Best Used Nissan Full-Size Truck - Titan

There are certain automakers which have hovered at the edge of the full-size truck market for decades without once dipping a toe in to test the waters. While both Toyota and Nissan dueled it out in a battle of the mini-trucks throughout the 1980’s, when Toyota added a full-size competitor to their lineup to complement their compact truck offering, Nissan did not follow suite. This essentially left the entire imported full-size truck market in the hands of their rival. Nissan continued to evolve their own small pickup but remained conspicuously absent from the plus-size fray.

Nissan’s absence from this lucrative truck market was rooted in two different issues. The first was that despite extensive promotion of their T100 pickup, Toyota were unable to attract the attention of the full-size truck buying crowd, which were largely loyal to domestic automakers like Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. The T100 and its Tundra successor were roundly dismissed as being ‘almost’ full-size, offering neither the power nor the dimensions required to be taken seriously on the market. Nissan could see no benefit to participating in a battle for fourth or fifth place, given that their second primary concern, a lack of development capital, kept them from being able to build an entirely new truck that could address the valid reservations that pickup buyers had concerning the Tundra.

Of course, the situation eventually changed. While Nissan bided their time on the sidelines, they were able to study the missteps that had befallen Toyota’s full-size vehicle as well as better ascertain exactly what sections of the pickup truck market they were interested in targeting. Once their financial situation had improved, the company set to work developing a pickup which would not attempt to meet the needs of every single buyer but would instead concentrate on providing the horsepower, size and utility that were the keys to putting together a competitive full-size truck. The result was the Nissan Titan, a vehicle which rode on a brand new platform that was much more in line with the norms of the segment than that sold by Toyota. In fact, the Titan was so much better than the Tundra that it forced Toyota to develop an entirely new generation of its flagship truck so as not to be left behind.

This article takes a look at the best used Nissan full-size truck available, the Titan, and focuses on the strengths and features which make it an appealing option for power-hungry truck buyers.

2004 – 2007 Nissan Titan

When Nissan decided to give their full-size truck program a clean slate in 2004, the Nissan Titan was the end result of careful consideration of what the North American pickup buyer was looking for. The Nissan Titan was able to edge out fellow Japanese competitor Toyota by three years when it came time to debut a large, full-featured pickup truck, allowing them to gain valuable market share as well as the hearts and minds of many newly-converted Titan owners.

The 2004 – 2007 Nissan Titan does many things right and one of the best examples of this is the standard V-8 engine. The only option available underneath the truck’s hood, this 5.6-liter motor uses 32 valves to help produce 305 horsepower and 379 lb-ft of torque. The truck uses a 5-speed automatic transmission to handle the gear shifting duties, and it also offers optional four-wheel drive. For those who intend to take their Titan off-road, skid plates, upgraded shocks and a locking rear differential can be ordered.

Unlike its domestic counterparts, the Titan is only available as either a four-door Crew Cab or King Cab, the latter of which uses rear-hinged half-doors which open surprisingly wide to help load any cargo or passengers behind the front two seats. An 8-foot bed is available with the King Cab, while the Crew Cab makes do with a cargo area that is 1 foot shorter in length. The Titan can be outfitted with a number of goodies and driver comforts like leather seats and cruise control, as well as more practical equipment such as a tailgate lighting, a factory bed liner and a tie-down management system.

The 2004 – 2007 Nissan Titan might not offer the same range of configurability as most other pickup trucks on the market, but what it does provide is of top-notch quality and design. The Nissan Titan makes a great choice for buyers in need of a V-8-powered, used full-size truck.