Long Term Reliability of LR4

Blaise

Well-known member
Take a look at Volvo, cheaper, safer and nicer than the Japanese equivalents. Also, cheap to fix and very reliable. They're surprisingly capable. Saved my dad's life. Shrugged off an 80 mph impact

he XC 70 is the real bargain, but people are always "Ewwww wagon" for some reason.

There is no inherent safety bonus with Volvo. This is a 70s era saying which has somehow persisted - at the time (prior to safety standards) Volvo was way ahead of the game.

If you want safe, you're best off buying the newest 5-star truck you can buy. Volvo of course makes a fine safe machine, but not capable of doing the things we love on this site.
 

Maddmatt

Explorer
Wasn't the reason I logged on this morning, but this thread caught my eye, so thought I'd chime in.

Was in a similar position a couple years ago, wanted to get my oldest something safe, reliable, and, of course, "cool" as a first car. Took a shot with a low miles, one owner, all maintenance records in hand DII. Challenges with that ride are well documented elsewhere in this forum, and NPR was able to tow it away and auction it off.... lesson learned on that one, but it was fun for a year.

So she ended up with my Xterra (2010SE). Has been a GREAT high school car. Completely reliable, great in the snow, comfortable and most importantly, safe. I notice that there are many Xterras in the high school parking lot, both 1st and 2nd gens.

She is somewhat vertically challenged, so we had a reverse camera, with picture in the mirror, added by Cartoys. I was pleasantly surprised by the install work, and the post-sales service. It quit working after about a year, they diagnosed and repaired the issue (ground wire had broken) with no issues. Quality of the image in the mirror is so-so, but it's great to have that view when backing up in the Mad Max like scenario that is a high school parking lot.

It is somewhat large, and there is a small "dent of shame" on the passenger front fender to prove it. That post at the bank drive through just jumped right out in front of her... When I went to investigate I found about a dozen different paint colors scraped onto the same post, so she's not alone on that one.

So consider this a long winded vote in favor of the Xterra as a 1st car - she graduates this week and is off to college in August, but her younger sister turns 16 in the fall, so the high school Xterra will get passed along. Still debating whether or not to fix the dent-of-shame, or let it go another year - I'd hate to fix the same fender twice, and we all make mistakes - especially in that first year driving.
 

Mako1114

Adventurer
Wasn't the reason I logged on this morning, but this thread caught my eye, so thought I'd chime in.

Was in a similar position a couple years ago, wanted to get my oldest something safe, reliable, and, of course, "cool" as a first car. Took a shot with a low miles, one owner, all maintenance records in hand DII. Challenges with that ride are well documented elsewhere in this forum, and NPR was able to tow it away and auction it off.... lesson learned on that one, but it was fun for a year.

So she ended up with my Xterra (2010SE). Has been a GREAT high school car. Completely reliable, great in the snow, comfortable and most importantly, safe. I notice that there are many Xterras in the high school parking lot, both 1st and 2nd gens.

She is somewhat vertically challenged, so we had a reverse camera, with picture in the mirror, added by Cartoys. I was pleasantly surprised by the install work, and the post-sales service. It quit working after about a year, they diagnosed and repaired the issue (ground wire had broken) with no issues. Quality of the image in the mirror is so-so, but it's great to have that view when backing up in the Mad Max like scenario that is a high school parking lot.

It is somewhat large, and there is a small "dent of shame" on the passenger front fender to prove it. That post at the bank drive through just jumped right out in front of her... When I went to investigate I found about a dozen different paint colors scraped onto the same post, so she's not alone on that one.

So consider this a long winded vote in favor of the Xterra as a 1st car - she graduates this week and is off to college in August, but her younger sister turns 16 in the fall, so the high school Xterra will get passed along. Still debating whether or not to fix the dent-of-shame, or let it go another year - I'd hate to fix the same fender twice, and we all make mistakes - especially in that first year driving.

An Xterra is at the top of my daughters want-list and I missed out on a nice 2015 Pro-4x that was local to me. I have also been considering a Subaru Crosstrek as they get up to 34mpg which is great considering she has to cover gas, insurance etc. The Crosstreks seem more readily available than Xterras and from what i've seen they are in better shape.

Cheers
 

Todd n Natalie

OverCamper
An Xterra is at the top of my daughters want-list and I missed out on a nice 2015 Pro-4x that was local to me. I have also been considering a Subaru Crosstrek as they get up to 34mpg which is great considering she has to cover gas, insurance etc. The Crosstreks seem more readily available than Xterras and from what i've seen they are in better shape.

Cheers
Crosstrek sounds like a good option.
 

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