hive, help needed. Long story short, my sister's family is growing, and soon they won't fit in BIL's Nissan Frontier. They're looking to move into a smaller van, and he's settled on the NV200 over a TransitConnect or similar. I'm assuming they'll be looking used, and they are pretty set on finding one that has rear windows. The car-buying sites that normal people use haven't turned up much. Anyone with insight?
Located around Atlanta, GA and not looking for anything that would be "needing work"
Thanks!
They were made with windows? I thought they were fleet-only.
Good luck, man. The only NV200s that came with rear windows are taxis. They can be retrofitted, I'm just not sure about leak-resistance.
You can always get out the sawzall and get a couple of RV or conversion van windows.
Edit: looks like the taxi sliding doors are @$400 each on car-part.com, maybe just budget an extra $1200 for a pair of doors and getting them painted to match? I'd start there anyway and see what one of the yards that has one for parts is getting for the back seats and such too.
Yeah I don't think I've seen any with windows (other than the windshield and front side windows 
), although most by me are the EV model...also is he aware that they're generally regarded to be crappy vehicles?
Edit: Just saw one with glass all the way around, ICE model. It was being used as a taxi
If he wants a Nissan van he should seriously look at a 2011-2017 Quest. They're way nicer than NV200s and the Quest has a funky JDM look because it's just a widened version of an Elgrand.
At one point NYC declared that all new taxis would be NV200s. They quickly changed their mind. I’ve never met a driver that was happy with one, and several went back to driving their retired first gen Escapes.
I'm convinced that all NV200 are bought by purchasing managers or business owners who don't actually plan to drive them themselves.
They probably look pretty good on paper or spreadsheets but I wouldn't want to spend real time driving one.
John Welsh said:
I'm convinced that all NV200 are bought by purchasing managers or business owners who don't actually plan to drive them themselves.
They probably look pretty good on paper or spreadsheets but I wouldn't want to spend real time driving one.
I replaced the trans in one once. Something mechanical exploded in the CVT.
I realized that there was something rotten in Denmark when I saw that the crossmember/K-member, which holds the rack and control arms in place, was rubber bushed, and it had little rubber bushed links to mount to the front edge to keep the member from cantilevering all over the place. SOFT little bushings everywhere. I foresee these things becoming scarier than old 1st-gen Tauruses when all those bushings degrade, and I don't live in a climate like Nevada where rubber bushings are a regular failure item. Ugh.
Also, it was cheesy inside like a base model Fiesta, lots of bare hard plastic with that kind of finish that is matte until you touch it a few times and then it wears shiny. So it was a real confusing experience: Interior like a hose-it-out fleet vehicle, but they were so concerned about NVH that they rubber-bushed everything up front but the headlights?
Knurled. said:
Also, it was cheesy inside like a base model Fiesta, lots of bare hard plastic with that kind of finish that is matte until you touch it a few times and then it wears shiny.
I got news for ya, all Fiestas are like that inside!
I mean, with a "Mom's Taxi" bumper sticker, it could work.
get a quest, much better nissan. if they are dead set on a minvan, the Transit connect or the fiat based Chrysler are better
mad_machine said:
get a quest, much better nissan. if they are dead set on a minvan, the Transit connect or the fiat based Chrysler are better
Something interesting about the Promaster City is that,apparently, only certain dealerships can/will work on them.
On the other hand, the person who told me about this, also insisted that anything with a 1 1/4" reciever is only supposed to hold a bike rack and not actually tow a trailer, his friend at U-haul said so, so maybe this information is suspect.
In reply to pinchvalve :
Three model years old with delivery mileage! Some taxi company canceled an order. Must be as terrible as reported above.
Knurled. said:
On the other hand, the person who told me about this, also insisted that anything with a 1 1/4" reciever is only supposed to hold a bike rack and not actually tow a trailer, his friend at U-haul said so, so maybe this information is suspect.
I would not be surprised if it rather is Uhaul policy that they wont rent a trailer for used with a 1-1/4" receiver.
In reply to John Welsh :
His mind did seem to be blown that Class II recievers are 1 1/4" and that they are available in ratings up into Class III territory. The recievers available for teh R are something like 300lb tongue, 3500 trailer weight, which meshes with the car's (American!) tow rating. (which was a factor in buying it) But they are all Class II.
He still insisted that his buddy knew what he was talking about and those were fake numbers to make you feel good, you're not supposed to tow a trailer with one.
He also thought people only drove cars because they could not afford a pickup.
Hmm, the more I talk, the more I'm not going to miss that place as much.
