Jeep Wrangler vs Nissan Pathfinder vs Nissan Xterra

[Chaitanya D]

Hello all.

Now that weekend desert drive has kind of become a routine , my family is upping the ante against me for taking the patrol y62 to sand and getting it back all dirty.

I have decided I will go in for a used weekend desert drive car to save myself and also my y62 which has been a very comfortable drive for all at home.

I have shortlisted few used cars as below

1. Pathfinder 2005 3.5 L V6- 160000 km run for about 13.5 k (2nd owner)

2. Wrangler TJ 2006 4L V6 - 120000 km run for about 22 k.( 2nd owner)

3. X terra s  2010 4L V6 about  2 lac run for 25 k.( ? Probably 3rd)

All cars have been GCC , without any mods and have been Registered recently. All from direct sellers

I would like to have the suggestions from the forum on going ahead with these. Concern being all of them I think will not have a diff lock and how does that matter in the long run??

Personally if the pathfinder is good after checks , I will go ahead with it with some negotiation on price because it's quite cheap and probably easier to maintain.

Thanks in advance 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Chaitanya D

[Jefy]

2 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

Hello all.

Now that weekend desert drive has kind of become a routine , my family is upping the ante against me for taking the patrol y62 to sand and getting it back all dirty.

I have decided I will go in for a used weekend desert drive car to save myself and also my y62 which has been a very comfortable drive for all at home.

I have shortlisted few used cars as below

1. Pathfinder 2005 - 160000 km run for about 13.5 k

2. Wrangler TJ 2006 - 120000 km run for about 22 k.

3. X terra s  2010 about  2 lac run for 25 k.

All cars have been GCC , without any mods and have been Registered recently. All from direct sellers

I would like to have the suggestions from the forum on going ahead with these.

Personally if the pathfinder is good after checks , I will go ahead with it with some negotiation on price because it's quite cheap and probably easier to maintain.

Thanks in advance 

I don’t have much offroad experience, but I would go for the pathfinder.

This is just from experience what I have seen with my own eyes from our group (Rahimdad and the other white Pathfinder, forgot his name) and also in other groups.

The car has different versions of engines, try to get the one with the higher volume. @Rahimdad

Rahimdad has the smaller one, he is doing fine with it, but he is also an expert and knows how to take everything with his relative smaller engine.

Good luck with the choice.

 

[RohanH]

57 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

Hello all.

Now that weekend desert drive has kind of become a routine , my family is upping the ante against me for taking the patrol y62 to sand and getting it back all dirty.

I have decided I will go in for a used weekend desert drive car to save myself and also my y62 which has been a very comfortable drive for all at home.

I have shortlisted few used cars as below

1. Pathfinder 2005 3.5 L V6- 160000 km run for about 13.5 k (2nd owner)

2. Wrangler TJ 2006 4L V6 - 120000 km run for about 22 k.( 2nd owner)

3. X terra s  2010 4L V6 about  2 lac run for 25 k.( ? Probably 3rd)

All cars have been GCC , without any mods and have been Registered recently. All from direct sellers

I would like to have the suggestions from the forum on going ahead with these. Concern being all of them I think will not have a diff lock and how does that matter in the long run??

Personally if the pathfinder is good after checks , I will go ahead with it with some negotiation on price because it's quite cheap and probably easier to maintain.

Thanks in advance 

@Chaitanya D Hi, I think X terra is better option than pathfinder.

It has good ground clearance.

More power than Pathfinder

Latest model than pathfinder and TJ

There are many who use's X terra. And I have seen it doing extremely well in desert.  

[Frederic]

You have shortlisted 3 very good vehicles for the desert. From what I’ve seen it’s getting more difficult to get a clean 3.5 pathfinder nowadays as they are popular within the off-road community.

in any case it’s important to go for a vehicle that is stock, and haven’t spent too much time off-road. The Xterra is still often used as family vehicle or mall crawler and you should be able to find a clean one that hasn’t been off-road. 
For the Jeep Wrangler it’s quite certain that this car will have spent time in the desert so you’ll need to inspect the car throughout and even if possible take a mechanic with you.

3 different vehicles that all drive totally different. Try to to some test drives and see which car you feel more at home in. 
I am also in favor for the 3.5 Pathfinder. They seem to possess a classic image and spare parts are easy to find. 

[Srikumar]

@Chaitanya D  Both the Xterra and Pathfinder 3.5 are very good and capable vehicles in stock condition. If you have the budget go for the Xterra, but if you are tight then go for the Pathfinder (subject to being in good condition).

The TJ is going to be a gamble as it's most likely been already abused extensively. While fun to drive there is a high probability that you would be visiting the garage quite often in the initial period to get it in shape. But once in shape, I can assure you that would be the most fun car to drive in this lot.

[RohanH]

1 hour ago, RohanH said:

@Chaitanya D Hi, I think X terra is better option than pathfinder.

It has good ground clearance.

More power than Pathfinder

Latest model than pathfinder and TJ

There are many who use's X terra. And I have seen it doing extremely well in desert.  

I follow the used car a lot. I spend quite a long time on internet looking for used cars and off road videos. I can see there is drop in car sales as car are on sale for a quite a long time and not being sold may be chances that seller don't want to negotiate. On the contrary the cars like you had mentioned are quite less in market to sell. So if you want to buy the car and get to know any good condition car then grab it. Make sure to negotiate well.

[sertac]

If budget not an object i would go for Xterra. Newer is better for reliability. 

[Gaurav]

I think everyone pretty much covered everything here.

Still my few points to help you get some clarity to make a perfect choice.

• Drive all of them as you are downsizing from comfy Patrol, see what matches to your driving standard as close as possible.
• If any of these 3 has a soft corner for you or your family, then go with that as you can't go wrong with any of these 3.
• Go strictly for road driven only, so that you can extract good usable off-road life out of Engine, Gearbox, 4x4, Suspension etc. the most costly stuff in any off-road vehicle.

[Wrangeld]

I love my TJ. It is indestructible. It is direct. It has phenomenal capabilities. There is bags of power. It looks cool. 

I would go for a Pathfinder with the right engine. 

What I miss in the TJ are just a few creature comforts and room for kit (mine is a 2 door). The Jeep, well, it's a Jeep. We were lucky to find one like this, but even so it needs attention ... like a favourite child. 

The Nissans. Reliable. String. Well made. 

 

[desertdude]

I hate to say it but as a pure off road toy  Get the TJ Wrangler. Make sure it's a hardtop and not a soft top.

Comfort is not it's thing.