andy_george

My Christmas present to myself was this to put in the hole of the bumper: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/pro-series-off-road-led-light-bar/20in-off-road-led-light-bar-100w/1984/4532/ I'll hook it to a switch so it can be off, on, or on with high beams. Hopefully I'll get it installed early January. As far as led bulbs on the exterior, I chronicled my experience in the nv lounge forum recently. Be careful, as I replaced the 3 brake bulbs with LEDs, and it resulted in a very unhappy ecu and serious drive ability issues. Could have been fixed by adding a resistor possibley, but IMO that reduces the advantage and adds complexity.

For the front map lights and rear cargo light I went with these: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/festoon/de3175-led-bulb--9-led-festoon/232/ In cool white. I'm sure there are other bulbs that work, but I'm happy with these. And then I did the red bulbs in the middle of the cabin.

Sweet, weather-tech floor liners for the NV! I've had multiple sets, and actually just gave my Dad a set for his new F-250 for Christmas. I'll be sure to order a set when they appear on their site....

Good advice Chris. I know there were a lot of farmers around my area who received the biggest Christmas present ever from the govt. when he signed that extension! And welcome, Daydreamin! It's hard to top the dependably of cars like the Element, but I doubt you'll be disappointed in your NV at all! Congrats!

I like the way the forum is organized now, and I'm especially interested to see what group adventures get planned in this topic! Can't wait!!

Very long story very short...... Took the van to elhart nissan in Holland. They ran tons of tests, checked harnesses and wire continuity, had a Nissan rep. On the phone to help diagnose etc. Culprit? I replaced the rear brake lights with LEDs. The center high mount bulb had a transistor, which sent a *tiny* power pulse back to the ecu and mucked everything up. Basically it was making the abs go crazy and made the brakes pulsate constantly. So I got stuck with a 4 hour shop charge for a $4 light bulb:(. Dang luck:(. The shop manager (Ron Savage, a super cool, honest dude) took all the bulb info and said a service bulletin would be sent to all Nissan dealers to help diagnose next time an owner tries to improve and already fine tailight;) Told my wife that I once changed a motor in a road racing motorcycle in an enclosed trailer while going down the freeway, and now I can't change a light bulb without screwing something up. Getting older sucks;)

Hey noeffinmini4me, You're in west michigan!? Heck, swing by the Rivertown Crossings mall in Grandville and get yourself some of our cinnamon roasted almonds! We have a store there for the Christmas season.... Love the van. Nearly 7000 miles in under 4 months. My 5'6"/120 pound wife loves seeing peoples faces when she jumps out of the drivers seat to unload the girls! The light from the radio hasn't bugged me too much. The sonar does seem easily affected by a few snow flakes, but I'd assume that's true with any sonar system? I've got LEDs through the cab..... Love the switch. Bright, clear white up front and in the doors, red through the rest of the cabin. The kids can see fine with the red, and it's not annoying to the driver at all. I guess I didn't give the stock firestones a chance in the snow. I've got a very bad habit of buying a winter wheel/tire set before I even have the vehicle. Drives the wife crazy:)

And no, no warning lights are on, other than the tpms light, since I have my winter wheels on. No light on really surprises me given how erratic the motor behaving...

Thanks for the ideas. Mine seems worse when cold. It was more driveable than I had thought, so I could make it to the dealer this morning with it. It shifts, but it's just like it can't decide where in the revs it should be. Like the torque converter is slipping, grabbing, slipping, etc. And the cruise light works, but it won't set, it kicks itself back off immidiately. I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn it's an electronic issue with the tranny or something in the ecu. I'll keep your experience in the back of my mind, and I'll let you know things as I do.

Thanks so much for the write up! I've been waiting for *years* for Ford to bring the Transit passenger to market. Once I saw the very low tow ratings of it I decided the NV would fit our needs better. 7000 miles in, I think I've made the right decision, and I'm glad everything you say reaffirms that! You mentioned your other car, the CTS. Are you going to be upgrading to the just-announced new CTS-V? ;). Makes my mouth water!

Hopped in our 2014 NVP this morning to head to work. Immidiately noticed a surging between 1500 and 2500 rpms. It wouldn't get past 2500rpms. Max speed it could hit was about 40mph. It was a very abrupt up/down throttle. Checked for any obstruction in the intake, filter, and up to motor. All clear. I'll check the mass airflow sensor when I get home. Really hope it's easy to detect and fix. Last thing I need is to have it loaded on a flatbed and taken to the dealer 80 miles away over the Christmas holiday..... Any ideas? I'll keep ya'll posted.... -Andy

Just replace the bulb, and that's it. For the most part lights that blink (like turn signals) are the only ones that get confusing, I believe.

Superbrightleds.com had a 10% sale going on, so I ordered a setup exactly like jimgoings has..... Cool white in front and rear, red in between. And a couple bulbs to replace the lower door lights that shine on the ground, for good measure. Hope it all works as planned!

How do I make the files smaller so they upload?

I had the same issue. I have ordered tons of tires from tirerack.com, winter and summer, in the past. So I went to their site, registered my new NVP, and went looking. Anything in the 10 ply was either a 10 year old tire design or super expensive. So I had the same thought you did..... I won't be anywhere near max payload or towing during the winter, so I'll get an 8 ply tire, save some money, and get a superior product. 2 days after I placed the order a salesman from tirerack calls. He says "we can't sell you that tire". I was like "huh?!". Long story short, he said it didn't meet the weight specs of the original tire, and since I registered my NV on their site, they couldn't legally sell it. My defense was " so if I buy this tire, overload it, have a blowout, and hit a tree, they could be held liable. But if I was to buy a crappy all-season, run it in the winter, slide off the road and hit a tree, your hands are clean?" He laughed and was like, "yeah, it's wierd how that works, isn't it?" He was super cool and knew exactly what I was getting at, we actually had some pretty cool tire-talk. He suggested I go back to their site and order again, but don't list my vehicle, it was that easy. I wanted to stick to the stock size, but the load ratings of the selections were lower than even I felt comfortable with. I ended up going with the Continental extreme winter contact. New design, gets great results from tirerack tests, and good reviews. I went up in size, though, to a 265/70/17. That gave me a comfortable load rating around 2300 pounds per tire. I just bolted them on yesterday, so I haven't had them in snow yet. But they look big, mean, and should perform very well.

I read that bird poop, while acidic, isn't what causes the damage. It's actually the different rate of expansion due to sunlight under the poop vs. around the poop that causes the damage. Not sure if that's the real case or not... Either way, any paint issue on a one year old van should be under warranty, ESPECIALLY on a protected area like the roof. Keep us posted....

Welcome! Where ya from? Glad to see another join the NV Family! The NV rally this site hosts in the future is getting better by the week;)

I just had this issue develop on my NVP, with 4300 miles. Just a new slight vibration and very faint whine at low speed maneuvering. I'll keep any eye on it, and if it gets worse I'll let my dealer know. Could just be related to the colder weather possibly?

I've only had my NV for a couple months, but I live in Michigan, so I'll let you know how it does! I had a GMC Savana 1500 before this. It was an absolute snow beast. I expect the NV to be just as good if not better. I'm quite opinionated on this topic, and it's hard to convey with words, but good snow tires make an absolutely unbelievable difference. Rubber built for the snow makes nearly any vehicle claw through the white stuff with ease. Tirerack has sales going on now!

We've experienced a few phantom beeps, but it always goes away, so I'm not too concerned yet. It is usually during wet roads. Probably happened 2 or 3 times in 3500 miles.

Welcome, Chris! Congrats on the new job! With Nissan being new to the "commercial" game it'll take some good, smart, dedicated people to get the game up to the level of the domestics. I'm excited to watch! I have a couple writeups in the introduction sections and the general section, explaining our reasons for buying an NVP, and what we like and don't like. Feel free to ask any more specific questions. This isn't a heavy-traffic forum, but everyone here seems smart, cool, and super friendly.

Took our new NVP on it's first road trip from home in Central Michigan to Madison, Nebraska to visit family this past weekend. 1700 miiles round trip. Broke each trip into 2 days to help the kiddos out. I give it a 9 out of 10, it worked awsome. I took notes on the way, for anyone who may be interested: -Averaged between 14.5 and 16 mpg. Considering it was always windy, raining most of the time, and usually going between 70-75, I call that satisfactory. Not impressive, but physics are physics. - Even though it has a lot more weight than our previous 2004 GMC Savana 1500 Explorer Conversion van with the 5.3l., it's a lot quicker. Off the line there's no comparison, the NV is downright quick for a van. And going 55 and stomping on it to pass is equally impressive. It's no Mustang, but it downshifts quickly and picks up speed a lot faster than the GM did. - I considered the drivers seat to be very comfy for all the around-home driving we had done before the trip. On the trip though, after 6-7 hours of driving, my tail bone got really, really sore. I'm 5'10" and 180lbs. But, I adjusted the bottom cushion angle and lumbar, and it seemed to make a big difference. I tend to have the seat set a bit too much like a race car (very close to the steering wheel, bottom cusion tilted way up, back very upright) for the long drive. -Love the Brakes. So much more confidence inspiring than our old van. Those GM brakes were horrible, more than a few times I had been scared by their lack of power. and stopping ability. And I find myself going a lot faster on exit/entrance ramps, it just feels like the COG is much lower. A lot less body roll and feeling like I'm on stilts. -No way to turn on all dome lights is a bummer. Luckily my oldest daughter could reach the dome light from her car seat. -Headlights aren't very impressive, especially on low. I'll be getting a monster bright LED light bar from superbrightleds.com eventually. Probably put it in the center hole in the bumper. -Kids and wife loved all the room. Hooking a laptop to the power source, running an audio line to the radio, and playing movies kept the kids happy when they got tired of looking out the huge windows. - A padded door armrest and center console would be nice. But then again, I'm glad I didn't pay $20,000 more, get less space, and blend in to the sea of SUV's just to get a few fancy touches like that. I like driving a vehicle that has 95% of what I want, nothing I don't, and doesn't stick me with a load of options todays girly-men demand just to make them feel special. I love the way it looks, drives, and does it's job with no fuss. It's not for everyone, but I'd recomend it to anyone. -Andy

Dang Peter, that looks awesome. Good work!!

Hahaha, same here. Wife was happy as a clam through week 1 of ownership, until she wanted to check herself in the mirror. I saw her reach up for the visor, and tried to distract her by asking if I could spend over $1000 on her birthday present this year, but it failed. She was like "what the #*~^, a new van with no mirror!?" A simple fix, but Nissan should be listening to this.....

I was doing the exact same thing..... Waiting to compare the NV to the transit. Ultimately it was the low tow ratings of the Transit that made us jump into the NV. Two weeks in, no regrets so far! This site isn't the most followed, but with the popularity of the NV's picking up some, I can see the need for an NV rally somewhere in a beautiful part of the country in the future. :)