250,000 Mile report
I bought my then new 2004 Titan SE club cab 10 years ago and earlier this week the odometer rolled past 250,000 miles.
Those 250,000 miles were spent driving all over the East Coast and to the Upper Mid-West a number of times.
Used mostly for hauling my big ‘ol butt, it has lived a pretty easy life. Well, until last year when I bought my wife a travel trailer. Yep, I felt confident enough in my 225,000+ mile truck to start pulling a travel trailer up and down the Blue Ridge Mountains on weekends and to haul the trailer from South Carolina to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The following is the list of things that have taken place during the preceding 10 years and 250,000 miles:
1. The first year the truck had to have the driver’s seat replaced under warranty because the seat frame was twisted from the factory. It went back a couple of times because they never did fix it and simply gave up. I got used to it and never pushed the issue.
2. The rear sliding window had to be replaced, again under warranty, because rain water would get in the cab when parked nose down on my very steep driveway. The replacement window didn’t fix it and after a couple of visits, the dealer said it was a design flaw so I started parking “nose up”.
3. At about ~74K miles the left rear axle seal was replaced with no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.
4. The position selector on the heater control broke at ~90K miles and I replaced it.
5. ~132K miles the right rear axle seal had to be replaced, two for two.
6. The OEM battery lasted until around 2009. All I can say is, it gave me plenty of warning before it gave up the ghost.
7. My truck suffered the dreaded cracked manifold issue at about 140K miles. The OEM manifold was replaced with aftermarket equal length ceramic coated stainless steel headers. The rest of the exhaust system remained stock and the dyno showed about a 10 HP / 12 ft-lb increase, IIRC, from the header.
8. The replacement battery was replaced in 2014, just before the truck turned 250,000 miles.
9. Brakes, where do I start? The OEM brakes are probably the worst on any vehicle I have ever driven! I have replaced the front stock rotors with stock, new pads, cryogenic treated rotors and pads, aftermarket rotors and pads, etc. You name it, nothing worked. I finally bought the spacer ring offered on this site and upgraded to the larger Titan rotors and calipers. This helped but even those rotors have warped (and I’m very easy on brakes). So now, I just figure brake replacement is part of the cost of ownership.
10. The driver’s seat has ripped but that was because a pocket zipper on a pair of cargo shorts snagged it when getting out of the truck. Someday I’ll replace driver’s seat cushion and cover.
11. In June of 2013 at around 235,000 (+/-) miles the input shaft seal on the differential puked it guts out and I had to replace the entire axle assembly. I hope Nissan starts buying their axles from someone else! I should have junked the truck but I figured the cost of the replacement axle was equal to about three truck payments. However, I was disappointed that I couldn't replace the axle with an LSD unit due to the higher gear ratio on my non-tow package truck.
Modifications:
1. The aforementioned headers
2. A hard tonneau cover
Consumables:
1. Four sets of tires. (I’m ready for set number five)
2. 62 oil filters
3. 403 quarts of oil
4. 20 air filters
5. 24 spark plugs
6. 8 wiper blades
7. One backup light
8. Four headlights (I replace both sides, when one burns out.)
Now for the amazing news:
During the time I have driven this truck, I have not replaced the shocks, serpentine belt, fuel pump, exhaust & catalytic converter, etc.
Issues I need to address:
I must fix the driver’s seat cushion.
The heater box is clicking when I move it to blow on my face.
My thoughts after 10 years of ownership:
This truck was bought to replace a 1993 Nissan Hard Body that had over 235K miles on it. Based on my early experience with it, I never thought I would own it out of warranty. The warranty came and went and I’m still driving it.
Nissan did a great job on the engine and transmission; however, the brake problems, rear differential, and header issues were unacceptable in this day and age and Nissan should have accepted responsibility for their poor designs and helped all their owners resolve these issues.
I despise the HVAC controls in this truck! On cool mornings I like to direct the outside air on the windshield and even turn on the fan. The problem is, once you direct any air on the windshield and turn on the blower motor, the AC turns on and you cannot turn it off again. If you press the AC button, the light goes off but the compressor still runs and blows AC'ed air. Even worse is if you change the selector to anything other than defrost, the AC continues to blow. The only way to turn off the AC is to turn the truck off. (I've become adept at slipping the truck into neutral, shutting it off, and restarting it.)
What was Nissan thinking?
I get it, if they feel like the AC must come on in defrost mode then at least let me turn the thing off when I don't want or need AC!
Would I buy another one?
I don’t know, maybe it time to look at a different truck that starts with a "T". The 2004 Titan is our third Nissan and my wife’s Juke is our fourth. Obviously, I don’t have an issue with Nissan.
I look forward to seeing the 2016 Titans.
The diesel looks interesting but the history of V8 diesels isn’t very good. I would have rather seen a turbo inline 6 than the V8 but time will tell.
My question is, will Nissan price the diesel like their competitors do; meaning will it take over 10 years, driving 15K miles a year, for the improved mileage / fuel savings of the diesel to justify the added expense of the option?
I’m just not sure I want to pay the going rate of a full sized pickup and may just keep the 2004 Titan going a few more years and buy a sedan for my daily commute.
I bought my then new 2004 Titan SE club cab 10 years ago and earlier this week the odometer rolled past 250,000 miles.
Those 250,000 miles were spent driving all over the East Coast and to the Upper Mid-West a number of times.
Used mostly for hauling my big ‘ol butt, it has lived a pretty easy life. Well, until last year when I bought my wife a travel trailer. Yep, I felt confident enough in my 225,000+ mile truck to start pulling a travel trailer up and down the Blue Ridge Mountains on weekends and to haul the trailer from South Carolina to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The following is the list of things that have taken place during the preceding 10 years and 250,000 miles:
1. The first year the truck had to have the driver’s seat replaced under warranty because the seat frame was twisted from the factory. It went back a couple of times because they never did fix it and simply gave up. I got used to it and never pushed the issue.
2. The rear sliding window had to be replaced, again under warranty, because rain water would get in the cab when parked nose down on my very steep driveway. The replacement window didn’t fix it and after a couple of visits, the dealer said it was a design flaw so I started parking “nose up”.
3. At about ~74K miles the left rear axle seal was replaced with no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.
4. The position selector on the heater control broke at ~90K miles and I replaced it.
5. ~132K miles the right rear axle seal had to be replaced, two for two.
6. The OEM battery lasted until around 2009. All I can say is, it gave me plenty of warning before it gave up the ghost.
7. My truck suffered the dreaded cracked manifold issue at about 140K miles. The OEM manifold was replaced with aftermarket equal length ceramic coated stainless steel headers. The rest of the exhaust system remained stock and the dyno showed about a 10 HP / 12 ft-lb increase, IIRC, from the header.
8. The replacement battery was replaced in 2014, just before the truck turned 250,000 miles.
9. Brakes, where do I start? The OEM brakes are probably the worst on any vehicle I have ever driven! I have replaced the front stock rotors with stock, new pads, cryogenic treated rotors and pads, aftermarket rotors and pads, etc. You name it, nothing worked. I finally bought the spacer ring offered on this site and upgraded to the larger Titan rotors and calipers. This helped but even those rotors have warped (and I’m very easy on brakes). So now, I just figure brake replacement is part of the cost of ownership.
10. The driver’s seat has ripped but that was because a pocket zipper on a pair of cargo shorts snagged it when getting out of the truck. Someday I’ll replace driver’s seat cushion and cover.
11. In June of 2013 at around 235,000 (+/-) miles the input shaft seal on the differential puked it guts out and I had to replace the entire axle assembly. I hope Nissan starts buying their axles from someone else! I should have junked the truck but I figured the cost of the replacement axle was equal to about three truck payments. However, I was disappointed that I couldn't replace the axle with an LSD unit due to the higher gear ratio on my non-tow package truck.
Modifications:
1. The aforementioned headers
2. A hard tonneau cover
Consumables:
1. Four sets of tires. (I’m ready for set number five)
2. 62 oil filters
3. 403 quarts of oil
4. 20 air filters
5. 24 spark plugs
6. 8 wiper blades
7. One backup light
8. Four headlights (I replace both sides, when one burns out.)
Now for the amazing news:
During the time I have driven this truck, I have not replaced the shocks, serpentine belt, fuel pump, exhaust & catalytic converter, etc.
Issues I need to address:
I must fix the driver’s seat cushion.
The heater box is clicking when I move it to blow on my face.
My thoughts after 10 years of ownership:
This truck was bought to replace a 1993 Nissan Hard Body that had over 235K miles on it. Based on my early experience with it, I never thought I would own it out of warranty. The warranty came and went and I’m still driving it.
Nissan did a great job on the engine and transmission; however, the brake problems, rear differential, and header issues were unacceptable in this day and age and Nissan should have accepted responsibility for their poor designs and helped all their owners resolve these issues.
I despise the HVAC controls in this truck! On cool mornings I like to direct the outside air on the windshield and even turn on the fan. The problem is, once you direct any air on the windshield and turn on the blower motor, the AC turns on and you cannot turn it off again. If you press the AC button, the light goes off but the compressor still runs and blows AC'ed air. Even worse is if you change the selector to anything other than defrost, the AC continues to blow. The only way to turn off the AC is to turn the truck off. (I've become adept at slipping the truck into neutral, shutting it off, and restarting it.)
What was Nissan thinking?
I get it, if they feel like the AC must come on in defrost mode then at least let me turn the thing off when I don't want or need AC!
Would I buy another one?
I don’t know, maybe it time to look at a different truck that starts with a "T". The 2004 Titan is our third Nissan and my wife’s Juke is our fourth. Obviously, I don’t have an issue with Nissan.
I look forward to seeing the 2016 Titans.
The diesel looks interesting but the history of V8 diesels isn’t very good. I would have rather seen a turbo inline 6 than the V8 but time will tell.
My question is, will Nissan price the diesel like their competitors do; meaning will it take over 10 years, driving 15K miles a year, for the improved mileage / fuel savings of the diesel to justify the added expense of the option?
I’m just not sure I want to pay the going rate of a full sized pickup and may just keep the 2004 Titan going a few more years and buy a sedan for my daily commute.