New Toyota Tacoma vs 2001 Nissan Pathfinder

Tall nerdy & sexy woman who is also a gear head. Brilliant garage segments where she covers the tech while wearing a lab coat! Sarah is a 5'11" tall women who has a lot of smarts. She's also very funny and natural. Her "Beans Score" and her "Meatball Score" are unique in the car video genre as she uses them to gauge how a car performs and how an off-roader performs, respectively. Fun videos, and she always makes me laugh. So I found it easy to subscribe!

What happened to me personally when I watched this video was that it made me very happy about my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder.

This image is more about my 29" BMX Cruiser. But you can see I have my Pathfinder in the background. One of the things I really love about the my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder is the utility. I carry my Cruiser in the back. And even with the huge 29" wheels, it fits. Also you can see the kayak on top. And I also carry camera gear and a cooler. The off-road capability of the Pathfinder is good enough. But, with 250+ HP and a 5 speed manual, its quite the hotrod.

I've looked at both used & new Tacos. And I have to admit, part of why I wanted a Tacoma is that I like to called them Taco. But, I decided to keep my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder. It has only 120K on a Japanese built all aluminum chain driven quad cam 3.5 V6. And it's the same motor Nissan took 5 years to develop for the 350Z. But best of all, I found a 5 speed manual. So, it's super fun to drive. 2nd gear on a dirt road is magical! But 4 wheel drive on anything difficult is not bad either. And maybe it's not the best off-roader. But, I've done stuff similar to what was videoed is Sarah's review of the Toyota Tacoma.

Here my Pathfinder sits atop the Bob Sikes Bridge at Pensacola Beach. One lane was closed off for the Double Bridge Run where runners race from Downtown Pensacola to Pensacola Beach. I DJ'd the top of the bridge and rocked out runners as they ascended and descended the crest. What does that have to do with the Pathfinder? Well, it's utility allowed me to easily pick up gigs with a DJ service where your load out is about 400 lbs of live sound gear and a generator.

Not like I want to be Johnny Rock Crawler. I just want to get somewhere interesting to point my cameras. Going to refurb the suspension on my Pathfinder with new bushing and maybe a tube suspension. Also new shocks & struts are planned for it. And of course new wheels & tires. Recently put a sport exhaust on it, and I noticed the power increase. Also the K&M filter element in the stock air box made a huge difference. And the stock 250hp motor, seems more like 275 now. Might do a fording kit. And maybe a slide out cargo box for the cargo area.

Cargo box idea for off-roaders. This is a great solution for keeping things from bouncing around in the back of your SUV. Of course you lose cargo area. But, you can make them removable.

Here my Pathfinder sits with a safety light on it as an official vehicle for the double bridge run. The reliability of this vehicle is so good, when I told the event director what I was driving, he just waved his hand at me and said, "Yeah, that thing will handle this work load all day.". He's right!

All that so say this, the new off-roaders have some great electronics to help you climb and descend. But, the fun factor of the 5 speed manual in my Pathfinder, plus the utility outweigh the yearning for a new off-roader.

Not my Pathfinder in the image above. But, as you can see they are very capable vehicles. I also like the fact that being a 2001, my Pathfinder isn't going to get ruined when I take it off-road. I mean, it's already got the perfect blend of scratches and tiny dents. A new Tacoma at almost $50K would give me a lot of worry every time I took it off road.

Sad to see how far Nissan has fallen since the Renault debacle. And, I am happy my Pathfinder was developed before Carlos Ghosen sunk his evil claws into the Pathfinder. They only made the version I have with the upgrade 3.5 liter motor for 4 years. And apparently it was not making enough money for Renault. So they axed it and replaced it with that awful body on frame monstrosity in 2005. Well, at least Carlos Ghosen got bust in Japan for embezzlement. And when you look at the quality of Nissan today vs what it used to be, that jerk must have lowered the quality of Nissan with the intent of funneling the money into his own pocket. So the once proud heritage of Nissan with all their racing history and off road glory was crushed by a Carlos Ghosen. Maybe in an alternate dimension where his essence goes when he expires, Carlos will have to face Paul Newman and explain it all to him. And I hope Paul Newman punches what every amount to a face in said alternate dimension.

Legendary actor turned race car driver, Paul Newman sits with his Nissan Z racing car. Before Renault acquired a controlling share, Nissan was once considered equal to Toyota in reliability and durability.

Even though I never plan on racing my Pathfinder, I think it would be fun to have it wrapped in the Nissan Factory Team livery.