I should add I paid basically 10k with about 195k miles. Took it to get an oil change at the spot my buddy runs the next day and he and I were both blown away by how clean it was. It did have a recent valve cover gasket job but this thing was spotless underneath from nose to tail. It's the interior and exterior that show some signs of use.
I think that most people that have responded missed that you mentioned $6-7K. That REALLY reduces your options. Any Armada / Sequoia ive seen in that price range, I would not have wanted my wife to have to set in!
As a side note, and not everyone agrees, but I will point out that for towing, RWD actually tow better than 4wd, all else being equal. Unless the towing is going off road. Just something to consider
GMT800 Suburban or Yukon would definitely be the budget option. The Denalis are the sweet spot because they came with 6.0L, heated seats and AWD standard. I just picked up this 2003 Yukon XL Denali with 205k miles on it for $3700 in South Carolina last week and drove it 900 miles home to Wisconsin. Up in the rust belt these trucks normally rust out before the engines quit. The trans is a known weak link but good maintenance goes a long way.
That being said, I would say the generation of Nissan Armada (and Titan for that matter) is VERY reliable. Never had to put an engine or transmission in one...They will often crack exhaust manifolds, so listen for a "clicking" sound that gets faster with RPM. It might be a good negotiating point in a sale if you can confirm they're leaking.
I just replaced an engine in my father in law's 04 Titan he bought new (213k now). I only replaced it because his son drove it with a cracked coolant reservoir until the engine 'hot-seized' and upon teardown the block deck was warped past the service limit. Just easier to install a used engine, especially knowing how trouble free the first one was.
Anyway, this one had cracks on both exhaust manifolds in about the same spot. Since they are steel manifolds i welded them up and it went pretty easily! I also cleaned up the flanges slightly on a big belt sander (although they still aren't flat, just better. Im impatient) and bought some composite gaskets with a bit of conformability rather than using stock style sheetmetal gaskets. Anyway, it sounds nice again.
The exhaust bolts are larger than i was expecting and not a one on either engine gave me any trouble. Compare that to something like a 4.6/5.4 ford or a Hemi which are both known to snap bolts/studs. And the hemi uses different, stainless bolts in the corner positions that are most likely to snap and they are WAY harder to drill into.. ugh.
The Titan/Armada are not particularly easy to work on but you pretty much never need to!
Late model V10 Excursion 
yupididit said:Late model V10 Excursion
This is the best answer and only thing in this thread (in this budget range) I would trade my escalade for straight up.
Yeah, ive done all 10 plug inserts on a v10 in an RV which is basically the worst thing you can do to on the v10, in the worst chassis, and i STILL like it.
03Panther said:I think that most people that have responded missed that you mentioned $6-7K. That REALLY reduces your options. Any Armada / Sequoia ive seen in that price range, I would not have wanted my wife to have to set in!
As a side note, and not everyone agrees, but I will point out that for towing, RWD actually tow better than 4wd, all else being equal. Unless the towing is going off road. Just something to consider
You should live in a swanky area like the DC region. Everyone here has to have the latest and greatest so there are always a half dozen nice sequoias on marketplace for cheap since whatever soccer mom drove them clearly replace them with a newer model to keep up with the Joneses lol.
03Panther said:I think that most people that have responded missed that you mentioned $6-7K. That REALLY reduces your options. Any Armada / Sequoia ive seen in that price range, I would not have wanted my wife to have to set in!
As a side note, and not everyone agrees, but I will point out that for towing, RWD actually tow better than 4wd, all else being equal. Unless the towing is going off road. Just something to consider
I haven't gone to look at any in that range yet, so you may be right. I keep hearing about how someone found a deal so it got my hopes up. There are certainly listings in that range, but most of them are 250k+ miles. Hoping to keep it under 200k if I can help it. Of course, there's plenty of wiggle room based on condition. Also, 10-4 on the rwd towing. Thanks for the heads up.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
I didn't realize the Denali came with those features standard. While it definitely seems like a smart option at that price it'll be shocking-news-at-6 if the wife gives it a second look. She'd rather have a late model 4-runner, so I'm trying to meet her halfway. That said, I'll dangle it anyway just to see her facial expression lol.
Another positive experience with a Titan here.
Bought a new 2wd in 2004 and kept it 15 years and about 150k miles. Very reliable overall with a couple of notable common issues:
Mine cracked both exhaust manifolds which is common. I replaced them with oem parts, but there are cheaper aftermarket options and some people have welded them too. It drove fine and never threw any codes, but could hear it - mostly when cold.
The 04-08 brakes were smaller and warped pretty easily, but you can retrofit later parts.
It drove nicely and the engine and steering were great for a truck. Much sportier feel than my current ecoboost f150.
I towed a 9000lb 24ft enclosed trailer about 30k total miles and it did great, mileage was about 8 mpg towing. My new f150 gets similar with same trailer.
In reply to sevenracer :
Did you have the tow package or whatever is equivalent for the Titan? I'm admittedly not very familiar with the differences between the models. I believe the Armada tow package consists of a self-leveling rear suspension, 3.3 rear end, transmission temp gauge, bigger radiator, plus some... other stuff.
In reply to yupididit :
Damn, sold already. Decent data point though. As an aside she may be softening on the GM stuff... if it's an Escalade.
In reply to Matt B (fs) :
There's a lot of those deals in these parts. Escalades too:
Those Caddies are giving us flashbacks of Midnight Club Dub City. Good times!
yupididit said:In reply to Matt B (fs) :
There's a lot of those deals in these parts. Escalades too:
Holy smokes. If I was local, I would be buying a 3rd one. That's incredible.
In reply to Olemiss540 :
That one seems like a nice purchase
Olemiss540 said:yupididit said:In reply to Matt B (fs) :
There's a lot of those deals in these parts. Escalades too:
Holy smokes. If I was local, I would be buying a 3rd one. That's incredible.
Prices like that are the reason I started looking at escalades.
Mndsm said:Olemiss540 said:yupididit said:In reply to Matt B (fs) :
There's a lot of those deals in these parts. Escalades too:
Holy smokes. If I was local, I would be buying a 3rd one. That's incredible.
Prices like that are the reason I started looking at escalades.
And the reason I own two of them. 6.0L, HD tranny, air suspension, sofas, the perfect tow rig for under 8k.
We rented a 2012 Armada one time and I was blown away by its performance. 350 hp or thereabouts. Fast forward a few years and I rented a QX80. A brand spanking new one. It was 400+ hp but for some reason I was completely underwhelmed by it. I also rented Nissan's 390ish hp Titan truck. Also very underwhelming. It had the power alright but you had to rev it to the stratosphere to find it. I'm guessing maybe Nissan moved the powerband up so they could advertise a higher number? Something sure changed between 2012 and 2018 or so.
I have a 2002 Suburban.. I bought it cheap.. It's rusty.. It has 180K miles on it.
The A/C leaks a little.. The rear window defroster tab needs to be resolderd.. I paid less than $3K for it and it's been unbelievably reliable. Sure it's not as high quality as Seqouia.. I'll admit that.. But I have a ton more space behind the 2nd row bench seat for storage... If I put in the 3rd row, I have way more space than a Tahoe or Seqouia.
Just find one that was taken care of...
If you can find one.. Get a 2007 or 2008 Yukon Xl Denali or a Cadillac Escalde.. They get the 6.2 without AFM and the 6 speed... It's a pretty good combo... Can find nice onces for 7-8 grand and you get 420hp..
In reply to Matt B (fs) :
Yeah, I did have the tow package. Not sure about the Armada's, but on the Titan's the tow package brought extendable mirrors, so easy to tell which ones have that package. Iirc, the difference with tow pkg was fairly minimal, the mirrors, a trans cooler, maybe the 7 pin connector on the hitch. It did not have steeper rear gears.
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