Initial impressions & observations: My pre-owned Nissan Pathfinder SUV

The NVH levels are higher. The engine bay lacks any cladding and any acceleration is heard in the cabin.

BHPian theflyingguy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello BHPians

Happy to introduce my recent purchase, the white color Nissan Pathfinder, aptly named “Olaf” by my daughter.

Having sold my Ford Explorer recently, I was looking to buy a pre-owned 7 seater. I had almost finalized a nice Teramont but the seller backed out at the last moment. Hence the search began and the key criteria was:

• Minimum 3 liter engine.
• Not a cramped 7 seater.
• A planted drive.
• Sunroof (wife and kids did not budge an inch when presented with options).

With this criteria, I started test driving few cars and some cars were ticked off the list:

• Mitsubishi Outlander: It was ok to drive but the 2.4 liter engine did not feel apt.
• Mitsubishi Outlander: The car was again ok to drive but the kids and wife complained of the last seat. They felt nausea and too much of vibration.
• Landcruiser LC200: Absolutely useful car but could not get anything north of 2017 in my budget and I was not keen on owning 2013 and 2014 cars.
• Hyundai SantaFe: It was loaded with latest tech and had a panoramic sunroof but the 2.4 liter engine was ruled out. The 3.3 liter had a cramped last seat and with last seats upright, there was almost no practical boot.

The shortlist for the cars was restricted to few options to make decision process easier. The final list included:

• Honda Pilot.
• Mitsubishi Pajero.
• Toyota Fortuner.
• Nissan Pathfinder.
• Infiniti QX60.

Honda Pilot:

Test drove 2 cars. One was 2WD and another was AWD. Both cars were fun to drive. The 3.5 liter engine with output of 280 hp made sure that the power was always available on tap. The AWD was loaded with tech including 360 camera, front/ rear parking sensors and much more. The last row was good for 3 kids with dedicated AC slots. Both cars had their share of nicks though. Both bumpers had scratches, doors and boot had small pokes.

The discussion with both owners did not turn out to be fruitful with one owner refusing to share the chassis number. Without chassis number, it was difficult to believe the no-accident claim. The AWD owner wanted to wait for few more people to view the car before initiating the negotiations. Decided to pass both the cars although the Pilot would be on the list for my next car.

Mitsubishi Pajero:

This is a very reliable workhorse in the UAE and a common site on any UAE road. Drove the platinum edition since this was the one with sunroof and came back happy. The engine is sufficient, car is ultra-reliable, maintenance is low cost affair and you can service is anywhere in UAE unlike the Germans or Americans.

Took my wife for a test drive to make a final opinion. She was not impressed with pull of the car. The car feels (and is) heavy. The last row was strictly for kids even on small drives and Mitsubishi had already pulled the plug on Pajero. Decided to keep looking for options.

Toyota Fortuner:

Again a reliable car. No fuss ownership. It was difficult to find the 4 liter within my budget. The premium that Toyota commands in UAE is sky high. Was not interested in the pre-2017 models hence decided to skip.

Infiniti QX60:

Did not find anything that was driven less than 125k km. Lot of American imports had flooded the market for Infiniti. But I wanted the model made for middle east. Hence skipped this one.

Now the remaining options were Pajero (I was still insisting on this in case of no options) and the Pathfinder. Luckily, found a pathfinder SV trim which was non-accidental and had less than 65k km on the odometer. The cost was within budget and the accident history was clean. Purchased the car next day and even before I got the delivery, my daughter had named it “Olaf”.

Here is what I liked about the car:

Powerful 3.6 liter engine.

• Fuss free maintenance.
• Dual sunroof.
• Nice set of tech and the music system.
• Last row is usable by adults and kids both.
• Boot space was abundant and it was available even with all 7 seats up.
• Automatic climate control works well.

What could have been better:

• The CVT has a visible rubber band effect. The only response the car gives when pushed for a quick overtake, quickly change the lane before the Beemer in RVM catches up is “Nyet”.
• The NVH levels are higher. The engine bay lacks any cladding and any acceleration is heard in the cabin.
• Cruise control lacks the memory function. It is a annoyance when you have to set the cruise control back to right limit whenever you press a brake.
• The center display should have a digital speedometer. The analog does not inspire confidence when you have to set cruise at the speed limit.

The car has a clean face. It is neither very attractive nor polarizing. It feels clean and I like the lack of too much chrome. The car looks nice from all angles:

Turn indicators on the side mirrors look good on the car:

Car has dual sunroof. It comes handy when driving at night. Kids are easily distracted and the light remains good throughout the car:

The alloy wheels are beautiful:

The front seats are comfortable and support 3-way electronic adjustment:

The driver side door has basic controls. The faux wood inserts add a charm to otherwise boring door:

The steering wheel has multiple controls and has haptic feedback. I am yet to get used the steering feedback though. After driving the explorer, this steering feels dead and too eager to come back to center. The weighted feel at lower speed is a bummer:

The accelerator brake are rightly sized. The dead pedal is very useful:

The dashboard has buttons as well as the screen. I am one of those who do not like to concentrate on the screen to adjust AC or change radio channel:

The auto shift console is smooth and two right sized cup holders. The car supports switch to 4WD automatically. The storage has two options, one is top storage which is useful to store cards, change or phone and the bottom one is much bigger. Two separate buttons to open the same are handy:

The middle row has seatbelts for all 3 passengers. The seats can be folder and/or moved front to access the last row:

The space in middle row is sufficient. I am a 6 foot guy and this is what the middle row space looks like when the front seat is midway:

Rear seat has central AC controls with the automated climate control support:

The last row has proper seats unlike many other cars that I saw which have more of a bench. The leg space is good for anyone up to 5.5 ft:

The boot has good amount of storage. Even when all seats are up, it was able to take 2 bags:

The trunk can be opened and closed using the key or the dashboard buttons. Not sure why is there an option to lock this functionality:

The engine bay has no damping whatsoever. This transmits lot of noise into cabin:

The key is simple with ability to lock/unlock, operate trunk and start the car. The starting ability helps cool down the car before I reach it. Very helpful in UAE summers:

Having purchased the car, I got it serviced from Nissan. Apart from standard oil and filter changes, got the brake pads replaced since they were running thin. One of the oil seal had a slight leak, got it replaced.

Also added the 3M nano ceramic window tint. This makes summers manageable. The tires would be next and the car will be all set to drive.

Keyword: Initial impressions & observations: My pre-owned Nissan Pathfinder SUV