Chad and Frank reveal their $5,000 “budget overlander” builds after a prior cheap rally-car challenge. Frank scored a 2003 Nissan Xterra SE supercharged (auto) for $2,500—clean body, but with dents, a broken ignition key, a knock-sensor issue, possible oil leak, and AC not blowing cold. Chad bought a 2008 Xterra Off Road for $4,800—rough paint, likely cooling-system risk (original radiator), valve-cover leaks, and questionable maintenance—yet he lucked into OEM wheels/brand-new AT tires and a brush guard. They also debate Xterra value, compare first- vs second-gen strengths, and play an 80s/90s print-ad quiz game.
The fellas have actually done it, they have each bought a vehicle for their budget overland challenge and have not shared their purchases with each other yet. Until now! Did they do well? Tune in to find out!
***Want to support the pod? Join our Patreon for insultingly bad perks, including unlocking the APA Pod "Late Night Confidential" Episodes!***
DNF means the car didn’t finish the event. Something went wrong—either the car broke or they couldn’t keep going.
DNF means “Did Not Finish,” a common motorsport acronym used when a car can’t complete the event. In this context, the speaker is saying they failed to finish the challenge, likely due to mechanical or driving issues.
"We just decided why not go overlanding because that's fun. Yes. We like outdoor adventuring."
Overlanding is like a road trip, but you’re prepared for rough roads and remote areas. Instead of going fast like a race, you plan for reliability and carrying what you need.
Overlanding is long-distance, self-reliant travel—often off-road—where you plan for durability, recovery, and carrying supplies. It’s different from racing or rallying because the focus is on route completion and logistics rather than speed.
"So we set it $5,000 seemed like a good solid target and guys, we have both purchased our budget overlanders."
A budget overlander is an off-road trip setup you build without spending a ton of money. The idea is to focus on the most important upgrades first.
A “budget overlander” is an overlanding setup built with a limited spend, usually by prioritizing essential gear (recovery, tires, basic protection) over expensive upgrades. The $5,000 target mentioned frames the build as a cost-conscious approach rather than a fully outfitted expedition vehicle.
"I found on Facebook Marketplace and purchased a 2003 Nissan XTERRA SE supercharged automatic, dude, 180,000 miles."
They bought a 2003 Nissan Xterra SE. It’s an SUV that’s meant to handle rough roads, and “supercharged” means it has extra forced air for more power.
The speaker bought a 2003 Nissan Xterra SE that’s been fitted with a supercharger. The Xterra is a body-on-frame SUV known for off-road capability, and the SE trim typically adds more comfort and convenience features than the base models.
"There's a hopefully PDR able dent if I care and I kind of don't."
PDR (paintless dent repair) is a way to fix small dents without repainting. It usually works only if the dent is minor and the paint isn’t damaged.
PDR stands for Paintless Dent Repair, a method for removing minor dents without repainting. It works best when the paint isn’t cracked or stretched and the dent is accessible from behind, so it’s often used for small door dings.
"and some surface rust, not that big a deal.
The rest of the paint and body look really, really good."
Surface rust is just the first stage of rust on the outside of the metal. If it’s not deep, you can usually clean it up and protect it before it gets worse.
Surface rust is light corrosion that forms on the outer layer of metal, usually from exposure to moisture and road salt. It’s often treatable with cleaning and rust-inhibiting coatings if it hasn’t eaten through the metal.
"And did they ever make a Nismo? I don't think so. OK, that was on the frontier."
Nismo is Nissan’s performance brand. It usually means a more track- or enthusiast-oriented version of a Nissan model.
Nismo is Nissan’s performance brand, typically associated with sportier tuning, styling, and sometimes upgraded powertrain components. When someone asks “did they ever make a Nismo,” they’re wondering whether a performance-focused version exists for that model/trim.
"The strawberry milkshake of death hasn't been addressed."
“Strawberry milkshake of death” means coolant and oil have mixed, making a pink, creamy sludge. That usually signals a serious problem like a head gasket issue, and it can be expensive to fix.
“Strawberry milkshake of death” is a common nickname for coolant mixed with engine oil, creating a pinkish, creamy emulsion. It often points to a serious cooling-system failure like a blown head gasket or cracked cylinder head, and it’s a major red flag for buying.
"and a brush guard.
It has like a real brush guard with a light on it."
A brush guard is a protective bar on the front of the vehicle. It helps protect the headlights and grille if you hit brush or small obstacles.
A brush guard (often called a bull bar) is a front-end protection bar designed to shield the grille and headlights from brush, branches, and minor impacts. Many setups include mounting points for auxiliary lights.
"and he has a light bar mounted to it and it's like all brand name shit.
And those are like 900 bucks or 800 more."
A light bar is an extra set of lights mounted on the front of the car. It helps you see farther ahead when driving off-road or in dark conditions.
A light bar is an auxiliary LED bar mounted to the vehicle to add forward visibility beyond the headlights. In overlanding builds, it’s commonly paired with a brush guard for a clean mounting location.
"...it's leaking coolant. That's the other thing. It's leaking."
Coolant is what keeps the engine from overheating. If it’s leaking, the engine can run low on coolant and overheat. That’s a problem you generally want to fix before driving far.
Coolant is the fluid that carries heat away from the engine. “Leaking coolant” indicates a cooling-system failure (like a hose, radiator, water pump, or gasket issue), which can lead to overheating and serious engine damage if ignored.
"So add on Facebook Marketplace.
Um, in Espanol, that's always a challenge."
Facebook Marketplace is like an online classifieds section inside Facebook. People use it to sell used cars directly to other people, which can sometimes mean better prices than a dealership.
Facebook Marketplace is a common place to find used cars and trucks from private sellers. For budget builds, it’s often where you’ll see listings for “project” vehicles or deals that don’t go through traditional dealerships.
"It's got a two inch rough country like suspension lift. Yeah, the actual space around top of the suspension."
Rough Country makes aftermarket parts for off-road trucks. A “two inch lift” raises the truck so it sits higher and can clear obstacles better.
Rough Country is an aftermarket suspension brand known for lift kits and off-road upgrades. A “two inch Rough Country suspension lift” means the truck’s suspension has been raised to increase ground clearance and fit larger tires.
"It's got a two inch rough country like suspension lift. Yeah, the actual space around top of the suspension."
A suspension lift raises the truck higher off the ground. That helps with bumps and rough trails, but it can also change how the truck drives and wears tires.
A suspension lift raises a vehicle by changing suspension geometry and/or adding lift components. The goal is usually more ground clearance for off-road use, but it can also affect ride quality, steering feel, and tire wear if not set up correctly.
"You get the bolster wear rate on the seat bolster jumping in and out. That's like a XTERRA given."
The seat bolster is the padded side of the seat. If it wears quickly, it usually means the seat fabric or foam isn’t holding up well with regular use.
The seat bolster is the padded side section of a seat that supports you when cornering or climbing in/out. “Bolster wear rate” refers to how quickly that side padding gets worn down, which is a common indicator of how durable the seat materials are.
"[1020.7s] You know, do you know what it's for? [1023.6s] And he said, knock sensor. [1025.7s] Oh, I said, OK, it's on those that generation of frontier"
A knock sensor detects engine “knocking” (abnormal combustion) and sends that information to the ECU. If it fails or reports incorrect readings, the ECU can illuminate the check engine light and may affect ignition timing and performance.
"In the ad, he didn't say I had a check engine light or that had back to
these on all this stuff and they sluss it out."
That warning light means the car’s computer found a problem. If it’s on, it usually means there’s a code stored that can tell you what’s wrong.
The check engine light (often called the MIL) comes on when the car’s engine computer detects a fault in the engine or emissions systems. In a used-car ad, whether it’s on—and whether codes are present—can strongly affect the car’s real condition and cost to fix.
"So, you know, I say, hey, it definitely looks like it's got a bit of an oil leak.
Just from underneath."
An oil leak “from underneath” suggests oil is escaping from the engine or drivetrain area—common sources include valve cover gaskets, oil pan seals, or leaks around filters/lines. Even if the engine bay looks clean, an active leak can lead to low oil levels and expensive damage if ignored.
"And clean title. The title is clean. It's it's there. I've got all the things."
A clean title means the car’s paperwork looks normal—no major legal issues. That usually makes the car easier to register and sell later.
A clean title means the vehicle’s ownership documents don’t show major legal problems like salvage branding or unresolved liens. For buyers, “clean title” is a key factor because it affects resale value and whether the car can be registered normally.
If the AC won’t get cold, it usually means the system isn’t working right—often low refrigerant or a failed part. The fix could be simple or it could be more expensive depending on what’s wrong.
When a car’s AC won’t blow cold, common causes include low refrigerant, a failed compressor, or an electrical/control issue. It’s a useful diagnostic clue because AC problems can range from inexpensive (recharge) to costly (compressor/evaporator).
"I love and like you said, the interior is Spartan, which is hard to find on a more modern truck. Yeah, hard plastics. The whole back is hard plastics that throw heavy stuff in."
“Spartan” just means the inside is pretty basic and stripped down. Instead of fancy soft materials, it’s mostly hard plastics and practical stuff.
A “spartan” interior means the cabin is intentionally stripped down—fewer soft-touch materials, less trim, and a more utilitarian feel. On trucks, this often shows up as lots of hard plastics and basic storage/seat materials.
"So I got that that audio package because the off road was like more pricey."
An “audio package” is an option that upgrades the sound system in the vehicle. It usually means better speakers (and sometimes an amp or subwoofer) than the standard stereo.
An “audio package” is a factory option that upgrades the stereo system—commonly adding better speakers, an amplifier, and sometimes a subwoofer. It’s often tied to specific trim levels or off-road packages.
"They're like six to seven to eight. Yeah, usually for the locking diffs and everything. So I'm like, yeah, I want that."
A locking differential helps both wheels on an axle work together. If one wheel starts slipping, it helps the other keep moving instead of just spinning in place.
“Locking diffs” (locking differentials) help a vehicle maintain traction by forcing the left and right wheels on an axle to rotate together. This reduces wheelspin when one wheel loses grip—common in off-road situations.
"I'll probably get in alignment just because they're new tires. Yeah. Do all that."
Alignment is adjusting how the wheels point. It helps the tires wear evenly and keeps the car from pulling or feeling off.
Wheel alignment adjusts the angles of the tires so they track correctly. After installing new tires (and especially if suspension/steering components were disturbed), alignment helps prevent premature tire wear and improves steering feel.
"And I guarantee that transmission fluid is 180,000 mile transmission fluid. I put I put 100 bucks on that right now."
Transmission fluid helps the transmission shift smoothly and protects internal parts from wear. If it’s been in there for a very long time, shifting can get worse and repairs become more likely.
Transmission fluid is the lubricant and hydraulic fluid used by an automatic transmission (and some manual/dual-clutch systems) to control shifting and reduce wear. When it’s very high-mileage, it can look degraded and increase the risk of harsh shifting or transmission damage.
"I can get so I can get a replacement ignition cylinder with keys from Rock Auto for like 200 bucks. That's not bad."
Rock Auto is a website where you can buy car parts for cheaper than many local shops. Here, they’re using it to get a replacement ignition cylinder and keys without paying dealer prices.
Rock Auto is an online parts retailer that sells replacement parts from multiple brands, often at lower prices than local stores. In this segment, it’s used as the source for an ignition cylinder with keys, which is a common strategy for budget repairs.
"And it's maybe it's like rear of the motor. So I'm hoping it's not a rear main seal that would be annoying."
A rear main seal is a gasket/seal that keeps oil from leaking near the back of the engine. If it’s bad, fixing it can be a bigger job than a simple cover leak.
The rear main seal is a seal at the back of the engine that prevents engine oil from leaking where the crankshaft exits the engine block. If it fails, it can be annoying and expensive because the repair often requires significant disassembly to access the seal.
"You can get a really good deal on a deeply used rooftop tent for like four hundred dollars on Craigslist."
A rooftop tent is a camping tent that sits on top of your vehicle. You can open it up when you park and sleep up off the ground.
A rooftop tent (RTT) is a tent mounted on the vehicle’s roof that can be deployed for camping. They’re popular with overlanders because they keep you off the ground and can be easier to set up than traditional tents.
"Are we going to drag race? Oh, we might have to. I think yours is going to be faster."
A drag race is basically a quick straight-line sprint from a stop. The car that has more power (and can put it to the ground) usually wins.
A “drag race” is a straight-line acceleration contest, usually over a short distance, where traction and power delivery matter most. The speaker is contrasting vehicles based on powertrain differences (supercharged vs not) to predict which will accelerate harder.
MPG means how many miles you can drive on one gallon of gas. They’re saying the vehicle is getting very low MPG.
MPG (miles per gallon) is a common way to express fuel economy in the U.S. The hosts mention “10 miles a gallon,” using MPG to highlight how an off-road setup can significantly reduce efficiency.
"I'm glad I got a first gen. And I just say that because I think the second gen is the superior vehicle."
“First gen” just means the first version of that model that came out. Later versions can change the styling and engineering, so some people prefer the original.
“First gen” means the earliest production generation of a model line. In enthusiast discussions, people often compare first-gen vs later-gen changes in design, reliability, and parts availability.
"Yeah, the bumper, the front bumper isn't as good on those."
The front bumper is the part at the very front of the car. People notice it because it changes the car’s look, and on some vehicles it can also relate to how protected the front end is.
The “front bumper” is part of the vehicle’s exterior that affects both appearance and protection. In generation-to-generation comparisons, bumper shape and styling can be a noticeable difference, and some designs may also integrate airflow or off-road hardware.
"Well, should we not celebrate by doing PCP?
[3000.4s] And in fact, kind of this whole thing is PCP.
[3002.7s] It is. It is a project car progress."
Here, “PCP” is just their nickname for “project car progress.” They mean the updates and changes they’re making to their car over time.
In this segment, “PCP” is used as a shorthand for “project car progress,” a running theme of documenting how the build is going. It’s not the common car-finance acronym in this context; they explicitly define it right after using it.
Select text to request an explanation
In a world with entirely too many shows about cars, this is another Pointless Automotive
podcast.
Oh my God.
Okay.
Should we kick it again?
Might as well.
Okay.
I was going to ask into my doubt.
You want to check that?
Make sure that's recording too.
Sure.
What's that?
Equipment check.
We are still recording.
Okay.
You know, I was going to ask you if we were recording on that and I assumed you had a
certain confident error around you.
No, I just, I'm not used to doing this in the flesh.
I know.
Which hello, by the way.
I guess we should try this all over.
Yeah.
So, Chadwick again?
Yes.
Frank, I'm still here.
And yeah, we went for a whole, what, three and a half minutes of starting this off without
hitting the record button.
So we were drinking some Paps Blue Ribbons.
We were, God, let's just go back over our old ground.
We were pumping the Patreon and the fact we're going to be drinking Rainier's.
Rainier's will be the Patreon Drink of Choice by our first Patreon.
Yes, member.
Shout out.
Requested that we drink some Rainies on our late night confidential episodes, which
we're going to record later.
Yes.
That's what we're in person right now.
Heck yeah.
And why else are we together in person?
The grand reveal.
So if you guys remember the last APA podcast challenge we had was the Cheap Rally Car Challenge.
We had $3,500 Volvo V50, T5-0 will drive.
Yes.
You had a Focus SVT.
Correct.
Two cool cars.
Mm-hmm.
There was some completion of that challenge.
So we're going to try to.
Yes, I got the DNF.
We're going to try to beat it again because I think it was a month and a half ago or so.
We just decided why not go overlanding because that's fun.
Yes.
We like outdoor adventuring.
Different speed compared to going on a rally.
Completely different speed.
We raised the budget just because off-roading is freaking pricey, right?
Let's be honest.
Yeah.
Even like versus building just a street car, it tends to be a little pricey.
So we set it $5,000 seemed like a good solid target and guys, we have both purchased our
budget overlanders.
We have purchased our budget overlanders, overlanders, you tried to say.
And here's the thing, I have no idea what you bought.
You have no idea what I bought.
I'm now here at your place.
You kept yours.
Purchase all secret squirrels stashed away in the garage.
I have no clue.
You have absolutely no idea what I've bought.
Maybe we bought the exact same thing.
Maybe we bought we're taking wildly different approaches maybe to the $5,000
overlanding rig situation.
If you haven't heard that episode where we talked about some concepts and theories
on how we might approach this, sure, go check that out.
If I was thinking or we were at all professional, I'd say, oh, it's, you know,
episode 209 or whatever it is.
Yeah.
But just scroll back and check it somewhere.
And so without further ado, how are we going to rock, paper, scissor for this,
dude? How about this?
I'm going to ask the eight ball.
Oh, if you should go first.
Yeah.
Should I, Frank, go first to reveal what if our names are in there?
No, Chadwick goes first.
Get the fuck.
Well, should I be the one to first reveal my overlander of choice?
Without a doubt.
All right.
A ball cannot be defiled, cannot be denied.
OK. What'd you buy, Frank?
What'd you buy?
I found on Facebook Marketplace and purchased a 2003
Nissan XTERRA SE supercharged automatic, dude, 180,000 miles.
OK, paint and body are in pretty darn good shape.
OK, it's got on the driver's door.
There's a hopefully PDR able dent if I care and I kind of don't.
Yeah.
And then drivers side recorder panel also has a dent with some broken paint
and some surface rust, not that big a deal.
The rest of the paint and body look really, really good.
It's like it's like that pewter gray.
OK, with black cloth and like charcoal cloth interior, like they all had
the factory, those factory 17 inch supercharged specific wheels.
Were those the what did those look like?
Were those the four?
They're like a charcoal five spoke kind of.
Oh, that's cool.
That is cool.
Runs, drives and it needs some love.
I guess we can get into the particulars in a minute,
but maybe we should reveal each other's like that peek behind each other's curtains.
So supercharged, that's kind of hard to find.
It is. I was not.
I had just not even considered finding a supercharged one
because they're far more rare and they come in a premium.
Yeah. And honestly, for what we're doing,
I don't need the 25 percent bump in power, like I don't need it.
It's it's nice, but it is a cool factor.
It's absolutely super cool factor, and it's going to help on the other end
when I hopefully don't blow it up or put it on its roof.
Yeah, in the resale side of things, because it just makes it far more.
It's a modest bump.
It goes from like 170 to 210. Correct.
Yeah. And then torque from 200, like 245 or something like that.
Noticeable on a truck like that.
God damn, it is an auto.
Interiors in pretty good shape, but we I can go.
We can go there are plenty of foibles.
OK, and the purchase experience was I'll say fun.
Price, let's at least reveal the price up front.
Two thousand five hundred dollars.
We have used completely opposite approaches on this challenge.
And I'll get into that in a second.
Oh, boys, like literally a second.
Is it my go now?
Yeah, you go and then we can we can we can talk more.
First off, I'm super pumped about what you got.
Yeah, I think that's so fucking cool.
It's it's yeah.
So mine's rough.
So my project is going to be a little rough.
I purchased two thousand and eight.
Oh, newer Nissan, OK, XTERRA.
Oh, OK, a second gen off road trim.
Oh, lovely. OK, those are great.
Those are they can be.
I've heard they are when they were newer in a better shape.
Yeah, they're great.
OK, oh, a auto off road trim.
Does it have like off road trims?
So it's got the rear locker, rear locker, hill descent,
hill control, lower gearing.
Yeah, right. Yeah.
And then skid plates, skid plates.
And then you got the roof top lights, too.
Nope, that was on the pro for X or the last year of the off road,
which was 2011, and then the following year on the pro for X.
And did they ever make a Nismo?
I don't think so. OK, that was on the frontier.
Yeah, and off road before pro for X, it was called off road.
Got it. It kept the exact same thing.
So it's a 08, so it has the four liter VQ.
Yes. Big bump, like 260 something horsepower.
Yeah, which is a significant bump. Real healthy.
Good motor overall, but there are some there are some challenges.
Yes, this vehicle.
I have, even though I'm five years newer than you, 180,000 miles.
OK, right. OK.
It does have the strawberry milkshake of death.
It doesn't have it, right, but it's a high risk candidate
because it has the original radiator.
Yeah, you got it. Yeah, you got this job one.
No matter what, like, I have to figure it out.
Questionable timing.
So if you're wondering how I scored a second gen off road trim,
which kind of command a premium for the price point. Yeah, no paint.
I almost spent the whole budget. OK, the paint is rough.
So it's pretty scratched up.
Someone egged it like what looks like years ago.
And OK, what that means.
Yeah, that's just as good as a dent or like paint missing.
Yeah, so that sucks.
What else is wrong with it?
It's all original, which usually on a collector piece
you're excited about, but on a car that hasn't been super maintained.
Not so good. Yeah.
So I don't think the water pumps hasn't been done.
The strawberry milkshake of death hasn't been addressed.
Everything's original on this on this truck.
What tires is it wearing?
Do you have to get you got to get tires?
So this is where it gets good.
Here's where it gets really good. OK, it doesn't.
Because that's so at first I didn't want to buy this truck.
It was listed for it was listed for like fifty eight hundred dollars.
So it was a little above budget.
I'm like, I can knock him down and I don't want to get.
We'll get into the details later.
But so I came in there like I need to knock it down
because I got to be below five. Yeah.
I get there and he has these aftermarket just shit wheels, 17 inch.
That's not the right size because mine only has 16s. Right.
So the off road had big and medium tires and smaller wheels.
And then it had had what the hell were those the dualers?
Is it dual or bridge stone, dualers from 15 years ago?
Yeah, dry rot in the B of bridge stone.
That's how bad the dry rot is.
Just absolutely just not.
I'm like, am I going to make it home on these?
It looked good.
There was like still a little bit of tread left, but everything's dry.
Dry rot in the tread, everything like, yeah, fuck me.
I can't afford tires, but talk it down.
And he says to me, he goes and he didn't have this in the ad.
So he goes, I have something and I was just debating on whether I not.
And this is after I talked to the guy and we had a good like relationship.
I'll go into the background there and he goes, I have something for you.
And he's like, I do have the OEM wheels.
And I'm like, fuck, yeah, that alone is killer.
Right. And then he's like, I just bought new tires,
but I didn't want to mountain balance him yet until I found out what I was doing
with the truck and I'll throw those in.
And they're brand new.
Yeah. They're the Rubitrex by Falcon.
Oh, OK. So like a really good AT tire.
And I'm like, oh, OK, perfect.
And he's like, it's in OEM size, everything like killer.
And I knocked him down to 4800 was as low as he would go.
Sure.
So I have two hundred dollars to play with.
And you got some shit wheels you can sell for another two hundred dollars
and a brush guard.
It has like a real brush guard with a light on it.
I'm going to get at least two for that.
Those are like some random shit after Mark.
No, it's a good one.
I can't remember the brand. I looked it up.
It's like a dealer add on.
No, it's like the I don't think they had one.
I don't think they did for this the second gen.
But it's like a full brush guard with the headlight covers
and he has a light bar mounted to it and it's like all brand name shit.
And those are like 900 bucks or 800 more.
So I'm like, for two hundred with the light bar to figure
and I'm going to need that money.
I'm telling you right now to replace the things I need to replace.
So God, that's what I score, dude.
Well, that's a good score.
I mean, because you're right, it's it's a lot of truck.
It's a lot of rough.
It's a lot of rough truck, dude.
I mean, the tough part is even if you
sell all the super feel of stuff for being generous,
let's say another five hundred dollars,
you know, seven hundred dollars to play with, you have to do radiator.
Got to do radiator.
There I'm sure there's some other stuff that you'll need to do beyond just fluids.
Of course, that's seven dollars is going to even fluids, dude.
Just if you're going to do like if you're going to do like the front diff,
the trans transfer case, rear diff, you start adding all those specialty fluids.
You're already that's like a hundred and fifty, two hundred bucks right there.
Yeah. Yeah.
Little on gaskets for things and this and that.
It does. As you mentioned, so on that truck,
the valve covers are just water falling.
So like I told you, it's leaking coolant.
That's the other thing.
It's leaking.
And I don't want to.
I want you to get in yours first.
You're OK, your foibles.
But anyway, I have a lot to fix and I'm not going to fix it all
to be fair in the name of honesty and integrity with our challenge.
Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be some stuff I'm going to get to.
I've got way more budget to play with.
You opposite strategy this time.
You like well, both last time we went pretty cheap with our cars,
but this time you went cheap with enough room.
Yes, headroom to last time I went cheap, but I kept finding.
Oops, it turns out I need two axles.
I need stuff I wasn't budgeting for.
And then the coolant system went to pot on me.
But you still have the budget left on this one.
I don't have anything.
So if something was to happen that I'm not planning,
so I'm planning for the essentials and I'll go through my plan in just a moment.
But I'm trying to see if I missed anything here.
Oh. Oh, that's pretty.
It's nice. God, let's go.
Do I even have my it is show you?
I can't even show you what.
No, actually, I can show you on my laptop because I can.
So there's the interior.
It's all together. Oh, it's a good truck.
So here's the thing. It's really good.
There's one more, one more, one more to wet your whistle.
And we can we can add these in for those watching along.
It does like oh three, right?
So yeah, three.
You can see if I zoom in like that's the ding on the quarter
that I'm talking about, which I don't.
That's the worst.
The higher body.
You could PDR that to look better.
To get it close and then like touch up, paint it.
And then it's got the the the quarter panel flare
that goes on the dog leg and up over the quarter is broken right there.
So if I put a replacement over, it'll it'll look good.
But like cosmetically, it's really tight.
It'll need a new
like Nissan decal up on the top basket on the roof.
Is your headliner still there?
Headliners, somebody redid the headliner.
They are all of the first gens you had to do.
So somebody redid the headliner headliner in black.
It looks pretty good.
It is sagging in the rear.
But it's like not if you sit in the rear, it's not like hitting your head.
It's not OK.
But it is sagging.
So OK, so things that it needs.
So I guess let me just give you give you the breakdown
on the purchase experience because I thought I had the key with me.
I guess I was going to show you the key because that's part of what it needs.
So add on Facebook Marketplace.
Um, in Espanol, that's always a challenge.
Yes. So add an Espanol, you know,
teach your Olympia.
So he has the title. OK. Clean four by four.
You know, motor E trans BN and that's it.
Nothing else, nothing else in the app.
But I can tell. So I'm going through the photos.
I'm like, yeah, look there. Yep.
It is four wheel drive.
It is a supercharged and so I sent the guy a message.
It was like a three hour old app.
So something I messaged him like, hey,
really interested in the truck.
If you're free tomorrow, I'd love to come down and see it.
And he's like, yeah, you know, I'm free, you know, I get home from work
at three thirty. You can come after three thirties in San Jose.
So not too too far, but not too too far.
But like an hour with an hour and a half with traffic.
Can you tell your story? I found the photos. Oh, yes.
It's in there. I can go walk and see it.
You can. But I've started messing with it.
So yeah, here's the back of it.
I wasn't joking about the sticker display here.
And we'll put some videos on the video.
That's the. Oh, those wheels, my friend.
Oh, they're hard.
They're hard.
And you can't tell how bad the paint quality is.
But sure. Oh, custom plate.
Let's go. Custom plates, which I need to mail back.
It's got a two inch rough country like suspension lift.
Yeah, the actual space around top of the suspension.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it's got a little bit of a lift tour.
Yeah, the stickers were a lot, but yeah, that's it.
Sick. So that's mine, my man.
And the interiors, fine.
Yeah, fine. I mean, the interiors on like how we just
we found a way to both land up in XTERRA land. We did it.
We did it.
The interiors on both of these generations of trucker.
They're incredibly cheap, but they hold up pretty well.
They hold up really good.
You get the bolster wear rate on the seat bolster jumping in and out.
That's like a XTERRA given.
Yeah, I do like how everything is like pretty much rinsed out kind of
quality right inside. Yep.
So, yeah, no, it's it's
all right, we're we're dual wielding XTERRAs, at least two different generations.
So yeah, it's cool.
And I was looking at second gens.
I had actually stopped.
I thought I was going to go in a different direction.
I was not. I had stopped.
I started looking at XTERRAs pretty early and then I kind of like
started looking in different directions.
I was really looking for a Montero sport.
That's kind of what I had settled on, because as cheap as you can get
a decent first gen and second gen XTERRA,
you can get they're a little harder to find, but you can get.
A good to great Montero sport when you do find them for under four grand.
Pretty all pretty much all day.
Yeah. Yeah.
And especially if you look for like a if you find a limited.
Oh, I guess because the limited is you got the two and a half liter
from the big boy Montero.
And I think if it's two thousand or later, three and a half liter, right?
Yeah, what I say, two and a half.
Yeah, sorry, three and a half, because they're all the three liter Vs.
That's a good motor.
The limited got the bigger motor and you got a five speed auto.
So the four speed auto.
Oh, yeah. And you got an LSD rear.
That's a big difference.
Yeah. So I was kind of looking, but I would have settled for, you know,
an XLS or a different trim.
And then I just stumbled into this one, right?
Add in Spanish down in San Jose, message the guy.
He replies and he's like, yeah, I can meet you.
He's like, I need to be.
I need to tell you, though, it does have a check engine light on though.
And I said, OK, you know what, that that's not a deal breaker.
You know, do you know what it's for?
And he said, knock sensor.
Oh, I said, OK, it's on those that generation of frontier
and anything with that VG 33 motor,
super prone for knock sensor failure.
Right. It's like what they do.
And what I've done and I've done this on the past on these is
you just like cut where the cut the wire because you have in order
to change it out, you got to pull the full intake.
Oh, upper lower intake plenum.
All of that comes off because it's down in the V. God, that's annoying.
But what you can do is if you just go,
you just like get close to the as close to the pigtails
you can reach on the sensor side and cut it.
You can then just get a replacement knock sensor for $20, whatever,
for like an NTK knock sensor and bolt it on the manifold.
Yeah, manifold and then just like splice a new pigtail on it
and plug it in into the harness with the old one connected and you're done.
OK, so I've done that before. Great.
So it's OK, knock sensor, not I'm not too worried about it.
I was like, oh, I see in the pictures it's wearing 2025.
It's like July of 2025 for the stags on it.
I was like, are there any fees on it?
He's like, no, OK.
Well, I look up and I notice there's like four hundred and sixty dollars
in back to you on it. OK.
He says, no, might be language barrier.
I don't know. Right. But fine.
I can deal with that.
So I get down there.
I meet him. He pulls up.
He's like, he's like, I'm dropped.
He's like, I'm commuting in this thing every day to work.
Oh, that's actually a good sign. Sure.
I like to see that. So he's like, yeah.
So he's like, I'll just come right off work.
So I meet him. I get there like five minutes early.
The address he gives me and then he pulls up
and he just he pulls up, just put right behind me, leaves it,
run and hops out and he's like, all right, check it out.
So OK.
So I go around it and we drive it on the block.
I don't beat on it, but just like, you know,
go through the first couple of gears, not making any weird noises.
It seems to drive pretty good.
Nice. Not running hot.
You know, it was at operating time when he came in because he just came from work.
So I didn't really get the cold start it.
I look around the engine bay, cars clean, like it's been cleaned.
Like it's not like he washed it inside and out and that there's the the tires
have been dressed and the engine bay is clean.
I notice there's like a couple of rags stuff behind the headlight.
OK, whatever.
I look around, everything looks pretty good,
but I notice that somebody has already relocated the knock center.
Oh, but one of the wires is going to it's broken.
I'm like, OK, well, hopefully that's as easy as he possibly gets.
Yeah, fix a busted wire.
I look around, it's all OK.
Like everything's like remarkably clean in the engine bay.
Like the the water pump looks new.
How much was he asking, by the way?
Thirty five hundred dollars.
OK, got it.
And so.
Which seems cheap for a supercharger, for sure.
Yeah, that's pretty under market, even with the issues right now.
In the ad, he didn't say I had a check engine light or that had back to
these on all this stuff and they sluss it out.
He seems pretty honest.
OK.
Key is broken off in the ignition.
Fuck.
So he's just got like, now you hit the fob and it locks and unlocks.
Oh, OK.
So it's not like he's like broke a screwdriver off in it
and that's broke a random Nissan key.
He was like, this is the key.
And then the spare he had was like an unprogrammed fob and an uncut.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I'm like, OK, that's a little weird, but whatever.
And then he's got the title.
OK. And then so whatever.
So I'm like, hey, like here's the deal because I brought and I brought my scanner.
I scanned it, sure enough, knock sensor code
and then also neutral, neutral safety switch code.
I'm like, OK, well, I clear it and they both cleared, didn't come back.
So I'm like, OK.
And I shut it off and restart it, check engine light still didn't come back.
I know on those, it takes a few cycles for the knock sensor.
Yeah, yeah.
But at least the neutral safety switch code wasn't coming back.
Yeah.
So I say, hey, look, man.
Oh, and he's like, oh, it's got brand new tires on it.
I put tires on it like last year.
So I look and they are they're newer.
They're like end of 2023.
But they're just like Kumo Street tires, OK, which is kind of a bummer
because I hate to like throw out like seemingly decent tires,
but like they kind of won't cut it for what you'll sell.
I might be able to sell for a couple of hundred bucks.
Oh, absolutely.
So, you know, I say, hey, it definitely looks like it's got a bit of an oil leak.
Just from underneath.
Engine bay, again, looks really clean.
Maybe it's been cleaned.
I don't know, but superchargers all there.
Everything looks great. OK.
So I say, hey, you know,
if you don't want to have to deal with getting it smogged
or dealing with the check engine like I can I can I can manage all that.
That's fine.
If you don't want to have to deal with any of that right now,
I can give you twenty five hundred cash right now.
He's like, OK, hmm, OK, sure.
OK, I'm like, all right, let me get the cash from my car.
So I go to my car and I'm twenty five hundred and go sign the title.
And he just like all caps like prints just the last name of the name
on the title and then hands it to me.
I'm like, close. OK.
He's like, yeah, it's in my wife's name.
And I'm like, hmm, I don't know that that's fine.
Whatever. Yeah. Yeah, just which is completely different last name
than the user I was messaging on on the.
I think I think he bought because I asked him, I said, hey,
like when did you buy how long have you had it?
He's like about a year.
I said, OK, did you get like locally or was it like someone far away?
He's like far away.
OK, and broken English.
There's a little bit of language barrier, but I can understand him well enough.
He can understand me well enough.
There's a couple of like case and like not really understanding one another.
So I'm pretty sure he just bought this thing like a year ago.
Couldn't smog it. Never registered in his name.
Had some.
He probably bought it cheap because of, oh, I can't smog it.
And then he's been driving it.
And now the tags are like 10 months out.
Sure. And it's like, shit, like what am I going to do?
And then I just show in like, I'll give you twenty five hundred dollars
to like make your problem go away.
Yeah. And he's like, here's the title.
This is my wife and it's probably just somebody.
It's in like Riverside County down in like.
Oh, OK. It's in Paris.
Like out of Paris. OK.
Like P E R R I S. Right. Right.
And so I'm like, OK, well, whatever.
And so I have it with a busted key and I and a questionable title.
But I ran the DMV fees.
It's it's in the system.
It's not like a DOJ DOJ stop.
And clean title.
The title is clean. It's it's there.
I've got all the things.
And so, yeah, now I've got it at the house.
It seems to start and run just fine.
I got to take care of the the knock censored thing,
because if it's not getting right signal, it it pulls boost.
Oh, OK, one.
So I have to deal with that.
So I got to deal with that.
I've got to deal with Mystery Oil Leak.
I have no clue of the timing about history.
The water pump looks pretty new.
I don't want to roll that.
There's no stick or anywhere in this engine.
Oh, fuck. No, I don't roll every 100,000 on these.
Yep. And I'm at 180.
I'm sure that I'm going to find some other things.
AC does not blow cold.
OK.
And yeah, keys off in the ignition.
We'll see.
The good news is I've got a good amount of money to play with.
I've got another 2,500 bucks. That's the best part.
Yeah.
You know, I guess really 2000.
We're going to I got to eat.
Oh, yeah, it's mis-registration.
Yeah.
And I look, $200 of those fees are like
like bridge toll violations.
Oh, cool.
One's like a one's like a parking ticket.
You know, the one's a Golden Gate Bridge violation from 2024.
Yeah, damn it.
But I'm pretty happy with where I'm at.
I've got a lot of truck with a good with good bones.
Yeah, I just.
There's a very much a non-zero percent chance
that there might be some skeletons in its closet
that I just haven't discovered yet.
There's going to be right at this price point.
Yeah, because it's like the buyer
wasn't completely shady, but like mildly shady.
You seem like a good like a good dude,
but like a shady transaction.
All the best deals are like that, though, right?
Well, you got to take the risk history.
I got to put car facts on it and see.
Hopefully there's some service history in there
that'll give me a good baseline.
I think you're in a good spot.
I really do.
I think I'm in a really good spot.
That much meat still left on the bone
that you can spend for your budget.
I think I think you can overcome the issues you listed, man.
Yeah, I think that's I think if you had,
if that truck had its title sorted and all that,
you wouldn't be getting it for twenty five hundred bucks.
Correct. Yeah, right.
Yeah, it's well above.
I got a deal because of circumstances,
because if all like I could probably turn it around immediately.
If I just make the check engine like go away and get a smogged,
it's a fifty five hundred dollar truck.
Yeah, but when you get it sorted and.
Yeah, you're only not much into it.
It's kind of a hang out if you really enjoy it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is cool.
How about you?
What what what skeletons are in this thing?
So other than like the sketchy paint?
Who knows yet?
So first off, we start communicating.
I see all the stickers, a lot of veteran stickers,
Afghanistan stickers.
So I go, hey, man, you know, I was in Afghanistan in 2003.
Yeah. What's that?
What did you go over there for a bit?
And he comes back and he's like, I wasn't in the army,
but I was a he was an interpreter.
Oh, I thought you were going to say it was going to be like full stolen.
I'm a huge fan.
I'm a huge fan, man.
So he was an interpreter that looks in his always buddies now
are like former like special forces guys and everything.
So it was one of his buddies who was a SF guy that sold it to him.
So that's kind of cool little lineage there.
But he was like super cool.
And I told him and he's like, dude, I'm in.
That's why he gave me the good deal.
Yeah, it's because he's like, oh, no, I'm a huge, you know,
it was hard to get out of there.
A lot of my friends didn't make it out there
because interpreters were like the most dangerous job, right?
And he didn't get sent back.
No, he's still here recently.
Yeah, he's like, no, literally when I bought the truck,
not too long ago, he was still here.
So real cool guy, like super cool,
but I could tell he wasn't like a mechanic minded guy.
So a lot of the maintenance had fell by the wayside.
The biggest issues with the truck,
like I said, the cosmetics are not the best.
Maintenance hasn't really been done.
I don't think he had done an oil change for a year and a half.
He didn't know anything about the strawberry milkshake of death,
which any second gen exterior owner knows about.
Yeah, exterior, frontier, pathfinder.
Yep, exactly.
And I think they were even in the, what was the big guy?
Armada with the four liter.
Same issue because the radiator has a transmission cooler part of it
and it can rot inside and you get coolant in your transmission,
which go figure isn't good for an expensive automatic transmission.
So it's the original radiator in there.
It's like borrowed time, dude.
It's like 180,000 miles.
That would like, that's a note, like the first thing I got to do, right?
Is swap that out.
But he didn't know that money.
Dude, I don't even know if he was ready to freaking sell it
because all his personal blogging was one of those deals
where you showed up and yours was like detailed.
No, dude, this guy had all his stuff, like a can of soda and like just
just garbage in it.
And he's like, oh, cool.
And then he's like, I can't find the title.
So two things.
At first I pull up and I think this is going to go well,
but it didn't go as well as I thought.
He's like, I can't find the title.
Right. Oh, fuck, here we go.
He's like, I'm very sure I have it.
And I'm like, oh, let me get them in.
I just did the car facts when he was looking for it.
Yeah. On top of that, what was the other thing he said?
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
