According to Star Trek, space is the final frontier. Owing to its features, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Nissan may just prove Captain Kirk wrong, as it could be the last Frontier you’d ever want.
What looked to be a new A/C compressor and an Optima battery were two signs that whoever had been maintaining yesterday’s 1990 Chrysler LeBaron GTC had been doing so with care and attention. Overall, the car exuded that sense of that well-cared-for life. And, with an asking of just $4,200, there didn’t seem to be a premium to pay for continuing that care in a new home. Most of you noted that fact in the comments, some begrudgingly, others excitedly. In the end, that was also reflected in the solid 67 percent Nice Price win, the LeBaron took home. That made it, “Le Bargain.”
I’m going to caution from the outset that, upon a cursory glance, the ad for today’s 2008 Nissan Frontier Nismo appears to present some alarming numbers. At least, that’s how it might seem to anyone outside of Canada. Both the price tag and the mileage seem outlandishly high, but that’s only until you realize that they are listed in, respectively, Canadian dollars and kilometers.
The truck itself should raise some eyebrows, but for more positive reasons. First off, the Frontier has always been a fairly compact pickup. It’s not Datsun 620 small and cute, but it’s about as close as any manufacturer is willing to go these days on a traditional body on frame platform. Next up, the Frontier rocks the VQ40DE 4-liter V6 which is good for 261 horsepower and a substantial 281 lb-ft of torque. Most intriguingly, that power gets routed through a five-speed stick and on to all four wheels through the truck’s part-time 4WD. This being a Nismo spec truck, that drivetrain includes a Dana 44 rear axle with a locking differential.
According to the ad’s description, that has all been embellished with some beefier components all added during the lockdown. Those include suspension pieces swapped out of a Titan and some aftermarket bits to let it sit taller on its Nismo alloys. Extra LED lights and a bed-mounted rack carrying traction boards and the space for a camping tent adorn the exterior, while the cabin gets a short-shifter with a billet knob. Overall, both the exterior and interior look to be in perfectly serviceable shape, and the seller claims the truck to have “New Brakes, New Suspension, All new fluids, etc etc etc. Fully gone through.”
Ok, now let’s get back to those alarming numbers. The first is the mileage which the ad lists as 232,000. That’s a pants-load if we’re imagining that number in miles. Here, however, that’s kilometers. A quick Internet conversion shows that to be about 145,000 in good old U.S.-style miles. Next up is the price. That’s $18,000. Again, however, that’s misleading to any U.S. reader who may not calculate things in Canadian dollars. If we again turn to the Internet for a translation, that works out to about $14,807 in stripper thong stuffers. That seems much more palatable, or at the very least lower which is always better.
Regardless of which side of the world’s longest undefended border you might call home, you’ll want to know that this Nissan’s title is clear and that it’s now also time for you all to weigh in on the truck and its price.
What do you all say, could this truck pull down $18,000 in Canadian moolah to find a new home? Or, is that just too much despite all the sweat equity and the cool base?
You decide!
Vancouver, BC Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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