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[Master Thread] Looking to get a used Armada. Any warning signs for older models?

60K views 198 replies 102 participants last post by  Tagaytay city 
#1 · (Edited)
Potential New Owner--what to look out for?

Hello all, I just joined. Have never owned a Nissan before. Looking for a 10 - 14 low-miles 4WD Armada. Just wondering if there is anything I should be aware of in regards to differences in year models, for example a 4WD problem in the 2009 model that was corrected in later models. Are there 4WD models and AWD models out there or just 4Wd. ?
 
#2 ·
Mechanically they are all the same vehicle so it is more about maintenance, condition and what trim levels you’re interested in. They are part time 4x4’s with a 4 low transfer case with the exception of auto. The T-case also has an auto selection that is similar to an AWD vehicle when engaged. They all have 2H, Auto, 4x4 and 4L. Good luck with your search.
 
#3 ·
Hey Guys,

Finally wising up and getting away from Domestic crap. I already have 2 Nissan's in the family and I'm looking to add a third. I've been doing lots of reading and a couple of warning signs seem to stem from bad Radiators and Head Gaskets over a certain mileage. Are there any warning signs as I look at older Armadas. I'm looking at higher mileage ones as my budget doesn't permit much more looking to Spend $10-$13K here in Canada and there have been lots around with 140000 Km - 190000 Km.

Are there any warning bells or anything I should be worried about with these rigs. Just finally getting tired of driving a money pit GMC.

Thanks in Advance,.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Here are a few common things i would watch out for and their approximate part cost (labor not included)

1. Exhaust Manifold leak ($250 per side)
2. Seized Rear Camber bolts, which means all new Rear Lower Control Arms, Spring Buckets and hardware (Parts: about $550)
3. Rear Air Shocks leaking($225) (if so equipped). Also make sure the air compressor works ($210)
4. ICC laser for adaptive cruise control goes bad alot (if so equipped) (used $150 to $650 and New $1300)
5. General Electric issues
6. Make sure front differential is in working order and doesn't make any noise or vibrations. (used $500 and New $1200)
7. Inoperative gauges in cluster can be fixed for about ($150)
8. Loud Clicking from HAVAC Actuator ($35 per actuator)

I am sure there is more, but I cant think of them :)
 
#67 ·
Here are a few common things i would watch out for and their approximate part cost (labor not included)

1. Exhaust Manifold leak ($250 per side)
2. Seized Rear Camber bolts, which means all new Rear Lower Control Arms, Spring Buckets and hardware (Parts: about $550)
3. Rear Air Shocks leaking($225) (if so equipped). Also make sure the air compressor works ($210)
4. ICC laser for adaptive cruise control goes bad alot (if so equipped) (used $150 to $650 and New $1300)
5. General Electric issues
6. Make sure front differential is in working order and doesn't make any noise or vibrations. (used $500 and New $1200)
7. Inoperative gauges in cluster can be fixed for about ($150)
8. Loud Clicking from HAVAC Actuator ($35 per actuator)

I am sure there is more, but I cant think of them :)
What are the symptoms of this? Looking at a QX56, it has an ever so slight vibration, I think it's tires, the truck has been sitting for a while. The likelihood is that they're flat-spotted, but just want to cover my bases.
 
#9 ·
Questions before buying

Hello all, My family is looking at buying an Armada as they are known for lasting quality and solid support ( You guys :) ). We have found a " Good Buy " around 3 hours from us and are going to go check it out. But as I am new to the Armada train, I am wondering what to look for as far as Armada Quarks? I am a DIYer but this Mada has 231k on the clock. The previous owner has owned it for 4 months. It's not a "Steal" so, I do not feel like I'm being swindled yet. But want to know if there is something specific I could look for while there.


Thanks a Ton.

You're soon to be Brother Mada owner.
 
#10 ·
Hello all, My family is looking at buying an Armada as they are known for lasting quality and solid support ( You guys :) ). We have found a " Good Buy " around 3 hours from us and are going to go check it out. But as I am new to the Armada train, I am wondering what to look for as far as Armada Quarks? I am a DIYer but this Mada has 231k on the clock. The previous owner has owned it for 4 months. It's not a "Steal" so, I do not feel like I'm being swindled yet. But want to know if there is something specific I could look for while there.





Thanks a Ton.



You're soon to be Brother Mada owner.
I'd be curious as to why they only owned it for 4 months. Does it have something big they don't want or can't afford to fix?

Paul

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
New member shopping for Armada

Hi everyone. My name is Seth and we live in Indiana. We are currently shopping for a Armada to replace my wife’s 98 Expedition. I have read on here to try and go 2008 and up. It does seem that these have to be pretty reliable as quite a few people keep them into the high 200 or 300,000 mile categories. Also what is real world mileage as I have heard it’s bad. My expedition has never gotten more the 13 mpg. Is the Armada comparable?

I wrench on my cars myself 99% of the time so I am trying to put a list together of things to worry about. Please feel free to add to the list or correct me if I am wrong.

1. Coolant getting into the transmission. (Was there a recall on this? If not is the fix a new radiator, transmisssion lines?)

2. Exhaust manifolds, many seem to replace with headers? Any brand that is better then another?

3. Rear bushings wear prematurely?

That’s my short list as I have much more to learn. Looked at one with the power third row but the big side wasn’t working. Are these repairable or do you just have to installed a new motor? Are these expensive?

Thank you all a head of time for any help or insight you can give. It’s between a Sequioa and an Armada but my wife loved the Armada.
 
#19 ·
It does seem that these have to be pretty reliable as quite a few people keep them into the high 200 or 300,000 mile categories. Also what is real world mileage as I have heard it’s bad. My expedition has never gotten more the 13 mpg. Is the Armada comparable?

I wrench on my cars myself 99% of the time so I am trying to put a list together of things to worry about. Please feel free to add to the list or correct me if I am wrong.
My 2005 LE has like 219,xxx miles on it, and still seems to work. It's got a bunch of rattles and a few problems, but fires up every day and drives me 70+ miles a day to work and back up here in New Hampshire. It's done well in summer and winter.

I get a little over 15 MPG combined, but it goes up a little once the weather warms up.

If you can do easy/medium jobs (oil changes, brakes, hoses/belts, wheel bearings, etc..) you'll be fine, and save a bunch of money.

I have the leaky manifolds, which are kind of annoying, but whatever. I already have the JBA catback exhaust, and will be hoping to get headers and b-pipes to finish the system off this summer.
 
#18 ·
Hey i have a 2010 qx56 (same as armada) and i love it. I get an average mpg of about 14.7, depends on how much i am playing around. And if you do get coolant in the tranny it is a new radiator that is needed. The lines in the radiator have been damaged, and hope it was not enough to damage the tranny. And yea a lot of people do switch out to headers when the time is right for repairs.

On a side note if you get the big tow package it will have the rear air support shocks. Over time the bags dry out or get damaged so be prepared to change them out at some point as i have.
 
#20 ·
If it has over 100k miles, the exhaust manifolds are probably cracked. Easy solution is to buy jba long tube headers. Mine took all day to do, but it wasn't too bad compared to other jobs I've done.

Mode door actuators for the heater start clicking and go bad, but they are about $35, and easy to replace. I did the front and the rear ones.

Rear airbags for suspension leak on older trucks. I replaced mine with aftermarket shocks and springs.

I drive mine like it's a rental car, and never had an engine or transmission issue. It has a lot of miles
 
#21 ·
Hello from Minnesota

Pre-lurker here. Looking to pick up an Armada this summer and wanted to join the forum and see what I can learn. One initial question, how do Armadas handle rust? Is it something that is common on them? I am open to flying/driving to pick the right one up. I will be looking for a 2010-2014 and with bucket seats in the 2nd row. Super excited to have something that can tow and take the family on road trips. I love to road trip and the family does too, especially if they kids have their own seat :)

One question about bucket seats- is there any difference in the bucket seats vs just taking out the middle seat in the bench? I read I can add in the center console if I wanted.

Thanks and I am looking forward to contributing to a great site!
 
#22 ·
Pre-lurker here. Looking to pick up an Armada this summer and wanted to join the forum and see what I can learn. One initial question, how do Armadas handle rust? Is it something that is common on them? I am open to flying/driving to pick the right one up. I will be looking for a 2010-2014 and with bucket seats in the 2nd row. Super excited to have something that can tow and take the family on road trips. I love to road trip and the family does too, especially if they kids have their own seat :)

One question about bucket seats- is there any difference in the bucket seats vs just taking out the middle seat in the bench? I read I can add in the center console if I wanted.

Thanks and I am looking forward to contributing to a great site!
WanderWill,

Welcome to the Forum. As for the rust, I purchased a 2008 QX56 with 180000 miles on it last year. It was originally purchased in NY and then spent the rest of its life slowly working its way west through the rust belt till i picked it up in Detroit and got it over to chicago. Amazingly enough, there is no rust it all on the body and very minimal on the underbody. That being said, mine may just be a lucky car, but others may comment on their trucks. From what I have seen, a common place they can rust is along the wheel arches where the fender trim is attached.

As to the second row seats, if you remove the center section you would still be missing the arm rests. I would assume they could possibly be added, with minor modifications. From my research, you will have a much harder time finding used armrest by themselves compared to the entire chairs.
 
#25 ·
Well, my experience extends to online research and ownership of about two weeks. The car I bought is 8 years old and I have noticed the following:

This ain't gonna be a Toyota. I have a bunch of little electrical faults which I'm fixing one by one. I think the previoius owner never fixed anything that broke. My electric windows, clock spring, and more were glitchy or flat out broken. The dealership replaced rear calipers (not unexpected at this age in the northeast) before sale. The frame will need rust protection in the salt belt. Overall, they seem to be reliable in the important areas of engine and tranmission, but less than dependable in terms of electronic gadgets.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I bought my 04 last fall. Had 160k kms. Figured not much can be wrong with that kinda mileage. I've owned tons of vehicles with way more miles and they didn't have nearly the problems this turd has.
In the last 8 months I've replaced both front struts(one spring was broken), front brakes(caliper slides were siezed and wore the pads into the rotor on the inside),camshaft postition sensor(truck would randomly die on the highway),the handle on the power tailgate quit working, the rear drivers door sometimes won't open from the outside, went to charge the ac yesterday and found a hole in the rear ac line just ahead of the back wheel(fixed that with steel epoxy lol), Both outter tie rods were totally worn, front sway bar bushings are pounded out of it, If i ever have to touch the rear suspension this things getting "stolen" the suspension and frame are very rusty, the sunroof whistles on the highway(gotta play with it to get it in a position where it's sealed), I've been chasing an evap code for months(pretty sure I got it figured by now), and now when I close the power tailgate it sometimes stops a foot before the latch. The 6 disc in dash changer was jammed full of discs from previous owner. It's in the trash. Oh and both exhaust manifolds leak, probably cracked. The body is starting to rust around the back wheels. It's soo loud when you floor it to pass someone! Not muffler dragin chug wagon loud but jet engine loud lol.

The drivetrain seems solid though, no problems with that so far.

Seems every time I fix one thing another handful of problems appear. Just need this thing to last another year then we're buying something new.

These things are probably great when new, but more options usually means more problems down the road. I'd never buy a 10 year old bmw or mercedes unless I had a lot of spare time to deal with the electrical problems that they will have.
 
#27 · (Edited by Moderator)
Looking at a 2005 with 145k. It will be used to tow a 24-6' trailer, 5-7,000# loaded.
I've been driving a Saab since the last century. Alto I'm a DIY, I'm planning to have Dealer pre-inspection, since Armada's
are unique even in the Nissan World. I've read the 2005-6 seem to have the best overall reliability in this vintage?
Any advise or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks J:)
 
#29 ·
Make sure you have a thorough inspection of the suspension. So far, I've replaced the front lower control arms (ball joint was bad, but bolts were seized for the control arm, so I decided to just replace everything), front sway bar links, front sway bar bushings, front struts and pretty much everything dealing with the automatic leveling suspension (luckily, most of that was covered under warranty -- everything else I did myself). I still need to replace the rear lower control arms since the camber bolts on that are seized as well and I can't get the camber adjusted back there.

Another common issue is the exhaust manifolds tend to crack.

Overall, we're pretty happy with ours, but I would recommend seeing a reputable 3rd-party mechanic for your checks as the dealer we bought it from (a Buick dealer) were clueless and the local Nissan dealer somehow missed horrible ball joints (which would've led to those getting replaced under warranty as well). If it wasn't for our extended warranty (covered about 6K in repairs on a 2K warranty) and the fact I do most of my own work, we would be way upside down in the cost of the vehicle. But now I can properly maintain it (apparently whoever traded it into the dealer left a lot of things unrepaired, which time ended up making many worse -- like the automatic leveling suspension) and hopefully get many more years out of it.
 
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#31 ·
I agree that suspension and exhaust are most important things to look at. I would also recommend checking for leaks in power steering system and rear AC lines. Make sure you check that all buttons on steering wheel work which could indicate bad clock spring.

The front disc brakes were upgraded in mid 2006. Some early 2006 had the smaller ones.

Since you are towing, it will be important you get one with tow package. If it doesn't have the rear air suspension it doesn't have the tow package.

Good luck
 
#32 ·
Firefighter1406, thanks for reaching out.
I have a boating friend has retired from NYC FDNY after 911 and the poor treatment.
J:)

re car I wrote about, dealer did not text the Vin # when I insisted upon a pre-purchase Nissan inspection.
This is the 2nd time in the past few weeks where Nissan inspection was not allowed.
I understand the Armada is a different beast than the other Nissans.
 
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