The past year and a half, I've ended up with my first kid and first real house (with a yard, and brick, and an HOA, and all that s***) and have finally gotten my physical self together enough to start playing hockey again (not getting back into fighting yet... baby steps), and the Q50 just became a struggle to live with on a daily basis outside of my daily commute. The car seat upgrade for the little man ended up being huge (I test fit his infant seat before I bought the Q50), and I got tired of asking to borrow vehicles to carry stuff (my drums, hockey gear, etc)
I started looking at trucks/utility vehicles and decided I would drop any brand loyalty and try EVERYTHING that I was even remotely interested in, though I felt a bit more inclined to go the truck route than an SUV of any kind.
I drove a current gen 4Runner, Ram Hemi Sport Crew, '17 F150 EcoBoost Crew (impressive powertrain), GMC Sierra Denali, a QX80 (certified used... ungodly nice but couldn't justify it), a current gen Frontier Pro4X (LOVED it, more to follow), a new Tacoma TRD Sport (LOVED it as well, more to follow), a Pathfinder (hahaha no), a Mazda CX-9 (AWESOME), a Toyota Tundra (antiquated, honestly, but a solid truck)... but ultimately I ended up here:
2017 Nissan Titan Pro4X 5.6L with Towing and Utility package. Retail roughly at $50k. Purchased roughly at $37k after incentives and VPP (I owe Mr. James a brew or six at this point).
5 year/100k mile bumper to bumper warranty. Lifetime powertrain warranty (all lubricated components, no electrical, $50 deductible after factory warranty expires, non-transferrable, valid at any Nissan dealer in the country). If you read that and have to ask why I didn't buy used, I'm not sure what else to say. I don't mind buying new when these kinds of perks are involved.
This is truly the first vehicle I have ever purchased and felt relief. I'm relieved that I have something that will do life to its fullest extent for me right now. It has a level of practicality unrivaled by another kind of vehicle. Yeah, the gas mileage sucks, but the utility gained and the extra safety (it's pretty much a tank) is such a welcome addition for me I can't possibly explain it.
Now... why not a Frontier?
There's a neat YouTube video I watched that explains most of it here: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3Y1l2YTvo[/youtube]
The short version is, the Frontier offered no benefits over the current Titan other than offering a manual (I'm not really all that attached to manuals for my DD anymore... flame suit on!) and offering a smaller footprint or easier fit into my garage. The mileage is better (auto to auto), the power is better, and there's more capability with the Titan than Frontier. The Frontier is a great truck, but I wanted to eliminate the idea of buying a truck to potentially outgrow it in the future. I have one car seat now, and will likely have another carseat this time next year... the Frontier's back seat in the crew cab isn't great. I need a good back seat.
I'm thrilled with it in these past 5 days. I'm going to miss my Q50, but I really can't explain how excited I am to have this thing.
Ready for some write-ups!
-Z
