Different vehicle

I need a new vehicle found 3 in my price range, same year, mileage and condition. Any advice on which one to pick between Ford Explorer, GMG Jimmy, or Nissan Pathfinder.

I had a Explorer before and was happy with it, not to sure about the other two, I don't know much about them as to reliability.

Don't know how similar they are,but we've got an Explorer SportTrac. 2002,we've got over 261,000 on it. About all we've ever done was replace both front wheel bearings,tie rod ends and the window controller on the drivers side door. I put a new water pump on it one time before we headed to Kentucky,but only because it had a lot of miles on it and I didn't want to risk it.

The Nisson Pathfinder is a solid vehicle. Based on the pickup w/v6. Should be good for LOTS of miles.

Stick with the american brands please!

The only thing I know about any of them is the Jimmy has a bad reputation for paint.

Old dog, here at the dealership, we stay away from the Nissans, It seems like when they start having trouble they start "dollering" you to death. I have driven GM products for years, but I would also want to drive the GMC for quite a while before I bought it. We have seen a lot of 4X4 problems with them. If the Explorer is one of the later ones, I would seriously look at it. My opinion from experience the last 5 years while working at our used car dealership. Good luck.

No brainer... The FORD explorer

Just a question. Is not the Ford bigger than the GMC and avaible with a V8 instead of only a V6? Would connect to load and trailer towing capiblities.

be wary of the early independant rear suspension in the Explorer's unless you like rebuilding punkin's every 60k...my neighbors went and bought a 2004 and rear end whines like its got 400k on the clock...had less than 50k when noise showed up...other than that theyre ok.

None of my business, I know.

But, in my opinion, those little, light box outfits are downright dangerous.......for you and everyone around you; especially so on an icy day.

I owned one and got rid of it in a big hurry. Talk about squirrely! Totally lame in 4x4 too.

Just my view,

Allan

Explorer or as we called them at the car store "Exploders' can have a v-8 or v-6 the V-8 could be the 5.0, or a version of the 4.6 modular, the v-6 is an engine built by Ford in Cologne Germany engine will not be an issue either way. Transmission could be an ALD-400, they can be scary and come from France-'nuff said. If it's the first year or so with the independent rear end (IRS) I'd stay away, they usually go out under warranty and Ford just band -aids them to get them out of warranty owners then trade out when they start to go again. My brother's Explorer is on his 3rd rear end (100K) it is why my brother now runs a fleet of 27 GMC/Chevy vans instead of the Econolines they used to have. Chenvy/GMC if you get a good one you're okay, if you get a bad one you'll regret the day you ever saw it and will be tempted to trade it off on something cheaper to maintain- like a Boeing 747.

All money pits , all break . That being said ,,,Jimmy repairs will be cheaper in the long run .

We"ve had more than one Chevy Blazer - (about the same as the GMC Jimmy). Been happy with them, good roadability, reliability. 4WD has been dependable, and sure footed. They"re 3 Blazers and a Trail Blazer in my driveway right now. Used for everything from daily driver to pulling implements and loaded hay wagons.

Don't know any thing about the Nissan, have worked on some Explorers and never liked them but I own a Jimmy and it's pure junk. It started falling apart at about 35,000 miles and it's one thing after another. These things looked cool and this ones about loaded with accessories but it's junk and so are 99% of it's brothers. Cross it off your list, you don't want one

In my opinion, the Pathfinder is the best of the three. The Jimmy is pure junk, the Exploder is better but still a repair opportunity. Depending on the year, the Exploder might have the 4.0 overhead cam engine that is really a stupid design.

I'd get the Pathfinder. I bought a trailblazer new in 2005. At 59000 miles the gas gauge sending unit went out for the third time. Was quoted $1082.00 to replace. The first two went under warranty. I got rid of it and will never buy a gm product again.

what are the years...really makes a difference.If it were me id see what a few parts cost once you narrow it down to 2,like starter alt, water pump,that might tell you something also.does anybody know what year the explorer went irs?

What years?? Jimmy or Envoy?? completely different vehicles. Exploder, what year?? Nissan year??

S10 type gmc is ok. cheap to fix and you can work on it yourself or a buddy could. Envoys are ok until major problems. I just put an engine in at work for too much crankshaft endplay that caused the exhaust camshaft actuator to fail due to metal. Engine job cost 6000 and that was warranty price!!! That was on a 2007. You cant work on most of these GM vehicles at home anymore. The 5 and 4 inline cylinder engines in the Colorado pickups make me sick. Balance shafts in sides of block and front and rear timing chains. And the wheel bearing/brake rotor set up is a joke. You always ruin the ABS sensors when removing hubs to service rotors. Rear brakes are a joke too on them. Anyone who has done them on colorados can relate i m sure. Its sad that poor design makes my paychecks.

Ford Explorers are ok.99-03 i replace alot of tranmissions. The E 4.0 V6 has issues with vacuum leaks at the intake manifold, but thats a 6 pack of beer fix, no big deal. Vacuum 4x4 hub design is dumb. I repair a lot of 5 speed auto 5RFE? transmissions when the intermediate band pin breaks or the servos bind and stick. Common in the 2005 year. Do a ton of rear wheel bearings in the 2005 06 07 years. Noisy noisy. I do like the Ford products tho, even being a GM wrench monkey.

Nissan?? Don"t work on alot of them. They are great lil 4x4 vehicles. I like the Manual transmissions with the V6. They are pretty easy to work on.

2003-or 04 i think

We had an Exploder that we got with about 90K on it, 2000 model with the V6. We traded it with 210K and in that time I put brakes on it twice and a thermostat. We still got 2K at trade. At the same time one of my wifes brothers had a 98 Jimmy. It went to the crusher with about 185K on it. I know for working in a shop that Pathfinders can be very expensive to get parts for and every owner I know of on the older ones....pre 2002 never broke 20MPG while our exploder got 21 at 70-75 MPH and about 25 at 55. And no I'm not a Ford fanatic, we traded the Exploder on a Suburban that we are really happy with. Looking for a replacement fot that now......it has 260K on it.

Rick

Don't know how gas mileage compares, but you may wanna look at a KIA Sorento. Wife has a 2006 diesel with about 170k on it and the only "major" repair was an idler pully for the serpentine belt.....

I don't know anything specific bad about the
Nisson...but parts cost a lot more than domestic
vehicles. My daughter, against my advice, bought
a Nisson car, when in college. right after the warrenty expired the alternator started whining.
A Nisson dealer wanted $480 for a new one! Now,
I can get a Chevrolet alternator for $35 at the
junkyard! I took the Nisson one apart, and found
a bad bearing. Couldn't find a bearing ANYPLACE
an the USA, and I was moonlighting then for a
Major Bearing company. It turned out that Nisson
had gone to a Japanese Bearing Co., and said:
"make a SPECIAL, NON STANDARD Bearing, and sell
it only to us". They put it in their alternators
and wouldn't sell the bearing alone...you had
to buy the complete alternator. Well...being a
machinist, I modified the case and shaft and
got her on the road with a cheap bearing,(6205?)
that i made fit. Whomever tries to fix that
alternator again is in for a suprise. The OEM
alternator was a "Nippon Denso"

Skip all of those and go find a Honda Pilot or CRV !

(quoted from post at 07:12:13 03/01/12) Skip all of those and go find a Honda Pilot or CRV !

Click to expand...

Forgetting the key, "price range." Hondas bring big bank.