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Life after a quarter million miles

36K views 60 replies 28 participants last post by  LilSnotNosedTommy 
#1 · (Edited)
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.
 
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#2 ·
You've got me beat. I bought my Titan 3/30/2004 and my current mileage (i just went to check) is 39,240.

I'm also looking forward to the new 2016 Titan but I'm going to keep driving mine as this is likely my last truck purchase. I'm retired and I don't drive that many miles and I just turned 74 years of age yesterday, and my truck may outlast me.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the report. All in all, not really a bad run for 250k miles, outside of the manifolds (you didn't mention how many miles when the axle went). They definitely got off on the wrong foot on brakes, as I think you're right in that you just consider pad & rotor replacement normal maintenance - although (knock on wood) I'm going on maybe 40k miles without any brake issues since I last replaced the pads & rotors on the front - just did the back not too long ago.

Coming from a hardbody or Frontier, though, quality control was definitely not as good. I had both, and neither went back to the dealer for anything. I'm just about over 122k as of this morning, and all things considered still happy with the Titan. I covet one of those new Rams but don't covet the cost, and will probably drive my paid-for Titan for a long time unless something goes horribly wrong.
 
#4 ·
Awesome post. I also have an 04' but have only 103,000 miles on it. So far I have done the shocks/struts all around, new axle seals on both sides, front pinion seal, and regular maintenance. The brakes are awful and I have to put new rotors on every 40k or so. But engine and trans are rock solid. Hoping to keep it at least another 100k. New trucks are expensive! I don't think I Could afford a $600/month truck payment. You know how many rotors and axle seals I can buy with that?!? :)
 
#5 ·
Great post TitMan.
 
#7 ·
In my 2004, I replaced all of the brake pads and rotors with the most expensive ones offered at NAPA. I did that around 70,000 miles and I now have 170,000 and the brakes are still in good shape.

The original brake pads and rotors...I had the brake judder problem and the Nissan replacement at ~20,000 but they only made it to 70,000 before going bad again.

I've had all of the issues you have had above plus more.

Any problems with the front differential?
 
#9 ·
Your defrost "problem" is not a problem at all. AC'd air is dry air, and most ac units will run when the air is set to defrost. The only time it won't run the compressor is when it's a few degrees below freezing.

Congrats on the milestone. I'll bet it has another 100k left in it!
 
#12 ·
You miss the point, I don't want "dry" air. I want outside air, unmodified outside air and should have the option to get it.

The other issue is that once the compressor is turned on in defrost mode, you can't run the fan in any setting without the compressor running.

This IS a problem because running the AC compressor when I don't need/want it just hurts my mileage, wastes gas, depletes the ozone layer, kills trees, and supports Al Gore's theory on global warming.
 
#11 ·
Good post. I'm at 120K on my 2004. I fixed my brakes by installing Hawk HPS pads and Centric Premium High Carbon Brake Rotors. The key is to find a pad / rotor combo that wont leave pad deposits when hot. I tow a 7K load over the Smoky mtns a couple times a year, and I've had not problems with this brake combo.
 
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#14 ·
I don't think he's saying he wants outside air ALL the time, but at times, when the weather is has is nice after one had to defog the windshield after first getting in, it's nice to be able to have outside unconditioned air. I agree.

It is a waste of fuel, and I've thought many times about installing a relay - but I don't want an extra switch - so I'm going to look into monitoring the LED in the AC switch itself via a current sensing relay - and have that relay kill power to the ac compressor clutch.
 
#18 ·
Braking softly generates less heat, it's a proven fact. I don't know how they could last that long, but mine appear to be the originals too. I have 93,000 miles. They're still pretty straight.
 
#19 · (Edited)
You need to do some racing man. Short hard stops won't put half the heat into a rotor that loooooong slow stops will.

Think about how many extra times the rotor spins past the pad when you drag the brakes for 150ft compared to 60. It's unnecessary friction on the rotor (heat).


Whether it's civics, motorcycles or titans it's always the guys driving like that who warp rotors.
 
#20 ·
That's on a race track. On the street, you brake once and then drive awhile before you brake again. I brake softly and mine lasted over 170k. I upgraded before they went bad.
 
#22 ·
You're missing the most important part of the equation, pressure.....and I wasn't aware we were talking about racing, I thought we were discussing pickup trucks :bangit:
 
#24 ·
You're definitely right. But if you're the guy that races to the stop light every single time like it's the last lap and i just lightly brake an 1/8 of a mile in advance. I'm pretty sure you'll be replacing your brakes before i do.
 
#25 ·
Light pressure builds less heat, keeps rotors straight longer, and makes pads last longer too. Sometimes when rotors feel warped, it's actually pad material that has transferred to the rotor.
I'm not gonna argue though, believe what you'd like. I know people that believe rear windows are "child proof" because they only go down halfway.....lol
 
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#26 ·
My Jan 2004 is still kicking as well with 135K on the clock. I too had the brake judder (40k), rear axle leak (90K), leaky radiator (95K), cracked manifolds (110K), clicking AC (fixed today!). For the most part, it too has been a good truck. It's never left me stranded or wanting more power or room. I've been saying for the last 4 years that next year I'll trade up - but honestly I haven't found anything worth the dropping the cash on. I've convinced my self to wait until the Cummins Titan is out before I pick up a new truck - now narrowed down to that or the 2015 F150.

Until then I hope I can find this mysterious leak. I think its a tranny cooler line, but I'm not low on ANY fluid. It just makes a mess out of my engine bay.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Today I rolled 310,000 miles on the tiTman truck and wouldn't you know it, the right headlight burned out. What a POS, you would think Nissan would build a truck that would last!

Seriously, I did notice that the right headlight seems to burn out more frequently than the left and I was wondering if any of you have noticed this. not a big deal because I can handle changing the bulb every two or three years. (I had a spare bulb in my shop and it takes just a few minutes to change them.)

Other than that, I replaced the front rotors and pads about 10K miles ago, which was a story in and of itself!

I believe my calipers are going bad and I'll probably replace them this summer, or sooner. The calipers that are on there were remanufactured units I installed when I did the big brake upgrade years ago, so I'm not really surprised.

Other than that, she keeps ticking off the miles.

Oh, I did have the check engine light come on about a month ago for a week. Before I could hit with the ODB code reader it went out and hasn't come back on. Can you say, "TRUCK, HEAL THY SELF!"?

I'm still not sure what I'm going to replace it, when the day comes. I've been looking around at other truck brands and nothing really catches my eye. The new Titans have some good numbers, all except the price! Am I the only one who thinks $40K is stupid expensive? My wife's Juke is my fifth Nissan and I'm sorry to say it will probably be my last.
 
#30 ·
310,000 wow impressive just turned 206xxx on mine been a solid truck 2x brakes 5 sets tires normal fluid changes an one set of spark plugs gonna replace again before summer. Original serptine belt an engine accessories u joints an even hubs did replace outer tie rod ends it's a little clunky at times no squeaks or leaks drive it till it burns into the ground an rebuild...it's paid off don't want another truck payment
 
#31 ·
OK maybe it's me, but why are several of you bragging about running the OEM serpentine belt for 300k miles? It WILL fail at some point and is about the cheapest easiest maintenance item on the truck! When it fails, it will strand you and possibly cause you to crash! Manual says change it at 120K I believe.
 
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