andy_george

I'm gong to go out on a limb and guess that this guy isn't really all that impressed with the 100,000 mile warranty:). Doesn't even last a year.....!

Oh, and our mileage has been between 7 and 8 mpg, mainly dependant on the headwind. I'm satisfied with that....

So Rick, if you don't mind me asking, if you weren't overweight, what was the huge ticket for? Those prices are insane high.....:( Update on the towing..... We left Michigan Saturday evening, we are currently just south of Atlanta, and should reach our destination in central Florida this afternoon. The NV is doing awesome. I had spoken earlier about gas vs. diesel, and how the lack of torque of the 5.6 compared to the Cummins was a little disappointing, etc. I throw that all out the window. Granted, we aren't pulling a huge load, but I'd say a 7,000lbs, 33ft. Travel trailer is the higher end of what the private-use passenger vans usually tug around. It's got plenty of grunt, stability, and brakes to make this trip super easy, even up over the Mt. Eagle pass in Tennessee. Unless you have a strong head-wind (which we had a lot of so far:(. It pulls in 5th most of the time. It drops to 4th quite a bit, but that's only like a 600rpm jump. And on the longest, steepest grades it asks for 3rd gear, but then it's easily holding 60mph and still only spinning under 4000rpms. I've been happiest staying out of the cruise control in the hills, and manually clicking into 4th and holding it there so it doesn't jump between 4th and 5th on grades. We have the most challenging part of the trip behind us, and I'm super happy with how it's towing with it's low-tech but ultra reliable gas powered hunk. Sure a diesel would be nice, but for the few times the extra torque would be appreciated, a gas motor is still ideal for 95% of the driving we do..... Very light loads, short trips, errands, etc. 9000 miles in, and we still can't imagine anything, at any price, meeting our needs better.

We also have a NVP SL, and just bought a used 2006 Keystone 30BHS. It's a little shorter, with a 30' box, 33' overall. We PLAN to head from Michigan to Florida this weekend, but that is contingent on whether or not 2 of our kids with fevers start feeling good again:( I don't plan on it being too long, but I'd gladly give you trip notes if we are lucky enough to blast off. I have some initial impressions in a topic I started in the general discussions "Why the NV deserves the Cummins Diesel". My brother also has an old airstream, which I've never pulled with my van though. It's total length is right about 36', but it's also around 8600lbs. It feels huge behind a pickup, for sure, but it's never seemed to be "too much" or stopped him from going anywhere..... -Andy

My guess is that the towing capacity would be very limited? Any weight put on the hitch comes, basically, right off the front wheels. Just as any load placed behind the rear axle would do the same. The Ram is unique, good for them to go after those buyers looking for a fwd full size van. But I'd have to think that would eliminate a fair amount of interest also....?

the commercial was shot in Houghton, MI. Home of Michigan Technological University, where 2 brothers and myself attended college (admittedly, mine stint was only 6 mos. tho). Amazingly beautiful area, especially in the winter! Good for Ram, when making a commercial the idea is to make yourself look better than the competition. Fwd has the advantage in this test, no doubt. But the slope doesn't look that steep, with momentum I would have expected the Transit to hold it's grip and continue. My in-laws in Nebraska have an extremely steep driveway. I'd say it's 30 degrees. Almost hard to walk on it's so steep. No one believed my Savana with Blizzaks would make it up a couple winters ago when they had crazy snow there. The whole week it never spun once, unless I made it lose traction. They were blown away. Haven't been there yet in the NV, but just a couple weeks ago here at home we had a good snow drift in the driveway, at least 12", maybe 16". I tried my hardest to get stuck, couldn't do it. With good snow tires you can get into a bank, stop, hit the gas and it drops down, and unless you bottom out, you will progress. My dad has owned 7 Ford Superdutys, in Michigan, never had 4wd, never been stuck. Literally never. I'm sure people get sick of hearing me preach this;). But my point is this: if you are intersted in better snow traction, why beg Nissan for a 4wd option to make you pay thousands more upfront, carry around all the weight and complexity for the life of the vehicle, and probably give up another 1-2 mpg, when a $1000 set of tires will last 6+ years, AND help you when you need to stop and turn, unlike 4wd. Rant over....;)

I love being up higher than any of the SUVs out there. Cool that your kids noticed it, and it was a deciding factor!

In the passenger version, the SL gets leather seats, and heated front seats. That's probably the largest reason I wanted it. Leather cleans up so much easier, and is less dusty. Not a cheap option, but worth it for me....

Ahh, the gas vs. diesel debate. Nearly as fierce as the Ford vs. Chevy debate:) The sales numbers of the NV are surely a lot lower than the Titan, but the percentage of commercial NV's vs. commercial Titans would me much, much higher. I'm simply speculating, but I'd say generally commercial buyers lean more towards diesels than gas in a vehicle this size. True, they are much more complex than the old days, and amazingly more expensive, but generally they are still very reliable (with life expectancies double that of most gas motors), and the performance is absolutely amazing. Lots of people need diesels for towing, even more people THINK they need one. I'm just speculating that since Nissan now has the pieces, a lot of commercial buyers would be willing to give the Cummins a shot.

I'll say it, I'm NV-ous! Hahahahahaha! <<crickets>> Sigh..... ;) -Andy

Yeah, as long as it's like-new and nothing seems shady about the deal, I'd do it. I was looking for used SL's last fall, and I decided if I couldn't find anything for under $35k I'd buy new. So I ended up spending $39k :(

So we bought out NVP SL last fall, and a major reason was so we could pull trailers. Namely a camper. And just a week ago we picked up a used 30' Keystone Hornet. Nothing special, but clean and relatively cheap, it'll serve our needs very well. On the drive home, about 80 miles, it pulled fine. The camper is about 6800lbs, and with a big frontal area, so it was obvious it was there. We have an Air-Safe hitch we used, but no weight transfer bars for this trip. It swayed just a little, but I expect 95% of that to go away when I switch out the 45psi winter tires and bolt back on the oem, 10ply, 80psi Firestones. Even the way it was, perfectly acceptable. Stiffer tires and weight transfer bars should make it perfect. Heading to Florida within the next few weeks, from Michigan, for a couple week vacation. I'm super spoiled, and have only pulled trailers with torquey diesels my whole life. Ford pickups, Freightliner Sportchassis, an old school bus, and class a motorhomes. The 5.6 pulled fine, I know it's built to take it, but it's just an eye opening experience to pull with a gas motor vs. a diesel. You just don't have mountains of grunt, and a lot more shifting and speed loss is normal. Again, not complaining or saying it's out of the norm, just something I'm less familiar with. So with nissan just unveiling the Titan and the cummins motor, it's got me thinking. They claim to be aiming for the "gray area" of heavy-duty half-ton pickups. That's all great, and I hope they sell a ton more Titans because of it. But if they stuff the Cummins in the NV, it's not a gray area, it would be the only modern player in the class. ( does GM still offer the derated Duramax in the van? If so, the NV package is still a lot nicer and more modern) It would be a great alternative for people that want to carry a ton of people or stuff, and still haul big trailers. Of course, I'm sticking with mine for the next 10 years because I've gotta get my money out of it, and it will do a fine job with anything I ask of it, I'm confident. But with a sweet package like the NV mated to a sweet Diesel, it seems sinful not to bring the two together eventually.

Sounds like a sweet plan! Best of luck! Welcome to the best vehicle forum around!

I see Rick and Chis's point. I did some research and knew the GPS was junk before I ordered the van. My phone is for that, like Rick stated. I was, however, let down that the bluetooth was worthless. Nissan just doesn't have the sales numbers to make the bluetooth as perfect as it is in, say, the F-150. It takes a lot of engineering to get something like that perfect. Engineering = development costs. I bought the tech package mainly for the camera. I didn't think I'd use it, but I knew my wife would appreciate it. I am using it more than I thought I would. I could have bought an aftermarket camera, run the wire, installed a new head unit with a display, and it probably would have been better. But I wouldn't have saved any money. And it would't carry the warranty. Any problem that arose would be mine to figure out. Lastly, I had looked at used NV's for a while before buying mine, and nearly all of the passenger models had the Nav. Good or bad as it is, when it comes time to sell in 10+ years I'll probably get at least $500 more than if mine was the only one people were shopping for without the tech package. My $.02....

I'm putting a big auxillary light up in the hole of the front bumper. I am wiring it to a switch that turns it on/off/on with high beams. So i need to tap into the signal wire for the high beams, and ideally I'd like to find it in the cab to avoid all the salt, dirt, heat, etc. at the headlights. And i'll run that wire to a relay, etc. But i'm also afraid it's buried in the center of a 3" bundle that's wrapped, taped, and zip tied in a tiny space that no man's hands could ever fit. Does anyone have any idea where and what color the line would be in the cab? Any ideas or photos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Andy

Where do I get a bow tie like that!? Nice!

I've noticed our slider also squeaks on rough gravel roads, but I've only noticed it the last few days with temps at 10 degrees or lower. Hopefully it stays a very cold-weather squeak and goes away when the frigid temps leave.

Very interesting, thanks for taking the time to converse with the guy and let us know what he said. For me, when the time came to compare vans for our family, the Promaster never made the consideration list. I like the general package (Transit style) but the amazingly ugly front end, spindly looking rear axle that just gets dragged along, and unproven reliability kept it clear of our radar, even if they made a passenger version.

Just replace the bulb, nothing else required. And yes, it's the same bulb, just offered in about 8 different colors. I called and spoke to a technical dude, and asked if red was less offensive to the driver, or if any color that was "darker" than white would be fine. He said that the color red, for some reason, interferes with our eyes the least, so if you're looking for lights to be on while driving, red is the best way to go. Other colors would have looked neat, but oh well...!

-Pewamo, MI. ( central Michigan) - Would love to attend - about the same, around 300 miles - Any size would be fine with me. Sometimes a smaller group is more manageable, and since we aren't a forum for Honda Accords, I'd assume getting a big group together could be tough....? - biggest obstacle for me would be scheduling. Wife is a nurse with an always different schedule. My self-employed job has me working many, many weekends and holidays. I have lots of time off, but when there's work to be done, I've gotta be there. If a gathering arose in my neck of the woods I'd let the group determine when and where, and if it worked for us, awesome. If not, I'd expect lots of picture posts:)

I wasn't clear there..... I'm just talking about the clear lense. Not the whole assembly.

Take a small flat blade screwdriver and just pop them down. Not from the outside, but from the inside, closest to the on/off switch. If you try prying on the outside you risk breaking the little "L" shaped catches. It'll be obvious after the first one....

The inconsistency of your reading does seem a little wierd, I agree. I stopped to fill up last night, after using 2/3 tank in a mix of 70%highway and 30% rural roads, and I was bummed to calculate my mileage at 12.4mpg. So that part may not be that rare. Thank The Lord for $1.76 fuel right now. The news stories of low fuel prices being ultimately bad because it slows sales and development of alternate fuel vehicles drives me crazy. I have a hand gesture for those people...;)

Wow, what headaches. Thanks for sharing! Welcome!!

I haven't checked in a month or more. Last I checked it hovered around 14-15mpg. It could be a little worse with the cold weather here, but I'd hope it's around the same. I've found the range info to be completely worthless in my van. It's always been way too optimistic at fill up, drops noticeably faster than the actual number of miles driven, and then it goes blank to the " --" screen once it drops below 60 miles or so. What good is a range estimator if it's in inaccurate, and towards the end of the tank it just throws in the towel and says " good luck buddy..... You're on your own now...!" ??