COMPARO: 05 4Runner V8 vs 05 Armada vs 05 Pathfinder

[05V8SPRT]

Well its obvious which one I bought, but here is my output/findings when I compared the 05 4Runner V8 Sport to the 05 Nissan Armada V8 and the 05 Pathfinder V6.


05 Armada: 305HP V8 with tons of TQ (I question the 305HP ratings... This engine is probably closer to 350HP). The vehicle is VERY heavy and does NOT feel agile, but feels stable for its size. Inside is huge and close to my old Ford Expedition. Build quality, I thought, was slightly above average. Love the looks of the outside (very manly). Inside is CHEEZY but has some very nice touches. Nice utility vehicle. Should do very well off road. Acceleration 0-60 was SECOND place of the 3. Its very quick for its size. I gave this second place. Gas guzzler too....

05 Pathfinder: Drivers seat and position is nice. The vehicle felt the nicest behid the wheel as far as comfort. 3rd row almost useless. 270 HP V6 was peppy but was easily the weakest of the 3 (not even close). Lacks torque. Build quality was not very good. Rattles and fealt cheap everywhere you look and touch. I did not like the ride quality at all. Fealt top heavy a bit and just looks WAY better than it feels. Has potential, it is the first year of the new model. Transmission is sealed... Wierd! I gave this 3rd place.

05 Toy 4Runner: Well I bought this vehicle. The power KILLS the Pathfinder with ease. Will out-run the Armada by 1/2 second 0-60. Build quality is WAY above either Nissan (and most other SUV's). The ride is slightly more quiet. The vehicle fealt SMOOTH all around and just plane built better! The amenties are not as good as the Nissan for the money, BUT the quality is MUCH better. The V8 felt VERY smooth and VERY powerful. The handling with XREAS was also very noticeable and was a step above the Nissan's. Braking was MUCH better, although the Armada brakes pretty well.

All in all the 4Runner was the better choice for me. The other 2 are fine vehicles and I think the Nissan's have better "curb appeal." But, the Toyota just felt refined, agile, smooth, tough, and faster... Nissan is kind of in between a Ford and a Toyota.

Got my 05 4Runner Sport V8 for Invoice + small profit (just over $30K). Not bad... The V8's are not selling as well due to the gas crunch. More wiggle room. I have had NO problems to date (4500 miles). A get about 19/20 MPG on the highway. I get 15 around town with VERY heavy accelerations! Not a great vehicle for long trips! The seats are too low but decent. Ride is quiet and very nice. NOTHING like the older 4Runners! I dont think it will perform as well off-road as some of the older models due to the lack of ground clearance. I do think it will out-run every other previous model in a sprint to 60, including most other SUV's on the road (excluding BMW and Merc's). The Hemi Jeep Wrangler would be a VERY good match for this vehicle in EVERY category except quality. Jeep just can not match the longevity and toughness of the Toyota's. BUT they Jeep has come along way and are getting better every year! The 05 Hemi should be compared with the 4Runner!

 

[Kanab]

Well its obvious which one I bought, but here is my output/findings when I compared the 05 4Runner V8 Sport to the 05 Nissan Armada V8 and the 05 Pathfinder V6.


05 Armada: 305HP V8 with tons of TQ (I question the 305HP ratings... This engine is probably closer to 350HP). The vehicle is VERY heavy and does NOT feel agile, but feels stable for its size. Inside is huge and close to my old Ford Expedition. Build quality, I thought, was slightly above average. Love the looks of the outside (very manly). Inside is CHEEZY but has some very nice touches. Nice utility vehicle. Should do very well off road. Acceleration 0-60 was SECOND place of the 3. Its very quick for its size. I gave this second place. Gas guzzler too....

05 Pathfinder: Drivers seat and position is nice. The vehicle felt the nicest behid the wheel as far as comfort. 3rd row almost useless. 270 HP V6 was peppy but was easily the weakest of the 3 (not even close). Lacks torque. Build quality was not very good. Rattles and fealt cheap everywhere you look and touch. I did not like the ride quality at all. Fealt top heavy a bit and just looks WAY better than it feels. Has potential, it is the first year of the new model. Transmission is sealed... Wierd! I gave this 3rd place.

05 Toy 4Runner: Well I bought this vehicle. The power KILLS the Pathfinder with ease. Will out-run the Armada by 1/2 second 0-60. Build quality is WAY above either Nissan (and most other SUV's). The ride is slightly more quiet. The vehicle fealt SMOOTH all around and just plane built better! The amenties are not as good as the Nissan for the money, BUT the quality is MUCH better. The V8 felt VERY smooth and VERY powerful. The handling with XREAS was also very noticeable and was a step above the Nissan's. Braking was MUCH better, although the Armada brakes pretty well.

All in all the 4Runner was the better choice for me. The other 2 are fine vehicles and I think the Nissan's have better "curb appeal." But, the Toyota just felt refined, agile, smooth, tough, and faster... Nissan is kind of in between a Ford and a Toyota.

Got my 05 4Runner Sport V8 for Invoice + small profit (just over $30K). Not bad... The V8's are not selling as well due to the gas crunch. More wiggle room. I have had NO problems to date (4500 miles). A get about 19/20 MPG on the highway. I get 15 around town with VERY heavy accelerations! Not a great vehicle for long trips! The seats are too low but decent. Ride is quiet and very nice. NOTHING like the older 4Runners! I dont think it will perform as well off-road as some of the older models due to the lack of ground clearance. I do think it will out-run every other previous model in a sprint to 60, including most other SUV's on the road (excluding BMW and Merc's). The Hemi Jeep Wrangler would be a VERY good match for this vehicle in EVERY category except quality. Jeep just can not match the longevity and toughness of the Toyota's. BUT they Jeep has come along way and are getting better every year! The 05 Hemi should be compared with the 4Runner!

Congrats on the 4runner. What was the MSRP on your new ride? Was your discount in the $4500 range including rebate? The dealer in my area advertises $1800 off MSRP and that includes the $1000 rebate I got mine last year for a little over $4000 off but had to threaten to drive too larger town with 4 dealers if they did not want to deal. I agree with your analysis.

 

[EDGE]

Good pick, as much as I like the 4Runner I would say it's rugged, more of a guy truck compared to the female oriented SUV on sale, the Pathfinder looks more female friendly and softer and it looks to be the SUV of choice for the wifey:

I test drove the Pathfinder and kept asking where is the 270hp, I had 2 Pathfinders with 170hp and to up it 100 with about the same weight and not really feel a difference is a let down, the Pathfinder seemed crampt, guess the cost cutting under renault would not allow for a few extra inches:

Armada, Expediton is a better buy and for quality the 2 are probably on the same list, with all the problems that are plagueing the Armada this early in it's life imagine the poor bastids who have 60k, 100k, or more, the Armada is self destructing on test drives god bless it is all I can really say:

and I would like to add when I test drove the Armada I almost had to pull over to hurl, I drove an F-250 with a softer ride : my mistake was test driving a QX56 1st, sweet truck but still has all the problems an Armada has:

 

[Mark86]

Very good comparison! Even though I have never actually drove the two Nissan's, I did sit in them at the AutoShow and agree with everything you said. When I was looking to get a new SUV back in 2003, there was no such thing as an Armada on the market and the Pathfinder's were the old body style. I had a few SUV's on my list to test drive, including the Pathfinder. I never got around to that because the first stop I made was at the Toyota dealer. I knew that nothing would be able to convince me to not go with the 4Runner, so why even waste my time? Talk about love at first sight! :

 

[Chris1515]

When I was shopping recently, I looked at the Armada and Pathfinder but was turned by the fact that the lettering on the roof racks was already peeling off. Seemed to me that if they couldn't even get such a simple thing right, that I really didn't want to know where else they had quality problems.

 

[05V8SPRT]

Re: Re: COMPARO: 05 4Runner V8 vs 05 Armada vs 05 Pathfinder

Congrats on the 4runner. What was the MSRP on your new ride? Was your discount in the $4500 range including rebate? The dealer in my area advertises $1800 off MSRP and that includes the $1000 rebate I got mine last year for a little over $4000 off but had to threaten to drive too larger town with 4 dealers if they did not want to deal. I agree with your analysis.

I can not remember exactly, but I think the MSRP sticker was in the $35K range. I would have to go back and look. She's not loaded (no leather) but a few add-ons I guess. Things I DONT need and HAD TO PAY FOR like Moon-Roof.... I hate those, never use them, AND they are noisy. They ALL come with Moon Roof in my area.

My understanding is $31K ish is a good target.

 

[05V8SPRT]

Good pick, as much as I like the 4Runner I would say it's rugged, more of a guy truck compared to the female oriented SUV on sale, the Pathfinder looks more female friendly and softer and it looks to be the SUV of choice for the wifey:

I test drove the Pathfinder and kept asking where is the 270hp, I had 2 Pathfinders with 170hp and to up it 100 with about the same weight and not really feel a difference is a let down, the Pathfinder seemed crampt, guess the cost cutting under renault would not allow for a few extra inches:

Armada, Expediton is a better buy and for quality the 2 are probably on the same list, with all the problems that are plagueing the Armada this early in it's life imagine the poor bastids who have 60k, 100k, or more, the Armada is self destructing on test drives god bless it is all I can really say:

and I would like to add when I test drove the Armada I almost had to pull over to hurl, I drove an F-250 with a softer ride : my mistake was test driving a QX56 1st, sweet truck but still has all the problems an Armada has:

Just got out of the 2003 Ford Expedition . Or as I like to call it the Ford EXPLAINATION.... Had it 20 months and 20,000 miles. 45 days in the shop for warranty work. Got a FULL REFUND from Ford via Ford Dispute Settlement Board. She was a bonifide LEMON!

Problems:
1. Rear differential assembly went bad and axles froze to the assembly.
2. The NEW rear differentials whined and had to be replaced (3rd set in the vehicle).
3. Side mirrors went bad.
4. Rear window vent motors went bad.
5. Front drivers seat had the foam disintegrating and falling on teh carpet.
6. Front differential had problem and a spring had to be installed.
7. Excessive brake dusting and the brake fluid was SOLID BLACK at 12,000 miles. My Highlander is still perfectly clear at 35K!
8. All doors (especially rear) rattled BADLY over bumps. All the hardware was replaced NUMEROUS times and it would fix for about 500 miles. Then loosen. Sounded like a junk vehicle for a 40K high-end SUV.
9. Would not start. Keys lost there programming and had to be reprogrammed???


Yadda-yadda-yadda.... POS!



Ford: E-scape, E-xplorer, E-xpedition, E-xcursion.... I needed an E-xplaination.....


Was not aware of all the probs with the Armada.... Wow!