WHAT IS IT?
The Nissan XTerra was a traditional body-on-frame SUV that shared its basic structure with the company’s small pickup truck. In the early 2000’s, SUVs and crossovers were beginning to take over the market. While Nissan had long been a player in this space with their Pathfinder, the XTerra was a bit smaller but really leaned into the “tough” look, sporting beefy body cladding, that distinctive stepped roofline, and a seemingly safari-ready standard tubular roof rack with storage tray and wind deflector. The vehicle was seemingly a hit and they sold over 87,000 of them in 2003 alone (the highest volume year for this truck). A later generation grew in size but fell in sales volume. While small and midsize SUVs are commonplace now, few have the real offroad chops and the simple rugged honesty offered by the Xterra. Body on Frame RWD-based compact SUVs are also nearly extinct aside from a Jeep Wrangler which still offers less day to day utility and livability than this 2003 Nissan promises.
WHY THIS CAR HAS BEST ONE ON THE PLANET CHOPS
As an affordable CUV, most of these were used up in family truckster duty or beaten to death offroad. Early “SUVs” (though the term didn’t yet exist) like Broncos and Blazers are now highly collectible so it stands to reason that nice survivors from the 1990s and early aughts could be of interest. This is a great example with only 37,000 miles and seemingly clean and unmodified. These are difficult to find in even high-mileage condition so this is a rare find, indeed. Short of a bit of corrosion on the aluminum intake manifold and an apparent flood of rubber protectant on the hoses and wires under the hood, there is little to fault with this Florida rust-free example. What do you think? Are early 2000’s SUVs a next big thing?
Are early 2000’s SUVs a next big thing?
Nissan’s SUV efforts have seemed to lag behind Toyota’s in terms of resale value, but there are still a bunch of these out there, even today. Is this the best one? I haven’t seen a better one…
I do think full-frame SUVs from this era are going to see a resurgence in popularity and value, particularly as modern examples add even more complexity to go with their surging MSRPs. The truck market has been proving that for quite some time already. Would a new $41k 4Runner take you places that this wouldn’t?
Having shopped for these myself several years ago, I can tell you this one looks like marshmallow perfection. Most examples are beat to hell especially those that are of the 4×4 variety. Which brings me to my thoughts on this one. You could get some utility out of this, but it doesn’t have a transfer case, so no 4×4 capability. No amount of perfect pin striping or clean floor mats will convince me that this is the best one on the planet. Until that pristine mountain goat version comes along, fine, but I’ll be waiting to cast my vote elsewhere.
Truly impressive. This is a like-new example of something that no longer exists in the new SUV market. You could drive this for another 10 years at 12,000 miles a year and your only significant expense would likely be gas. Downright reasonably priced too! I’d own this in a minute!
I’m consistently shocked that these haven’t rocketed up in price like so many of the other 90s/aughts SUVs. The Xterra is so cool with its roof kick-up and first aid kit bulge in the tailgate.
This one is definitely a museum piece, and $13.7k isn’t all the money in the world to ask for it, but I’d contend it’s not the best one on the planet because the spec isn’t great. Give me a supercharged example with the five-speed and preferably in a suitably XTREME early aughts color, like yellow.