Keep my 2002 XT-SC 5sp or get a new 06/07 XT?

[XenonofArcticus]

New poster, have read the forums as a guest occasionally when searching for info.

Ok, so here's my dilemma. I own a Silver 2002 Supercharged XTerra with the 5spd stick, and just love it. I'd drive it to the end of time if I could. I live in the mountains of Colorado at 8100 feet between Evergreen (birthplace of attempted-presidential-assassin John Hinckley, Jr) and Conifer (birthplace of South Park). I put slightly larger BFG Long Trail tires on it (because the factory tires are a hard-to-find size and I didn't want anything _smaller_). My driveway is several hundred feet long, steep and unpaved with a U-turn at the top. I only get it plowed if we get more than about 16" on it because the X can handle anything below that just fine. We've had about 70" of snow fall over the last month up here. The X and I are regularly seen tugging stuck cars free on Highway 285 as it climbs up from Denver to Conifer. In all honesty, this vehicle is my favorite, ever.

I also own a 97 Jeep Wrangler I6/stick soft-top, which now lives in the garage most of the time. It's very bouncy and noisy on the road, the defroster is busted and it needs new tires. I mostly drive it as a second car in good weather, or when I go camping with the guys in the summer (the XTerra is a much better vehicle for the wife and my 2-year-old son than the Jeep).

We commute into western Denver (Morrison) every day with the X, about a 30-minute drive, 15 minutes on mountain roads and 15 minutes on mountain highway of 6% grade or so.

The XTerra is the greatest because it is a comfortable powerful ride on the steep winding highway climb, but can still handle our mountain roads and my driveway. Even in the worst highway conditions it handles like a champ and never slips. At this altitude the Supercharger is a savior, because we have no oxygen in the atmosphere up here, and naturally aspirated engines just go poop when they hit 8-10k feet. On the advice of several area XTerra techs, I don't run it on premium fuel because of the atmospheric pressure. I've never had any noticeable problems with it and it's never been below 5000 feet in its lifetime.

I'm at about 110k miles and had a rather large service job done a while ago to replace the belts, hoses, plugs and a failed front-passenger O2 sensor. She's going back in this week because emissions tests are showing CO levels too high, but I think this is a minor issue.

Buuuuut...

5 years and 110k miles add up. I know from experience that little things are going to start to break soon, and after that, bigger things. In the back of my mind I'm wondering if I should consider finding a new home for my exotic-and-rare, beloved 02-X-SC-5spd and buying a new 06 or 07 X. The 02 is paid for, which is a nice feeling and I'm not keen on going back to car payments.

I'm also not crazy about the "bigger" aspect of the newer X's -- the whole hummer-mated-with-a-Star-Trek-shuttle look doesn't really appeal to me that much. But, I know that part of the benefit of a new vehicle is low-mileage, 100% factory new parts and a warranty. The new X's allegedly have better mileage and power even than my 02-SC. And I think they offer a 6 (!) speed stick in place of my 5 speed, right? I've heard there's a nice off-road package available with an electrically locking rear diff, which is cool. Dunno if I'm really off-road enough for it to matter. On the flip side, my wife wonders if heated seats and side-mirror-defrosters are available. Maybe I could even get a plug for my MP3 player instead of trying to find a quiet spot on the crowded Denver radio dial for my FM transmitter.

How about you folks? If you were in my situation, what would you choose? Stay with the sweet 02 or go for the new bling? Any real-world experiences about how the power and mileage compare in a similar situation? Is a naturally-aspirated X gonna just wheeze up at my altitude? Anything I should know about the new X's? What's my old 02-SC-X worth if I want to sell it to some deserving off-roader?

[hsckris]

from a strictly financial standpoint, its almost always better to keep what you got.

that said, i have a new gen frontier which is very similiar to the x and i love it. tons of power. but its not an s/c motor, so i don't know how elevations will effect it, but even still it has 265hp and 284ft lbs... i think it'll be fine.

they do have a 6spd available. i saw one a little over a month ago w/ the offroad package and the 6spd, it was so hot....

[XterraVersa]

Keep the rare SC 5-speed .

If you are looking to find a group of local Colorado Nissan owners to wheel with or chat with go to http://roninwheelers.com/RoninIndex.htm

I have one of the SC 5-speeds & can't believe you are running without premium. I have tried a few tanks at altitude when premium wasn't avaliable & the X ran like a dog.

Either way you go, plan on making a car payment a month. Either to Nissan or yourself. Good thing about paying yourself is if your X doesn't break, you have a hefty down payment when it comes to buying a new vehicle.

[XenonofArcticus]

XterraVersa, I knew you were going to say that.

I do love my 2002, but with a 2-year old son now, I can't be a full-time gearhead and repair the X when it needs it. I need it to Just Run.

The few times I've put premium into the X, I've never been able to tell the difference. Did you experience knock, or just poor performance?

I wish I had the time to really get out and play with my X. I was good friends with Ian Firth, the guy who founded one of the local XTerra clubs and turned me on to the X. But, I get out about once or twice a summer to go off-road, and that's it.

Does anyone here drive a 2006 or 2007 XTerra? Did you own an earlier model? What do you like or dislike?

[XenonofArcticus]

The other half of my question would be -- what is an 02-X-SC-5 worth with 110k miles on it? It's in great shape, never been in an accident. It's sort of an odd beast, so I'm not sure "blue book" really is an accurate assessment.

[XenonofArcticus]

Here's a question for you:

I just started putting premium in again to see if I could tell any difference in performance. So far, I can't.

But that raises another question -- as far as I know, ignoring differences in detergents and additives, as long as the octane is high enough to prevent knock, "premium" fuel doesn't perform any better than cheap fuel, correct?

I mean, putting premium fuel into a car that doesn't require it doesn't get you any benefit. So, if your atmospheric pressure isn't conducive to engine knock, it shouldn't matter if you put in premium or cheap fuel, correct?

I know octane levels are already decreased in Colorado due to altitude.

Does anyone have any insight either way on this?

[hsckris]

if you sell it outright, you'll likely only get more $ than its officially "worth" from somebody who really wants that particular & rare truck. otherwise i wouldn't expect to get more than its officially 'worth'

[XterraVersa]

But that raises another question -- as far as I know, ignoring differences in detergents and additives, as long as the octane is high enough to prevent knock, "premium" fuel doesn't perform any better than cheap fuel, correct?

Correct. But go to a parts shop and have them pull your codes. If a knock sensor was bad, you would not see a difference in performance. The knock sensor will not trigger the check engine light.

Mine failed at ~ 30k miles and after it was changed out, man what a difference.

I also put in the Sam's Club gas. Cheapest with no detergents.

[XenonofArcticus]

XterraVersa, you're saying you buy Sam's Club Premium high-octane gas?

I'm having trouble passing emissions (CO levels are too high) so it's going back to the shop for a check, and they'll read the codes as part of that. I'll ask about knock codes.

[XterraVersa]

XterraVersa, you're saying you buy Sam's Club Premium high-octane gas?

Yes... Gas is gas. It comes from one of two refineries in Denver. My gas mileage started going up after I switched to them. I was in the 14-15 mpg range before. After switching it gradually worked its way up to 17-20 mpg. And this was after switching to 33" tires. So if I correct for tire size add 10% to the 17-20 mpg.

The Sams Club gas is consistantly 10-15 cents cheaper than the Conoco/BP & Shell across the street. They also drop prices faster when the price of gas goes down. Sam Walton, what a great guy. If they had 87 I would use it in my Versa.