Excited and Concerned about Titan

HiredGun · 09-30-2004, 12:47 PM

Firstly, let me say that this is an excellent forum for Titan owners and for potential buyers. There is a considerable amount information exchanged here and, as a potential buyer, I appreciate the ability to gather this information and participate in the dicussions.

I currently own a 2003 Toyota 4Runner Sport 4WD V8 and I'm considering to sell it and move to the Titan or the Ford. I should note that the 4Runner has been a great SUV and, IMHO, it is a perfect balance of power, comfort, and capabilty. However, it is too small. With three children, one who is 13, tall, and wears a size 13 shoe, there is not enough room in the back seat for all of them; I can't even make it to the corner grocery store with out "he's touching me" arguments.

I've just begun my research and while I'm very excited about the possibilty of a Titan, I'm also very concerned about the type and number of problems that have been reported with the vehicle. Is there an expectation that some of these issues will be resolved in the 2005 Titan? Before I purchased the 4Runner 18 months ago, I owned one of the early 2003 Infinity G35s. All in all, the car was fine, but as it aged and as early production problems emerged, I became concerned about the resale value of the car and traded it in. I don't want to go through that process again.

braun04 · 09-30-2004, 01:06 PM

I have one of the mid summer production titans. 07/04. It has 5000 miles on it i have not had any problems with so far. I wanted a new ford but for the price of a titan i could not let it go. I love the truck so far. Good looks with great power and decent mpg for a V-8 full size @17 mpg. No kids so i bought the king cab . If i had kids i would buy the club cab with a doubt alot more room.

Blk808TitanSE · 09-30-2004, 01:06 PM

You always take a chance with a 1st year vehicle! However, I am a proud owner of (2) first year vehicles a Nissan Murano and a Nissan Titan.

I've only had one problem with the Murano which was a bad relay for the gas tank door.

While the Titan has really only had a couple warantee problems so far and one recall issue (Rear Seatbelts).

Just buy what you will be comfortable with and take into consideration possibly purchasing the extended warantee if your really concerned about both value and longevity.

TallTexan · 09-30-2004, 03:27 PM

I have had three problems with my Titan but all items were handled by the dealer with no problems. No more problems here than with other vehicles. If you do not want to buy this truck, don't drive it! If you drive it, you will not sleep till you buy it. Great truck.

GA-matt · 09-30-2004, 03:48 PM

I completely agree with TallTexan... you drive it and next thing you know it'll be parked in your driveway! I've only had my Titan for about a week, but love it and feel completely comfortable with my decision. I too was looking at the Ford, but felt that I got a lot more truck for the dollar with the Nissan. I've previously owned 2 other Nissans and been very pleased with their performance. I've also had good luck with Nissan service centers.

*Squid* · 09-30-2004, 04:15 PM

I also agree.I have 5255 miles as of this morning,with only 3 problems that nissan knew about and my service department took care of first time in.Your a family man so It's probably a safe bet your also an adult.I honestly believe that your vehicle is only as good as the treatment you give it.I traded in a 02 Nissan frontier with 104,000 miles on it that still had the original tires on it and had never been in the shop.
My Titan is a 4X4 and I'm getting over 17 MPG while others get 12 MPG.I'm self employed and drive over 100 miles a day 6 days a week. My Truck has to be dependable because I can't just call in sick.I'm taking good care of it and it's taking real good care of me.
If you don't know the dealer? Hanging out at the service area or talking to coworkers who own or have owned Nissans might be a good idea.A bad service department can take the best designed and built product in the world and turn it into junk.
Good luck in your purchase.

m4ck · 09-30-2004, 04:23 PM

Luckily I am at 4400 miles and not a single problem yet. I hope that if you do decide on the Titan you will be lucky as me.
m4ck

CyBwRBill · 09-30-2004, 06:19 PM

There are some issues with the truck but compared to other vehicles I have purchased, the problems are MOSTLY minor.

The key to a happy experience is FIND A GOOD DEALER. I go to dealer 30 minutes further away from me because the closest dealer....DAYTONA BEACH NISSAN suxs. Deland Nissan has been very good if not great on making me happy.

The dealership makes all the difference with this and any other vehicle you buy.

Masa · 09-30-2004, 07:11 PM

Hi Hired Gun! I don't think none of us on this forum could attest to the CHANCE of getting a lemon, having excessive quality issues, or having absolutely no significant problems with a Titan relative to other brands. Because, none of us buy enough Titans to give you that probability that is statistically reliable.

When I first came to this discussion forum and started reading a lot about the quality problems, I told myself not to worry too much about them for the following reasons:

1. People who are having problems tend to come to forums like this to seek solutions. What I read is not representative of the all purchasers’ experience.
2. Even though Titan is a first year model from ground up, being built at a new plant, it can’t be that bad.

First Titan that arrived (after waiting for 3 months) had so many problems, I did not accept it.

I’ve been having so many problems with my current Titan, let me just say, unfortunate.

Can I tell you whether you would get a Titan with bunch of problems or I’m just one of the unlucky ones? Is the percentage of unlucky ones amongst Titan owners comparable to the industry acceptable level? I don’t know. Because personal experience with 2 Titans wouldn’t tell me what the likelihood of getting another Titan that may be trouble-free or full of problems. One indication might be the last J.D. Power & Assoc. initial quality survey. Another indication might be some of the auto industry articles. Another indication might be a friend who works in the auto industry close to Nissan who has some insight. In any case, nobody could tell you about the long-term reliability.

What I can say is, Titan is truly a great truck by design. I’m hoping that Nissan has been working on their homework, i.e., improving the truck via addressing issues raised by the class of 2004, so that there would be less frustrated Titan owners… I think it’s a risk you should take. No other trucks compares to the Titan in its class in terms of how the vehicle is designed (I don’t know about the quality control). Good luck!

SarkaZm · 09-30-2004, 08:49 PM

Both are good trucks. Each has it's own set of problems and my Titan is not perfect either. If I were to do it again I would probably have waited for the mid year 05's. But as it is, all my issues (except for one) have been very minor. The Ford IS a very nice truck. Nice interior and a great suspension. My friend owns a Lariat, but I don't think the power compares to the Titan. The F150 can move fairly well for its size, but it seems to work very hard doing it.

My only question is, if you are concerned with resale value so much, why are you considering a Ford to begin with?

Likecars · 09-30-2004, 09:08 PM

Traded my 04 Coupe (didn't even make it a year with it) two weeks ago for the Titan! I briefly considered the F150. Have you dropped by their forums to see whats going on there? Not a leading question just curious.

Just keep in perspective the use of forums.

HiredGun · 09-30-2004, 09:21 PM

Thanks for all of the great feedback!

SarkaZm - Excellent point on the Ford resale issue, I realized I was contradicting myself when I posted my message

Likecars - I have started looking at some of the F150 forums, but have not joined one yet to inquire. There are also some F150 owners with problems just like Titan owners here, but like Masa points out, that is the nature of a forum. What didn't you like about the Coupe?

One thing, I could not find information on when the 2005 Titan will be out, does anyone know?

Likecars · 09-30-2004, 10:00 PM

I traded a GS400 for my Coupe. The Coupe handled like
I wanted the GS to, and looked better, but I just missed that Lexus thing their cars have. The biggest problem was comfort. I could not get comfortable in the drivers seat. Average guy here so it wasn't a matter of too much mass and too little seat. I think they just made it 2 inches too narrow. It was a fully loaded AT.

Haven't been on the block long enough to offer much on the Titan. No problems on initial quality and apperance. The radio problem should be below any VIN you might get, unless its been on the lot for a while. My 08/04 build has a higher VIN.

Even though there is a drastic difference in vehicle style (Coupe v Titan), I am really loving this Titan. When compared to my other new cars, I have topped my 'just sitting in it and touching things while parked in the garage syndrome' by many hours.

Have you been to the site with all the TSBs listed?

QWIKWHIP · 09-30-2004, 10:00 PM

One other thing to consider is that there are about 3500 members here, there have been more than 70,000 Titans sold so far. That being said, it's never as bad as it sounds. If the problems were that regular Nissan would be recalling them. Trust me, drive it and you will love it. I just traded in my 04 Frontier after only 3 months because I decided to "drive" a Titan. Now it's in my garage!

*Titan Critter* · 09-30-2004, 10:03 PM

hey hiredgun, are you planning to get the crew cab? Because three kids take a lot of space. i certainly would recommend the titan to anyone, but are you sure you wouldn't be more comfortable in an SUV bigger than your 4runner? either way, just make sure you bring all the family on the titan test drive to make sure it works for everyone. just my 2 cents.