Nissan Pathfinder Pros and Cons: What To Know When Weighing Your Decision
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In the three-row SUV market, one of the most popular choices is the Nissan Pathfinder. The vehicle offers eight seats and 4x4 capability, along with tons of standard features the engine family will enjoy. However, it’s far from a perfect choice on the market. Before putting down any money, is the Pathfinder worth it?
The Nissan Pathfinder might seem like the ultimate family car, but it’s still valuable to look at the Nissan Pathfinder pros and cons before landing on your final decision. This three-row SUV has some areas where it makes an incredible stand and others where it seems to fall flat. We want to make the choice as apparent as possible for you.
What We Love: Nissan Pathfinder Pros
In the Nissan Pathfinder pros and cons, several items stand out as incredibly beneficial to the driver and passengers. Let’s dive into a few of the most popular.
Comfortable Interior
The Nissan Pathfinder has one of the most comfortable interiors around, with an inside that looks like a truck and seats designed to accommodate passengers and drivers for hundreds of miles. The three rows will hold up to eight people, and the second-row bench can even be moved around to add captain’s chairs.
The reduction in capacity is designed to make more room for passengers if you only need to carry seven people. Plus, it can be switched back just as fast if you decide the eight seats are necessary. All this comes with plenty of legroom, hip room, headroom, and shoulder room for every single person.
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Excellent Balance of Handling, Size, and Ride
The Nissan Pathfinder manages to access the best aspects of a typical car, offering a unique balance between handling, size, and ride. The handling is smooth and easy to control, the interior is as spacious as you can get with a family car, and the ride is as smooth as possible. It also isn’t too big, so you’ll never feel out of control with the Pathfinder.
Many cars choose to sacrifice one of these features for another - better handling for a clunkier ride, smaller size for improved handling. You don’t have to give up much in these departments with the Nissan Pathfinder.
Quiet Interior
One of the best aspects of the Nissan Pathfinder is that it provides a quiet interior. Once you get up to a constant rate of speed on the highway, you won’t have to deal with excessive engine noise. Many cars are speedy and comfortable, but they provide extreme engine noise that makes for shouting and irritation. The Nissan Pathfinder doesn’t do this to its riders.
A hushed interior while sitting at a cruising speed is an excellent benefit for anyone. Those with small children and babies will especially appreciate this feature.
Top-Notch Family Transportation
Finally, the Nissan Pathfinder is an excellent choice for top-notch family transportation. It can fit 7-8 people and will provide plenty of legroom and other features for adults and children - so long as your kids aren’t adults themselves. Otherwise, it might be a little more cramped than anticipated.
The V-6 engine provides decent power, the comfortable interior will ensure everyone is satisfied during the entire ride, and there are tons of standard features. The Nissan Pathfinder is an excellent, versatile selection for anyone who needs more room for people in their vehicle.
What We Dislike: Nissan Pathfinder Cons
Unfortunately, we do need to dive into some of the worst aspects of the Nissan Pathfinder pros and cons. Let’s go over a few things that might scare a few potential drivers away.
Stiff Front Seat
Unfortunately, the Nissan Pathfinder’s front seat can feel a little bit stiff when compared to other selections on the market. They are designed to be flat and firm, which will be fine at first but could impact the comfort of the driver if they’re sitting in one place for a few hours at a time.
If you’re someone who needs a commuter vehicle to drive hours a day and don’t want back pain, the Nissan Pathfinder might not be the right choice for you. Its front seats aren’t the best around for a comfortable time behind the wheel.
THE MOST RELIABLE YEAR FOR THE NISSAN PATHFINDER
We walk you through the recent generations of this three-row SUV and determine which is the most reliable year of the Nissan Pathfinder and which model years are worth skipping. Let’s take a look.
Small Cargo Area
The Nissan Pathfinder also has a much smaller cargo area than other competitors. According to edmunds.com, behind the third row, you will find about 16.6 cubic feet of room. This number is minimal and means eight passengers will struggle to fit all their items in the vehicle if you’re going on a long trip.
Things do change when you fold down seats. There are about 45 cubic feet with the third row folded down and 80.5 cubic feet with the second and third rows folded down. However, these won’t matter if you need the car filled to its complete capacity.
Pricey Higher Trims
The higher the trim of the Nissan Pathfinder, the more it will cost. According to nissanusa.com, some of the priciest trims come in at $50,000. The more features you want to add to the vehicle, the more it will cost. You can find yourself close to $100,000 in cost if you aren’t careful.
The Nissan Pathfinder is an excellent car, but we don’t think it’s worth over $50,000. You’ll need to fork over a large chunk of money for some of the best features in the Pathfinder.
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Should You Buy a Nissan Pathfinder?
We’ve gone over some Nissan Pathfinder pros and cons, which leaves one final question - is it a good idea to invest in the Nissan Pathfinder?
Overall, the Nissan Pathfinder is well worth the money. It has ample standard features, a comfortable interior, and an excellent balance of control on the road to make any driver feel collected. Plus, it’s one of the best forms of family transportation around.
If you get the Nissan Pathfinder, avoid the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, and 2014 models. They offer the least dependability and will prove more trouble than they are worth.
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