What can you ladies and gents tell me about the 2018-2020+ Nissan Armada?

I am strongly considering trading in either our 2013 Highlander AWD Limited for an SUV that is bigger, can tow 8500 lbs verses the Highlanders 5000 lbs and has 60k fewer miles. It might also be more offroad capable than an AWD Highlander though I don’t plan on going off road. Maybe the occasional drive on the beach once every few years.

Am I crazy to consider a Nissan over my Toyota that has been properly maintained its whole life?

Are there any known reliability issues or problems with the Armada that might warrant avoiding it?

This is the one I am looking at.

You know the SF answer is Toyota, Toyota, Toyota..



The Nissan is a good looking vehicle no doubt...

In the very near future our family will be acquiring a 22foot bow rider (Regal if I have my way) which weighs about 3700-3900 lbs. that boat plus the trailer is pretty close to the limit of a Highlander.

It’s been a good SUV but I do have to say the interior of the Armada Platinum is quite nice. The tvs behind the headrests are an exquisite touch.

It's the second generation, except the engine, it's built in Japan. It is no longer based on the Titan platform. Lot more horsepower than the first generation. I would go for the Armada, Toyota does not offer anything similar to what you want to do towing wise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Armada

While I despise the term "any good", the Armada was the same as my Titan, which I am very pleased with albeit mine is a Gen 1.
As far as the Gen 2's, I would imagine they are fairly competent too.
I could have chosen a Toyo when I got my Titan but have Zero regrets.
.02

We bought one new in 2006 and put 125,000 miles on it. It was trouble free for 110,000 except for an occasional ABS issue that the dealer could never replicate. Every once and a while, the brake pedal would go to the floor, the ABS would activate, and the thing would take a long distance to stop, on dry pavement. The “fix” was to turn off the vehicle for a few minutes, then restart it. It happened maybe once every twenty thousand miles.

After 110,000 miles, the overhead bin thing that ran down the center of the roof fell apart, the engine developed an exhaust manifold leak, the transmission selector broke stranding us 50 miles from home.

It started as my wife’s vehicle when our first was born. After two more, she decided it was too big and she got a Honda Odyssey in 2013. The Odyssey had so much more room insude, we no longer needed the Yakima Skybox. I drove the Armada for three more years when I got my truck and we then left the Armada in Michigan as a summer vehicle until it left us stranded. We donated it to a local church and the Odyssey is now our summer vehicle in Michigan with 95,000 miles.

Other than the brake thing, it was great up until it wasn’t. I don’t believe it was as good as a Toyota, but we didn’t pay Toyota prices either. I believe the equivalent Toyota would have been 20-30% more.

Just my opinion, but the Armada would probably be my last choice for a SUV of that type.
I'd have a Sequoia, Tahoe, Expedition over it any day.

Never cared for the Titan nor the Armada, and am generally averse to most Nissan products in general.

My friend owned an Armada, not sure of the year and not sure of what issues he had but they were worrisome enough that he traded it in for a different vehicle. Before I bought a Armada I'd play it safe and buy a Toyota Sequoia.

My friend had a first gen Armada that was a dang tank. If not for his experience I wouldn’t even be considering it.

It is worth noting that there are LOTS of Armadas for sale with 20-80k miles while there are very few Sequoias for sale. My local dealership only has one in their whole dealer network right now.

Same engine as my Titan . Plenty of power but it sucks gas down . We've owned a couple of Nissans . No issues .

I have a 2018 SV version that I bought in 2018 with 30,000 miles on it. It now has 85,000 miles. Only routine maintenance. I did have an issue where it wouldn't want to start and then run real rough. Shut it off, start it again and it would be fine. The second time I took it in a Service Technician recalled seeing something about it. There's some redundant charging wire associated with the alternator. Supposed to kick in and boost charging when needed. Solution was to clip the wire and cap it off. That was at 50,000 miles. Zero issues since.
Hands down the most comfortable road car I've driven.
There's always a ton of Nissan hate in these threads. Don't care. Would buy again. I like the look as well.

Meh. To quote my mechanic, they’re the Dodge of Japan.

I don’t know if I would equate the company that makes the GT-R on the same level as Dodge. Though maybe if you consider the Hellcat red eye and some of their muscle cars.

I’ve always heard them be compared to as the GM of Japan.

Do you need 3 rows? If not get a Tundra if you can’t find a Sequoia.
The 3rd row in the Armada is not existent. We drove a couple including the Infiniti equivalent and I did not like them at all.

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
It's the second generation, except the engine, it's built in Japan. It is no longer based on the Titan platform. Lot more horsepower than the first generation. I would go for the Armada, Toyota does not offer anything similar to what you want to do towing wise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Armada

Of course they do!!

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
It's the second generation, except the engine, it's built in Japan. It is no longer based on the Titan platform. Lot more horsepower than the first generation. I would go for the Armada, Toyota does not offer anything similar to what you want to do towing wise.



Of course they do!!
]

1100 pound difference in towing, the Armada will be the best rig to tow with. If the OP can find and afford a Toyota, that's fine. Hard to get into discussions with Toyota fans, the company makes perfect vehicles, so, by all means get a Toyota.

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:

quote:

Originally posted by rizzle:
It's the second generation, except the engine, it's built in Japan. It is no longer based on the Titan platform. Lot more horsepower than the first generation. I would go for the Armada, Toyota does not offer anything similar to what you want to do towing wise.



Of course they do!!
]

1100 pound difference in towing, the Armada will be the best rig to tow with. If the OP can find and afford a Toyota, that's fine. Hard to get into discussions with Toyota fans, the company makes perfect vehicles, so, by all means get a Toyota.

It is very hard to beat Toyota. I’ve had a lot of non Toyota vehicles over the years that I have loved and still own. But after having a couple Toyotas now there is pretty much no chance of having the main daily driven vehicles not be a Toyota.
Can’t wait to get rid of this Suburban.

My nephew wants to sell his nearly new Hybrid AWD Highlander and get a Ford Expedition. I am trying to talk him out of this nonsense. lol

Posted by Black92LX

quote:

Do you need 3 rows? If not get a Tundra if you can’t find a Sequoia.
The 3rd row in the Armada is not existent. We drove a couple including the Infiniti equivalent and I did not like them at all.

100% need 3 rows. I have 4 kids and a dog who thinks he is my shadow. The bigger the better. I like the tundra but it just isn’t big enough.

I LOVE the new retro style Land Cruiser but sadly the US market isn’t getting a 3rd row while other markets are.

I have a friend who had one and hated it. Alot of electrical and suspension issues. Motor on it was fine, yeah the MPG sucked but it is what it is. It was his wife's primary ride and last year they traded it on a Tahoe and are very happy with it (Tahoe).

4 kids and a dog? I'd go with a Chevy Suburban. I'm no GM fan but the Suburban is a fine vehicle.

PS. I like the Dodge of Japan analogy, I think it fits. Also on another note a different friend has a Nissan Rogue with a bad transmission at 65K miles (60K is cutoff for factory warranty). Nissan had a TSB that extended the warranty on them but not his, they say it was produced a few weeks after the TSB cutoff date for the vehicles that had the warranty extended. $6K out of pocket for a new transmission.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
What can you ladies and gents tell me about the 2018-2020+ Nissan Armada?

I am strongly considering trading in either our 2013 Highlander AWD Limited for an SUV that is bigger, can tow 8500 lbs verses the Highlanders 5000 lbs and has 60k fewer miles. It might also be more offroad capable than an AWD Highlander though I don’t plan on going off road. Maybe the occasional drive on the beach once every few years.

Am I crazy to consider a Nissan over my Toyota that has been properly maintained its whole life?

Are there any known reliability issues or problems with the Armada that might warrant avoiding it?

This is the one I am looking at.

I drive a Nissan Titan. Great truck w/ no big issues. But, it drinks gas. That being said my wife and I are Toyota people. If you wanted something bigger than the Highlander but, smaller than a Sequoia I would look at the new Toyota Grand Highlander. Toyota has had that void in their line up for a while and now they filled it.