2000 Nissan Frontier

I purchased the Nissan Frontier in 2004 when I took a job that required having a four-wheel drive vehicle. My previous vehicle was a little Toyota Tacoma that I loved, but didn't handle well at all in snow, wet conditions, etc. I long ago determined that I was a pickup man and so started shopping for a suitable pickup truck with the 4WD option. When I came across the Frontier parked in the dealer lot, I was sold even before I drove it. Taking it for a test drive simply confirmed my suspicions. Three years later and at almost 100,000 miles, my truck has never let me down. I've driven it in all kinds of weather and a little bit of off-roading, and it has consistently performed marvelously.

As mentioned before, the truck simply looks great. It has a compact design and so isn't as huge and bulky as larger, full-size trucks are. This was a huge selling point for me because I didn't want to be driving in something that would give the impression it could run over anything in its way (if I wanted that, I would have bought an F150).

One of the biggest attractions of the Crew Cab Frontier is the extra bench in the back. I wanted a pick up, but also wanted to be able to take my sons out in it every now and then, an option that simply wasn't available in a regular pick up since both my sons required a child/booster seat. One word of caution on this point, however, is that the back seat area does not have very much leg room at all. Although for my purposes it didn't matter, adults riding in the back will find it rather uncomfortable.

At 4 ? ' long, the truck bed isn't very large, but it's more than adequate for my purposes. If you're looking for a truck to haul a lot of big stuff, the Frontier probably isn't for you. An optional feature that is well worth the money is the bed extender. Need an additional 2 feet of bed space? Simply lower the tailgate, flip the tubular roll bar over and there you go – bed space while you wait. The extender can also act as a smaller storage space with the tailgate up, keeping smaller items from rolling around.

The interior of the cab is not on the spacious side, but it is cozy. I was surprised at how comfortable the front bucket seats are. I've taken the truck on several long trips and am continually amazed at the fact that my back and butt don't feel as worn out as in previous vehicles I've owned. The controls are for the most part easily accessible, with the exception of the cruise control power on button. For some reason, Nissan decided to put the switch low down on the left hand side of the dashboard instead of on the steering wheel itself like the rest of the cruise control buttons. Another nice feature is the long gear shift handle. At first, I thought it looked incredibly odd having this long handle sticking up instead of the more compact ones found in most vehicles. But now having driven the truck for 3 years, having the handle so long enables me to rest my arm on the arm rest and still be able to shift gears.

The truck rides very smoothly and is relatively quiet in the cab. Its acceleration isn't very quick and perhaps takes a little longer than average to get up to speed, but once there it purrs along superbly. When offroading or in adverse weather conditions, the 4-wheel drive can handle almost anything you can throw at it. The only time I got stuck was when I decided to drive it on the beach in N.C. without first letting air out of the tires. Dumb move on my part!

The only other negative thing about this truck is the gas mileage and with today's prices this could be a deciding factor for some buyers. The truck is somewhat of a gas hog, getting between 17 and 18 mpg consistently. But from what I understand this is about average for its class and probably about the same or better than a full-size pickup.

Because of the gas price issue, my wife and I discussed the idea of needing to sell my truck and get a smaller vehicle. But in the end we decided that the convenience of having a pick up truck WITH room in the back for kiddos was definitely worth the extra money.