2001 Nissan Xterra project

[SparkyDog]

I sold my 2020 Journey, to Carmax for $2000 more than I paid for it last month! I drove it 19 months and 13K miles.
We sold our house in May to a cash/as-is company and rented a house a 1/2 mile away. So the Trek camper build ended up crammed in the garage, after code enforcement told me to get it out of sight.- They never leave you alone, so I sold it too. Then a week later I bought this 2001 Xterra, for $5300, formerly a snowbird's garaged condo car for 9 years, Not much mileage- 137K and the interior is excellent- no rips, tears or stains. Timing belt/water pump was done at 90k miles. It has a tow rating of 5000lbs, so I can rent a U-haul 6x12' cargo trailer to help move us out of South Florida-

 

[nsfr1206]

Alabama is a great place to live, and those Buccee’s brisket sandwiches are good. [emoji1]


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[SparkyDog]

Sadly, my snowbird Xterra developed many leaks - I fixed the water pump hose and transmission line leak, but the rear main seal became one quart a week- the power steering was the other one.
Time to go-
I traded it for a 2023 Kia Soul LX- the owners manual does not set a tow limit with this car, nor does it forbid towing - in the maintenance section it says to use the severe duty schedule, if you tow with the car.
I never considered this car, because it had weak performance and mediocre mpg - but I had not read about the improvements made in the 2020 model - EPA rated over 30 mpg highway now.
I’m
Going to get a hitch with 2” receiver installed this spring and then do a test tow with a neighbors 5x8 utility trailer - I think 1500 lbs will be OK on flat highways.

 

[jandmz]

We had friends who liked to camp, and had cars very similar in capability to the KIA, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Vibes, one an automatic and one a 5spd. The Vibe is the same as a Toyota Matrix. They solved the towing problem by using a Time Out tent trailer. It was about 400 lbs and, when folded out was big enough for two adults and two dachshunds. The Time Out was designed to be towed by a motorcycle, so the Vibe had no problem handling it.

 

[SparkyDog]

Thanks for the reminder about that mobile tent option.