Talk me out of even considering a Nissan Armada

[sgregg67]

I have both the Nissan Titan and an LR3. The Titan has lots of power, but does not come close to the refinement of the LR3. The top of the range Titan sucks inside and has a terrible ride when compared to the Land Rover.
Also, I agree with xconcepts, Nissan's customer service is complete crap.

 

[richpike]

Land Rover (in general) seems to be a really tight knit group - even in Colorado I rarely see them on the road, but when I do there is a certain amount of camaraderie there. I also love the work that Land Rover does to keep their customers in the fold - the Land Rover Experience, the events that the Land Rover dealers put on, etc. They are genius - it really does a great job of getting you invested in the brand.

-Rich

 

[dantheman1]

Rich, I coudn't agree with you more. They sent me a Happy Anniversary package last week for 1 year of ownership with an LR3. It included a special kind of spiced cocoa made especially for Land Rover and an aztec spoon. They had some kind of story in it saying that Land Rover Owners are compared to friends of the Aztec god's or something like that. I was pretty impressed.

 

[nwoods]

Right, I have both an Armada and an LR3. The Armada is a pig. A very fast pig, but a pig nonetheless. It has a FANTASTIC engine, but I get 11mpg no matter what. I got 16 mpg coasting down out of the Rocky Mtns once....only once.

The Armada is huge. It fits everything and anything and everybody all at the same time. I am 6'-7", I fit comfortably without modification. I had to modify my LR3 to fit me better (extended the seat rails 3"). The power liftgate is really nice. I teased my wife about it a lot, but now I want one too

The cargo space is volumnous. Sheets of plywood fit. it's amazing.

The Armada's ride is crap compared to the LR3. The LR3 is so much more nimble, poised, smooth, and refined.

The Armada has very little off road capability. The traction control does work fairly well, but it's street oriented and quickly overcome by rocks and things. The LR3 is superlative off road. Widely regarded as the best off road vehicle ever made by Land Rover, and that is saying something.

If your family will fit, they will love the LR3 more. If you need the space, the Armada is the ticket.

In my family, we did a "one lap of america" tour last year in the Armada, because we fit so well. We even took it to the National Rally, which KILLED me inside, but I got through it. Right now, I am planning a March trip through Moab, Canyonlands, Valley of the Gods, and Glen Canyon areas via trails only. It will be a vehicle dependent Overland Trip, and ONLY the LR3 will make it. So last week, I modified the passenger seat in the LR3 so my wifes long legs will fit more comfortably (she is 6'-2"). My kids are still small enough that the back seat is okay for them, and now the adults have a bit more room.

 

[PaulLR3]

nwoods, thank you for the perfect review. On brief test drives I liked the ride and handling of the LR3 so much more. Wow, you do have a tall family and I can see why you enjoy the space of the Armada.

 

[Cpa4S]

i know of only 2 Nissans in our smaller town - both of them said they ate brake rotors for breakfast. one of them sold the vehilce, but i imagine there had to be more to it.

 

[Cpa4S]

Land Rover (in general) seems to be a really tight knit group - even in Colorado I rarely see them on the road, but when I do there is a certain amount of camaraderie there. I also love the work that Land Rover does to keep their customers in the fold - the Land Rover Experience, the events that the Land Rover dealers put on, etc. They are genius - it really does a great job of getting you invested in the brand.

-Rich

i find LR drivers to be friendly but the RR drivers seem to be a different group. i suspect they have a much higher % of poser owners?

 

[nwoods]

i know of only 2 Nissans in our smaller town - both of them said they ate brake rotors for breakfast. one of them sold the vehilce, but i imagine there had to be more to it.

Yeap, the 2004/5 Armada/Titan's had horrible front brakes. We waited until the 2006 model specifically for that reason. We have had no significant problems with our Armada, and the brakes have lasted fine.

 

[richpike]

Yeap, the 2004/5 Armada/Titan's had horrible front brakes. We waited until the 2006 model specifically for that reason. We have had no significant problems with our Armada, and the brakes have lasted fine.

Many of the Nissan/Infiniti line had similar issues. In fact, my 04 G35x came with a warranty on the brakes for 3 years, 36k miles. They would replace them for free in that time. Interestingly, I drove the **** out of that car (went through my first set of tires in less than 15k miles) and the brakes never had any problems (and they were fantastic brakes too).

-Rich

 

[JThiessen]

You never said exactly where you were moving, but I'm not sure how much I'd use beach driving in your evaluation of a vehicle. Up here in Washington, the beach actually has a state highway designation. And you are only allowed to drive in certain areas, and 2wd cars are as frequent as 4WD's. I personally stay off the beach as much as I can, that sand is very corrosive if you dont have a car wash handy with the underbody wash.

Sounds to me like you have made up your mind what you want. So go get it!!!!

NWOODS: Have you posted anything on how you did your seat mods? When we were first shopping for a LR, we started with the Disco's. But we ended up moving to the LR3, 'cause I couldnt fit in the Disco driver seat. The LR3 is much better, but I'd still like a little more room. I'd also like to mod the power seat to actually go up and down, rather than rotate about the front attach points. Ours is an '05, but I swear the 07 I sat in and played with had the seat actually go up-down vertically.