Tow Vehicle - Titan

So most of you are truck owners and I need some input.

Looking at a 2005 Nissan Titan - King Cab - XE with 30k miles. One owner vehicle, but has been used for towing a fishing rig around town. The vehicle basically went in for routine maintenance once a year and sat around the rest of the time. Biggest issue I can see is surface rust on the undercarriage and misc. parts. While not a nightmare, I don't want to underestimate future maintenance. The worst part is some rust flaking on the front frame and a hole in the exhaust tip.

Basically, the out the door price is $14,150 and they are giving me $2,300 for my old beater. I am out of pocket $11,850 and getting a $10,000 loan at 1.75% for 60 months. Payment would be $175.00. I was thinking of paying cash, but just replaced another vehicle a few months ago and want to keep some money in the bank. Plus, my credit union is throwing in $200.00 for any loan over $10,000. I figure I will pay it off in a year.

Also, any Titan owners care to share any insight? Truck isn't going to last long as they have a few potential buyers fall through with financing issues.

Link...

http://www.atlanticdodgechryslerjeep...4bcb00ee16.htm

We had a 2005 QX56 for almost 4 years with no issues. I would not worry hole in the exhaust tip, you might go aftermarket soon. Go for it hard to find a truck that nice for close to $11K

Before I had my duramax my buddy used he's titan to pull my supra 24v to the lake. It did a lot better than the 03 Silverado 1500 I had. And the 24v is a big boat. I think the only problem he had with it is something with the brakes, that was a know problem for titan's. But I'll have to check with him and see.

I had a 5.4L ford expedition before switching to a 2009 Titan bought for a great price in 2010. The difference was night and day.

Its missing a lot of the bells and whistles of newer 1/2 tons that are out right now but it is a very solid tow vehicle and has been reliable

Gas consumptions while towing is equal (crappy) to everything else that is out.

Originally Posted by canucked

Its missing a lot of the bells and whistles of newer 1/2 tons that are out right now but it is a very solid tow vehicle and has been reliable

That's basically what I am looking for in a vehicle.

The most common issue seems to be cracked exhaust manifolds, but that can be fixed for about $1500. You can't really visually inspect for the cracks due to the heat shields, but you should be able to hear them. Axle seal leaks are also fairly common, so I would check for that before purchasing. If you catch them early and do the axle vent mod, you may not have to replace the seal. The brakes were a little underpowered until they changed them on 2008. That one is an XE, so it won't have a lot of bells and whistles. Plenty of towing power but the gas mileage is pretty bad. I get about 9mpg towing and about 14 around town. That one looks like it does not have the towing package, so it should get a little better gas mileage. Those tips are aftermarket, and you should be able to get them replaced pretty cheap.

Originally Posted by jrw160

The most common issue seems to be cracked exhaust manifolds.

Originally Posted by jrw160

Axle seal leaks are also fairly common.

Originally Posted by jrw160

gas mileage is pretty bad

Thanks a lot, you're pretty much right on track after looking at the Titan forum. The truck was surprisingly loud...definitely makes me think.

Lots of good info on titantalk.com. Stock exhaust is pretty quiet, and you could probably pick up it up for it pretty cheap.

Hard to beat the Titan V8 for a gas tow vehicle in my opinion.

My 2006 Armada: cracked exhausts manifolds (replaced by Nissan - covered by emissions warranty because cats are incorporated into manifolds); front diff axel seal leaking. Didn't replace - requires a new front differential (can't replace the seal)!!!; brakes are way undersized. I think 2005s still had the big brake problems that we're fixed by a brake redesign for the 2006 model year. Gas gauge went (recall - replaced) and engine relay went while driving (replaced - recall).

Lots of road noise - but was a decent truck for the 140,000 miles I put on it.

Hated the climate controls . . .

When I bought my new truck (2013 Tundra) - Nissan was the only full-size truck I didn't consider.

Your mileage may vary . . .

Check to see which rear end it has. There are two different gearing setups and they are referred to as the big tow and little tow package. If you look on Titan talk you will see what the difference is. Biggest thing for me was the transmission cooler and lower gearing. Plus the big tow package usually comes with the larger extendable mirrors. We have towed a Tige 23V and now our A22. It struggled on hills with the 23V but I was babying it. Once I started downshifting and running around 4k rpm it really woke up and towed much better. The 23V weighed just over 7k lbs fully loaded on the trailer.

The only differences between big tow and regular titans are the mirrors, rear end, and transmission temp gauge. Big tow is 3.36 non is 2.96. They all have the same transmission coolers. There is one integrated in the radiator and a small external one between the radiator and ac condensor. You should always tow in 4 with the titan to keep overdrive locked out. They all have the tow mode button that raises the shift points. I bypassed the trans cooler integrated in the radiator and added an external cooler. A few people lost transmissions when the cooler built into the radiator failed and sent a trans fluid antifreeze mix through the transmission.

I have a 2008 Titan SE 4X4 I bought new and a 2012 23' MB Sports B-52 V23. The Titan pulls it like it isn't even there. The mileage sucks when towing, but it pulls like hell. Stopping when towing the boat isn't an issue because I have surge brakes, but I pulled a 10,000 pound trailer with skid steer and no brakes on trailer and it was scary trying to stop. The truck has been problem free and now have 58,000 miles on it. Definitely more than enough power to tow a wake boat.