2011 Xterra w/ Issues ... To Buy or Not to Buy?

A/T issues and misfires? Geez, my 06 sounds pretty good now, lol. My take is that if it was at all reasonable to fix, the owner would have done it and sold it at book value. The engine sounds abused. It could just be a coil and a maf sensor, a tire plug and some valve cover gaskets and you're laughing to the bank. Maybe... Maybe not.
Personally I'd rather invest a bit in a well maintained vehicle, than potentially try and rescue something from neglect and get bitten. Seen too many guys dump time and energy and coin into a sinking ship. Some would call it polishing a turd....lol
If you proceed, I'd get it looked over really well. compression test, leakdown test...etc just to make sure there isnt something really bad.

Any estimate of cost to have a pro do all the necessary work? My first guess: $5-6k. That truck better be cheap. Sounds like you'd be doing the seller a favor by taking his problems off his hands. Keep that in mind.
I just saw a black one for sale at a lot in my area for <$8k, fyi

He says he's been running it rough for past 10k. Yeah, some abuse.

Carfax shoes regular oil changes and such.

Radar said:

Any estimate of cost to have a pro do all the necessary work? My first guess: $5-6k. That truck better be cheap. Sounds like you'd be doing the seller a favor by taking his problems off his hands. Keep that in mind.
I just saw a black one for sale at a lot in my area for <$8k, fyi

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How cheap?

IntellectualRedneck said:

A/T issues and misfires? Geez, my 06 sounds pretty good now, lol. My take is that if it was at all reasonable to fix, the owner would have done it and sold it at book value. The engine sounds abused. It could just be a coil and a maf sensor, a tire plug and some valve cover gaskets and you're laughing to the bank. Maybe... Maybe not.
Personally I'd rather invest a bit in a well maintained vehicle, than potentially try and rescue something from neglect and get bitten. Seen too many guys dump time and energy and coin into a sinking ship. Some would call it polishing a turd....lol
If you proceed, I'd get it looked over really well. compression test, leakdown test...etc just to make sure there isnt something really bad.

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No. It does not have any transmission issues, that i know of. That was a typo. Transmission hads a bit of a noise when coming out of park or other.

Yet, seems okay.

The issue are the rough running, misfires, MAF snsore code, and potential consequences of running it like that for past 10k miles.

I'd only pay bottom dollar. He's been driving with a misfire then it probably has a dead catalytic converter. Engine might be cheap or might be major. Unless I was getting it next to free, I'd pass. Plus it has nearly 200K on it. Other things are going to be wearing out soon.

Guy originally lists it for 5500. After a week of back and forths... his price is now at 3k.

Considering paying a dealership to "diagnose" the problem, and inspection the vehicle prior to purchase...for $200. This may not include a compression test, and maybe not a leakdown test either.

Cats cost about $300 each? I can do that much myself... labor wise.
The engine is my main concern.

Says it has never been off roading.

I would get it for 3k if you're skilled with the tools, but in Alaska doesn't everything cost double, even dealership stuff?
What if you paid for computer diagnostics at the dealer first before buying, then you're only out $200?

My first X had 277k on it when it got totaled. It was going strong.

If you were closer I would say buy it and have my Nissan mechanic look at it (fix it), but it's a little longer drive than I thought, 3656 miles. I would do the drive myself because of what I know.
Similarly I would drive to the east coast for a Titan engine swap if there was nobody with a good reputation closer. I had bad work done in the past from places I knew nothing about, so now I will drive to get it done right the first time.

I’d offer $2k and walk away if he says no. At $2k you can at least make your money back in a part out of it can’t be saved.

As others have said with a misfire you’re looking at a fried cat on top of the misfire and MAF issues.

How difficult is it to do compression test?

Due to misfiring for ten thousand miles, it may have scored the cylinder walls.

If so, i do not want it.

If the engine is okay, then sure.

Mister Blu said:

....

Thoughts? Advise?

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Pay a Nissan dealership mechanic ~$150 or whatever it costs to do a full safety, mechanical check. The Nissan mechanic should be able to provide information to help decide whether to purchase or not and if you do purchase, a list of things to fix.

If that is too expensive, do not buy this vehicle.

Or.... save the money and buy a t-shirt that says: I like expensive surprises!

I would walk away. There will be another Xterra deal to be had.

It was abused AND neglected. What you see now are only the problems that are very obvious. I guarantee there more issues hiding in this one. The seller has neglected it so poorly he probably doesn't even know they are there. This one will be a money pit.

Mister Blu said:

How difficult is it to do compression test?

Due to misfiring for ten thousand miles, it may have scored the cylinder walls.

If so, i do not want it.

If the engine is okay, then sure.

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I would echo, what everyone is saying here; sounds abused.

I would not pay anything over $1500 for this one unless there are some other really compelling reasons.

I bought a 2005 that was pretty hammered same mileage as this one and it had some issues but was easy to fix for a few hundred dollars and some work.

I ended up purchasing a wrecked Titan and Titan swapping suspension, drivetrain, power train. It is recently running after about four months. O have to say it is Awesome! However, it is not a cheap mod and if you are looking for just a good Xterra I would pass On this one and keep looking, they are out there.

Agreed with Early 2010.

If the guy has been driving it with a misfire for 10,000 miles he obviously stopped giving a care about the vehicle, now it's just something that he wants to dump on someone else while regaining as much as he lost back as he can. You're going to deal with a lot of other issues that will pop up- perhaps if you can source a nice donor engine for cheap and talk the dude down to 2k or 1.5k for the vehicle you'll have a good swap (as long as the transmission is good), but unless you've got something like that set up you should start looking elsewhere.

You can find 2005-2008 xterras for around $5,000 and they're mechanically sound- and if you're into working on your vehicle you can basically make your vehicle have all the same features as a 2011. (Maybe some of the ECU-related crawl-control stuff will have to be left behind, but honestly it sounds more like this xterra would be a better crap/parts vehicle for its diff/axles and gear ratio.)

Walked away. Thanks for the input you all!

Mister Blu said:

Looking to upgrade to second generation...

A potential opportunity (or money pit), to own a 2011 pro 4x for less than half the blue book...

Single Owner Vehicle... w/185k
But it has some issues...
A/T
Codes...

P0306 Cylindee 6 misfire. X2
P0101 mass airflow. X3.

Runs rough. Guy says it appears to go away at higher speeds. Yet, may be merely drowned out by rpms, road noise, etc.
Idles rough, yet idles. In and out of bear.

Both
Valve cover gaskets are leaking also.

New tires, yet one has a nail in it.

What should i pay for this rig?

Thoughts? Advise?

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If you already had an engine to drop in, I'd offer $1500. My guess is the motor is junk. I have an '08 with 168k. Have replaced tranny and 2 radiators. Engine still strong though.