can tell me what to watch for with that model please. It is an O5 SE with 119K miles... says it has a new radiator and a rebuilt tranny. (automatic) I know with the first gen's, big issue was the timing belt at 105K or every 7 years,.. the 05 does not have the same 3.3 in it I'm pretty sure,.. so is there still a timing belt issue with it? anything else to know about ? would greatly appreciate any input I can get on this one.... thanks.

Any vehicle with a timing belt needs to have it replaced at reasonable intervals - it's not an "issue"

http://carbuyingtips.com has a great section on evaluating used vehicles with some good general tips. I never got a gen 2 X so have nothing specific to it for you to look out for, but rebuilt tranny seems fishy - why was it rebuilt? Clogged radiator? Towing improperly? Other abuse? That's a red flag to me in and of itself.

I have a 2005 Xterra 6 sp with 192k miles. I'm now having timing belt issues. As previous poster stated at 100k miles its to be expected. Though this doesn't let Nissan off the hook for poor design decisions. I've had rear axle seal issues from day 1. Had an entirely new rear put on at 75k. Still leaked. Another know issue from Nissan.

Take a look here

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Xterra/

2005 has the highest complaints. Majority dealing wit automatic/transmission issues.

Other than some issues I loved driving my Xterra. It gave me fairly reliable 192k miles. Now I'm looking at 2015 model. Nothing compares to the Xterra except maybe a Jeep Wrangler. Though Xterra is much more practice. And jeeps wranglers cost as much if not more than Xterra. That's crazy.

If I were you I would look at 2010 or higher Xterras. Seems like most of the TSB covered 2005-2010