Well after months of saving and looking for a new car we have finally found one. After test driving a few cars and looking at what we wanting, 4 doors, boot that can hold two dogs, a bit of height and clearance for the small bit of off-road driving we do. We found that the Nissan X-Trail was the car for us. Bring on the soft-roader.
I must say thanks to my father who in the process of us finding this vehicle test drove plenty of others, including this one. It seemed that they were for sale everywhere except Wellington.
What we ended up with was a 2003 Nissan X-Trail, NZ new with only one previous owner that appeared to have really looked after it. The kms are reasonably high but it comes with a full-service history and he had the motor rebuilt 7000 kms ago because the valve guides started to leak a little oil.
It absolutely flew through a VTNZ Pre-Purchase inspection, only finding a slight leak in the rear glass where the spray nozzle was missing and it has a slight pull to the left. Being an NZ new it comes with the 2.5L motor which sounds like the better option with a bit more power and torque with only a slight decrease in fuel economy.
For the price, we could not pass it up and got the money to my parents who picked it up the very next day.
We are yet to see it but will be picking it up when in Auckland at Easter Weekend for the Nephews birthday party.
Hopefully, the next post will come when we have actually driven the soft-roader.
Any ideas on ways to improve her let me know.
Till Next Time
Parriehunter