Hello everyone. Thanks for all the great info on the forum. I've already vacuumed up tons of good info, much appreciated.
Couple of weeks ago, I bought a Silver 2014 Pro-4X with 13k miles on it from a dealer in Irvine. I really wanted a mid-sized truck-based SUV, and this is fitting the bill great so far. Funny, how it's so hard to find a vehicle like that at reasonable price, but I digress.
I also bought a 6 yr/80k mi Security+Plus Gold service contract from Nissan of Santa Rosa (at less than half the price the Irvine dealer wanted, hah). The X was past it 36 months bumper to bumper warranty, so the plan is good peace of mind.
The only mod I've done so far is the hood struts. And there's a Pioneer head unit inbound, because Android Auto.
Outdoor activities for me and the family are hiking, camping, backpacking, and shooting sports. So the X will be good for hauling us and our junk around to do all that. And I think the XTerra will open up more locations for us to do those things, particularly in Anza Borrego and Utah.
Not sure how much off roading for its own sake we'll do. But my son and I did just make a run up Black Mountain near Ramona, and had a great time. I'll say this, that XTerra was planted to the road every inch up and down. It was impressive to say the least. We did air the tires down to 20 psi for the run up there, mainly for practice doing it. Didn't want to go lower without beadlocks or experienced trail buddies along. Not hard core by any stretch, but everything we tried worked.
Here we are at the top, and at the end, getting ready to air the tires back up to highway pressure.
Anyway, thanks again for the forum, and I hope to see some of you out there.