Just Drove Home - NV 3500 SL Passenger V8

[dporter]

Glad to have found this NV forum. Just purchased a 2012 NV 3500 SL Passenger van, silver, all options except tow package (purchasing this summer to tow ski boat).

 

I've been researching this van since it was announced earlier this year. Compared to the other 12 passenger van options there is no real comparison. Nissan found an underserved niche and have built a great option for larger families or those that want more space.

 

I had never seen the passenger van on the road and the dealerships in AZ never had them to look at. Seem to be pretty rare. I drove to CA for Christmas in my 06 Honda Odyssey when the transmission started giving me more problems. (166k miles) After spending 5K in repairs in the last 6 months I was done with the Odyssey. Looked on cars.com and found Connell Nissan in Cost Mesa had the exact model and color NV I have been thinking to get. Saw the van for the first time in person on Monday, wife and I test drove and signed the papers yesterday.

 

It's been 48 hours and 400 miles already :-) We drove home to AZ from CA. Averaged 14.7 mpg highway but I drive a bit faster than speed limit. I was nervous that the van might be too large to drive comfortably, especially for my wife who has driven the Odyssey for 6 years. She loved how the van handled during the test drive. Great turning radius for a large van. Brakes respond quickly. The large side mirrors are critical as the rear view mirror is of no use other than to see my kids fighting :-) Rear camera is critical and I am learning to love the front/rear sonar especially as we are getting used to the size of the van. The leather is great. No floor mats is a drag. We are probably going to make our own out of carpet to protect the flooring. We had rubber mats in our Odyssey and with young kids they worked great.

 

I'm impressed with the bluetooth hands-free phone integration and the navigation. Nissan has done a great job with these features. I'm involved with the local boy scouts and so I'm sure this van will get plenty of camping use in the coming years and fitting everyone in the same vehicle will be nice.

 

Looking forward to being a part of the forum. Not much discussion happening but the group is probably smaller than I am thinking. I uploaded an image of the van.

[papaduc]

Great choice.

I went with the high roof cargo version to haul my motorcycles and camp out of.

Enjoy.

[JimmyM]

My wife and I just test drove a black SL Passenger. Kids love it, Wife really likes it. No Towing package, but I would order ours in blue with the towing package since it also includes the "Tow Mode" on the transmission.

I've recently been thinking about the SV V-6. We'd only be towing a 3500lb trailer anyway. And the V6 will get better mileage. But no leather or 3-zone HVAC. It's also ~$3000 less.

[ItzNota]

The NV army is getting bigger....the wife and I bought our silver NV3500 SL yesterday. Love it so far.