I plan to purchase an xterra in the next two days and I had a few questions. Its a 01 with 39xxx miles. does the stock headunit play cd-rs and cd-rws? Also the one I am interested in is stick( all my previous vechiles are stick I'm not used to auto) is there any disadvantages to having stick? Also I was told that the interior has the ability to be washed out with a hose, but upon test drving one today this didn't seem accurate. It seemed to have just normal carpet and seats. Is there any truth to this statement such as maybe just being able to wash the seats or something? Any answers you all can give are greatly appreciated.

Mine plays cd-r, but I have never tried cd-rw since most decks will not.

Might be a pain to rock crawl with if you dont change the gearing. Also, the rated towing capacity is lower than the auto, if that matters to you. For the most part its like every other car, manual is fun to drive but a pain in traffic.

Spraying out the interior of your new X will most likely ruin quite a few things. Perhaps you are thinking of the Honda Element? It is the only vehicle I can think off the top of my head that you could hose out (with the exception of the dash.)

Wow what a prompt responce. Are there any major things to look out for on xterras. This one is a 4wd xe. Is that commmon, I thought se was 4wd and xe was 2wd.

Negative.

For '01 you 4x2 XE, 4x4 XE, 4x2 SE, and 4x4 SE. You had had the 4x2 XE I-4, which had an inline four cylinder for the engine instead of the standard six you see in about 98% of Xterra's.

What price are we looking at? A '01 with 39K miles should be in excellent shape. Does it have the extended warranty (100K miles)? Did you run a Carfax on it? Was it offroaded heavily?

Like Prolific said, your stock unit should play CD-R's. It won't play mp3 CD's however.

The manual limit to tow I believe is 3500 pounds but that's mostly a safeguard thrown into the manual by Nissan because most people screw up towing heavier loads with a manual and Nissan protected their ass by stating that so they don't have to deal with the idiots. I've never heard of anybody of burning out their the drivetrain by towing heavier, but take what you will. Cyclemut could probably explain better.

Welcome to the forums.

So is it that the 2wd xe are I-4s while the 2wd se is a V-6?

Are there certain features only availiable on the se and not the xe?

Well this one is silver, has I think all the options( running boards, stereo ... ) Exterior wise it is in perfect shape, I haven't found a mark on it yet, the interior is almost perfect except for a mark on the steering wheel. I have the dealership talked down to 12,900 out the door with a 4 year extended warrenty bumper to bumper warranty. I have not run a carfax on it yet. Also how do I tell if it was heavily offroaded?

My stock head-unit will actually play CD-RWs "most" of the time, so I'd just bring along a sample cd the next time you inspect it and see if it works. No Mp3 CDs, however.

Personally, I'd go with the manual tranny. I've driven the auto and manual Xs and really have alot more fun in the manuals (unfortunately I have the auto). But, as ProlificX said, the auto is more convenient in traffic and is technically rated to tow 1500 more lbs than the stick. Also, you might prefer the manual to give you a little more pep from the puny 180 horses the VG33E puts out.

The XE vs. SE issue is really minor. The '01 SE package probably just had minor changes like premium stereo, different trim/upholstery, etc.

Good luck and welcome!

One more question - sunroofs

Does the sunroof intrude on interior space comapred to those that don't have it. One reason I will buy an xterra is becasue I have enough head room. I'm 6.5 feet tall and have trouble in other trucks. All the ones I have tested have no sunroof thats why I am wondering. Also how does the sunroof open with the roof budge and the roof basket in the way?

If it's stock, then chances are it wasn't used offroad, atleast not heavily, maybe a weekend gravel cruise. You mentioned that the exterior is perfect? Then I doubt it has seen any offroad action at all. Most Xterras you see have never seen dirt in their lives.

great it sounds like it has never been off-roaded

also do xterras require premuim fuel?

Only the 02-04 SuperCharged ones require premium

As for the sunroof it doesn't lower the head room, but you can't open it with the cargo basket on. Even with it off you can't really see anything because the Wind deflector obstructs the view.

Is it hard to find a manuel with sunroof in xe? Was sunroofs part of a package that includes a automatic transmissions? Are se only avaliable in automatic. Sry for all the questions guys.

on the 00' and 01' models is the top of the front bumper and hte bottom supposed to have a slight color variation I have noticed this on a few?

Here's an example of what I'm talking bout

I never liked my sunroof. In order to use it you need to remove the basket. Mine also whistled a bit in very high winds at highway speeds.

I took off the entire roof plastic set-up as soon as I got it home...once gone, the sun roof works, etc.

The sun roofs that steal head room are the sliding ones, this one just pivots up like a vent window...so there's no loss in head room.



I think the slight color variation you mention on '01's, etc... is from fading in the sunlight/weather, etc....there are plastic treatments you can apply to protect it from further damage.

(I can't see from the picture what you mean though)

So - if you mean something else, look underneath at the mounting points for the bumper, and see if there's any sign of tweaking/damage (Replaced parts, etc...)

yes, the front grill colour fading is quite common on all the model years (except the 05). I see it everywhere.

I know my '00 is faded pretty bad...other than that, no complaints!

Well I finally did it. I traded in my prelude for the xterra yesterday. I choose to go with auto instead of manual because of my height and resale valve. It's a silver 02' se. I love it. I will post up pictures later. It has a totally different feel than the prelude. One thing I really noticed is that this has decent power at low rpms. I find myself never going past 2500 rpms in daily driving. I always had to reach into the 4s and 5s in the prelude to keep up with traffic. This new feeling is kinda nice

Congrats on the X! Now, about that forum name.