[92TripleBlack]

Hi everyone! Great forum...

I have a family of 5 and we are going to trade in
our minivan for an SUV, and we are doing the typical Suburban, Sequoia, Armada comparision thing... The Armada appears to be the clear winner, but I am concerned about reliability. If you research the discussion boards for each vehicle, you'll find unhappy folks, happy folks, and lemon law stories abound with each vehicle. So it is hard to draw any clear conclusions.

Personnally, I think it inappropriate to discount an entire brand /
vehicle because someone got a lemon. Unfortunately, every manufacturer turns out a lemon, some more frequently than others, but this is why we do have lemon laws. The totally empirical evidence of just reading many discussion boards gives me a good feeling that Nissan will at least work with their customers and will buy back bad cars.

So where we are at, the Armada (off road) is by far the best for us on paper.

1) Best air bag coverage for passengers
2) versatile interior
3) best ground clearance
4) good engine

The negatives appear to be (from these forum discussions & a test drive...)

1) Interior plastic scratches easily, which actually bothers me more
than it maybe should.... It seems if you are going to pay a premium
price (40K+) for a vehicle, then you should expect premium materials. (Toyota probably is better here). Can anyone give me an idea of how bad the scratching really is?

2) You need external cargo carrier if you load up the vehicle with 7-8 passengers. (again Sequoia, Suburban are better here). In fact can folks put in a weeks worth of groceries with the back seats up?

3) If you have the 8 passenger version, routinely getting to the back
seat is not nearly as convenient as a van. However, this is common
across all SUVs with a middle bench seat.

4) I'm a bicycle racer, so getting a bike inside is also important. Has anyone had any experience with the internal bike carrier?

Thanks in advance!

1. I have no scratches with 10k miles. Any I had vanished with a 10 second hit from a heat gun. Minimal. No more than GM.
2. Sequoia is smaller and not better here. It is substantially smaller than the rest of the field, about 7/8ths size. There is plenty of grocery space with seating for 8. The suburban gives you 6" more depth than armada, that's it. Sequoia is more narrow and less deep. It would also be a struggle to fit 8 adults. I've fit nine comfortably in the Armada.
3. True, but it isn't a big deal. Takes 3 extra seconds. Once your kids learn how, they will do it, not you anyway.
4. No experience. I personally like a hitch mounted external carrier myself. Easy to use and fits more bikes. Course, it doesn't have the weatherproofing that putting it inside does, but then I mountain bike so why would I want to put a muddy bike inside anyway?


Bottomline, the '04s had some bugs. The lemon claims were almost exclusively for bad brakes (warping rotors) which every maker has experienced. Nissan fixed the problem last summer and now they all come with the new rotors and pads. No systemic or chronic problems now exist. Its just a great vehicle. In contrast, TOYota had the same brake issue, took 4 years to acknowledge it, and then wouldn't honor the warranty and replace the defective stuff on the first couple years they made. GM has had 83 TSBs, 3 recalls, and a host of much more serious and common problems such as valve tap, transmission, piston slap, brakes, etc. Buy with confidence.

 

[92TripleBlack]

My sister-in-law has a Suburban, our next door neighbor and good friend has a Sequoia. Our Armada is far superior in all categories. We are one of the people that got a lemon. Nissan took care of us, and we went out and bought a new one, and we love it. So, I was given a chance to do it over again, after having a lot of trouble with our first Armada. And, we made the same decision. I would stay away from the 04's and early 05's (okay guys, start the flaming ), and you won't regret the decision.

Keith

PS - Triple, how did you get 9 in your Armada?

Fat guys up front, women in the second row, 3 in the back.

 

[92TripleBlack]

Either 3 fat guys in the front, or 4 women in the second row. Which one? Best I've ever done with my truck is 8.

Keith

4 women, 1 big (XL), 1 small(XS), 2 medium (M & L). T-shirt sizes.
Future brother in-law in passenger seat, me drivers. His wife is XL, my girl, her sister is XS. She's 5'-3" and 105 lbs max. The her 2 teenage nieces were the other 2. Back had her Size L Brother, teenage size L nephew, and size M Nephew.

 

[92TripleBlack]

Read quite a few of the posts here and it's refreshing to read the positive comments on the Armada. I've had a Jeep GC w/Hemi for a year, and it's been fun but it's not cutting it when we take a trip and bring the dog along (Irish Wolfhound). Time to go back to a full size SUV. I really like the looks of the Armada and really don't like the front of the QX, or what the Q says when I pull onto a jobsite. But my Jeep (and before that a Lexus RX330) have some nice touches (heated seats - even though I'm not in Buffalo anymore, bluetooth phone, zenon headlights on the Lexus, quiet ride) that I would like to keep, especially if I have to keep this beast for 5 years (business tax credit). When you ask an Armada salesman about bluetooth they look at you like you have an earring. It's not so much the money either because Dec 31 is coming up and every large SUV (except the Lexus) is going dirt cheap.

Have you really found the ride of the Armada to compare to the Q, especially for quietness?

Appreciate the feedback.

The QX and Armada are now equally quiet. They added the additional sound proofing in '05 to quiet down the Armada. For example, I often don't hear emergency sirens in the Armada. It is more quiet than my Infiniti G35 even with the big tires I added.

The ride is identical. The only differnence from fan belt to tire including the entire suspension is the chrome on the QX wheels.

As for HID, I got mine for $255. The Armada comes with heated seats in the front. 2nd row seats on the QX are heated, but not on Armada.

With the QX vs. LE Armada, you get HID standard, smart cruise, chrome stuff, a higher grade of leather, longer warranty, heated 2nd row seats, LED taillights, wood dash stuff, and an analogue clock. That's about it.

As for Bluetooth, I never use it so I really don't care. However, you could always install an aftermarket stereo that has it.

No Offense, but the RX is a joke. Its a car with a tall stance and AWD. The Grand is better, but not the right size for you. I went from a Grand to the Armada and I'm nothing but happy. I was going to get the current Grand, but it had become too much of a car loosing its solid axels and the hemi is weak compared to motors in the earlier grands like the 5.9 360 in '96 ZJ and the 4.7 HO in the WJs. With the top of the line Grand being similar in price to the LE Armada, the choice was easy.

I'd test drive it vs. others you are looking at. The GMs are junk. The Durango, TOYota and Lexus are not full size and not much bigger than a Grand, the Fords are crude and slow, leaving the Armada. In '07, GM will upgrade their lineup with new interiors, their weakest point. But the problematic drivetrains remain. The Tundra will grow and probably be a contender, but I haven't heard of a new Sequoia yet, which last time lagged the Tundra by a year. Nissan will add a Diesel option and Ford/Lincoln are relatively unchanged. Try a drive and you'll see. And realize, the weakest link from a handling, ride, and noise standpoint is the junky stock tires. All of these improve with a new set of rubber.