Been driving an '08 frontier since new. Brakes are less than great, so is the turning radius. HP is plentiful- but there is a split-second lag between when you decide to spend the gas money and when it disappears.
SMOD is easily avoided with a separate transmission cooler, if it came with the tow-package stock it should be fine. The 4wd on the fly is impressive, great in the snow and always surprising on the dirt & sand how much it will accomplish stock.
Only the Pro-X has an electronic locker, but even just the open diffs of the SE work well. Pro-X is only the short-bed, which is about 5'. OME or other aftermarket suspension is a big improvement over stock, the speedo was calibrated for 32" tires, even though those only come with the top trims. Temp and voltage gauges are not accurate or true, which is annoying. The ABS kicks in at far to low a speed and some of the other electronics have proven difficult to bypass or work around. That said, the online communities are pretty broad with their interests and investigating issues and fixes, which is pretty cool.
If you think maintenance should be changing the oil, rotating the tires and filling up the tank and washer fluid, this is the vehicle for you. If you want a truck that doesn't need aftermarket turbos, bed-stiffeners or a ton of mods to work as advertised, you're on the right track. For lockers, armor, bumpers and caps, there are a few options to choose from, just not dozens.
Also, it doesn't look angry--maybe an angry looking truck is your thing, this one just looks pretty content.
Planning on driving mine into the ground--could take a while yet.
