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Vehicle Min Max 2000 Nissan Xterra $4,900 $7,867 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe $20,685 $31,396 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser $31,000 $31,000 2013 Kia Sorento N/A N/A Average $18,862 $23,421 
Used Car Price Range$4,900 - $7,867
Vehicle Min Max 2000 Nissan Xterra $83 $134 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe $351 $533 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser $527 $527 2013 Kia Sorento N/A N/A Average $320 $398 Based On: 10% down, 5% APR, 60 months
Estimated Monthly Payment$83 - $134 per month
MPG city hwy 2000 Nissan Xterra 17 20 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe 20 26 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser 17 20 2013 Kia Sorento 20 27 Average 19 23 MPG17 City | 20 Highway
$3,000 Rebate Expires 05/31/2012
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2000 Nissan Xterra Review Summary
What reviewers liked most about the 2000 Nissan Xterra:
Three climate-control knobs have replaced crude sliders.
- USA Today...simple, rugged, and invulnerable. It makes you look forward to every drive and makes every drive feel like an adventure.
- AutomobileThe left side of each front seatback has 'shirt pocket' storage for sunglasses or cell phone.
- AutoWeekWe are impressed by the build quality of the chassis and the fit-and-finish of the hardware.
- AutoWeek...several well thought out and useful features, including... a first aid kit.
- Woman Motorist...don't be alarmed by the truck's physical size; the price is small by comparison.
- Edmunds.com...no one is going to mistake Xterra for a minivan.
- Woman MotoristXterra is equipped to take drivers and their gear beyond the pavement...
- Woman Motorist...the Xterra is cool... a basket for your wetsuits on the roof rack... an interior mountain bike rack...
- New Car Test Drive
What reviewers liked least about the 2000 Nissan Xterra:
...all the really neat stuff is in the [optional] packages, and in extra-cost accessories beyond the packages: neoprene seat covers, interior two-bike rack, and a tow hitch.
- New Car Test DriveQuality's a bit below average.
- USA TodayThe ride can be choppy on the highway, the V-6 engine tends to produce equal parts noise and acceleration, and the interior is Spartan at best.
- AutomobileIgnore the base Xterra XE, with its overworked and underpowered 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, manual transmission, and rear-wheel drive.
- Automobile...the rear seat is low to the floor, leaving adults with their thighs angled skyward...
- Car and DriverThe Xterra sways at gusts and leans in curves, not surprising given its height and boxy shape...
- New Car Test Drive
2000 Nissan Xterra Comparisons:
The roof is raised over the rear seats... [with such a] nice view through the windshield, back-seat passengers might not notice how little legroom exists-an inch less than the smaller Toyota RAV 4.
- New Car Test Drive...a mini SUV with numb-steering and sloppy handling -- a rarity in this class...
- Edmunds.com
Best one-liners about the 2000 Nissan Xterra:
...a cocksure pose that leaves all the others in the stylistic ditch.
- Car and Driver...the 'woody,' that '30s tree-clad station wagon used by teens in the early '60s for surf board transportation, of the new millennia.
- Cars Everything...this is a vehicle of extremes. Oops, we mean Xtremes...
- AutoWeek
2000 Nissan Xterra Introduction
It's ironic how things sometimes come full circle. For the last few years, the direction of SUV design has been toward car-like comfort and handling. But now, Nissan boasts that the main virtue of the new Xterra is that it travels back to SUV roots. Meaning, it's more truck-like. The marketing euphemism is "rugged." Considering the target market, rugged is good.
But reasonably priced is better. Intended buyers include kayakers, skiers, mountain bikers, climbers and windsurfers, people who have been known to place the spiritual value of outdoor recreation over the material rewards of career. Scheduling your career around, say, fresh powder isn't the quickest way to financial wealth so car payments need to be kept in check.
2000 Nissan Xterra Walkaround
It was surprising how much attention our Xterra attracted. But maybe not, considering the test took place in and around Hood River, Oregon, a small town offering so much environment that it that draws kayakers, windsurfers, hikers, climbers, both Alpine and Nordic skiers, mountain bikers, fishermen and even cowboys. And on this week, coincidentally, it drew the XTERRA America Tour, an off-road triathlon series sponsored by Nissan to expose the Xterra. Actually, the triathlon came before the truck. Nissan liked the name-borne of earth, terrain, adventure-so they licensed the rights to use it. Lots of people walked around our Aztec Red machine (and even more would have noticed, had it been Solar Yellow). Nearly all of them thought it was cool.
The Xterra does have a rugged visual distinction. The thick tubular aluminum roof rack with black airfoil, matching step rails, stout fender flares, handsome alloy wheels, beefy charcoal grille and wraparound front bumper with big radiator vents and recessed halogen fog lights, vertical handles on the trailing edge of the rear doors, and finally the two-tiered roof with a tall square back having a bulge in the tailgate for the first aid kit. If they had crawled underneath, they would have seen the skid plates (standard) under the engine and fuel tank.
Our own walkaround included a step up -- and fall back. The tall, flat rear bumper with gripped surface makes a perfect stand for reaching the roof rack, but it's difficult to get up on, because there is no grab handle. If you're tall enough, you can hang onto the rear corner of the rack from the side of the vehicle and swing yourself up, but only rock climbers will love it. Kayakers will hate it. In the same vein: the optional removable plastic gear basket at the front of the rack is an excellent idea (think of sloppy ski or hiking boots), but there's no net to cover it -- that's another accessory you have to buy.
2000 Nissan Xterra Interior Features
The cabin is relatively, appropriately, spartan. Blessedly simple switchgear: rotary knobs, not tiny buttons and digital displays, and no more of them than you need. The air conditioning is super, the six-speaker CD satisfying. The horn is tinny but strong -- it gets the job done, and makes a no-frills statement.
The manually adjusted driver's seating position feels right, in relation to the correctly sized leather-wrapped steering wheel (tilt is an option), which contains thumb buttons for cruise control. The cloth-only bucket seats fit well and provide good lumbar support; we made one five-hour freeway run with no aches. We also took Xterra windsurfing, and missed the cool accessory seat covers made of wetsuit material.
The roof is raised over the rear seats to allow for their elevation, which is good because with a nice view through the windshield, back-seat passengers might not notice how little legroom exists -- an inch less than the smaller Toyota RAV4. Because it's built on the Frontier pickup truck platform, Xterra's engineers must have been challenged to squeeze everything in, while providing the good 65.6 cubic feet of cargo space. When the 50-50 rear seatbacks are folded down, the seat bottoms must be removed. So, depending on circumstance, you either leave them in your garage or they become loose cargo of their own. At least they are featherweight. Nice cabin details (some standard, some optional) include solid cupholders, two power outlets, side window demisters and rear heat ducts, smart storage crannies, as many as 10 cargo hooks on floor and ceiling, and a strap on the tailgate to close it from the inside.
2000 Nissan Xterra Driving Impressions
Thanks to high-tech sound insulation in places not normally insulated, Xterra is very quiet at freeway speeds, although with the throttle floored the SOHC six gets pretty loud. And, despite the airfoil's deflection of wind from the luggage rack, the interior hisses in the wind. The vehicle also sways at gusts, and leans in curves, not surprising given its height and boxiness: The Xterra is taller (and longer) than a Jeep Cherokee. That big vertical rear window provides excellent visibility, but it gathers dust and dirt like crazy. The rear wiper/washer is an option, but it really is not an option.
The Xterra is very nimble at slower speeds, feeling lighter than its 4,130 pounds, which may be its friendliest trait. A close second is the straight-line ride, on the backs of 10 individually tuned dual-rate rubber chassis mounts--no harshness at all here. At the same time, the Frontier's ladder chassis is certainly strong. But the suspension takes bumps--including a great job on washboard gravel roads--much better than it takes dips, which deliver a drop-out-from-under-you feeling. And the side-to-side sway is serious over rutted and potholed dirt roads.
The front suspension is double wishbone, the rear has leaf springs with a solid axle, and the power steering is by recirculating ball. The steering lacks on-center feel. Driving in a straight line, you can (not that you would) twitch the steering wheel back and forth in an arc as much as 30 degrees, and you get no real direction change, only a quick little rocking. In a real circumstance on a curvy road, the effect is a slightly floaty, lagging turn-in. Of course, this might be tuned into the steering by design; this delayed response might actually be a comfort zone, to some.
Power-wise, the 170-horspower six, with 200 foot-pounds of torque at 2800 rpm, is, well, at 16 city and 19 highway miles per gallon, you might expect more acceleration, most noticeably on freeway on-ramps. It makes us wonder if the 16-valve DOHC four, with 143 horses and a five-speed pulling about 600 fewer pounds, and rated at 19 and 24 mpg, might not offer more value.
But the four-speed automatic transmission gets high marks, shifting up and down with complete smoothness, and its electronic calibration avoids hunting on hills. The four-wheel anti-lock brakes felt fine, although we thought that there might be discs at the rear, and they're still drums.
2000 Nissan Xterra Final Word
Irony brought us in, irony takes us out. Nissan built the Xterra because outdoor gearheads need racks, baskets, water-resistant seatcovers, first-aid kits. All of which are available in the aftermarket--cheaper and just as functional as Xterra accessories. (Well, maybe roof-mounted gear baskets with airfoils aren't buyable, but that's what plastic milk cartons are for.) But if you want a basic rugged SUV that's not cushy, tiny, expensive or a Cherokee, one that has the cachet of new and different yet is proven under the skin, then it's definitely worth exploring to see how much you can get of what you need, without defeating that low-cost purpose. Or, if the value to you is in being cool, go for it.
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