ABOUT TO BUY AN XTERRA - NEED HELP! PLEASE HELP! :(

Hi, everyone.

I just joined. I am planning to buy an Xterra this weekend and I went to look at it this evening. It has less than 40k miles, supposedly supercharged and hes asking only $10,500.

Anyway...so I took a look at it and the condition was great.

Here are my concerns and I hope someone can help me out:

1. Though he said it was supercharged, he couldn't point out how it was supercharged. I didn't see any Supercharged emblems, etc. It wasn't even in the owner's manual. When I opened the hood, I didn't notice any supercharger sitting on top. (I'm use to seeing superchargers by the manifold labeled Jackson Racing or something). What should I be looking for to prove this vehicle is actually supercharged?
When I ran an AutoCheck/CarFax on the VIN, it comes back with:
VIN: 5N1ED28Y72C561843
Year: 2002
Make: Nissan
Model: Xterra SE/XE
Style/Body: Utility 4 Door
Engine: 3.3L V6 EFI SOHC S/C
Country of Assembly: United States

Does S/C mean supercharger and would this be accurate?

2. We started the Xterra in the cold at night and there was some steam coming out of the pipe along with some water. When I looked underneath the car, there was a small puddle of the same water dripping out from the pipe behind the muffler underneath the car. When I touched the puddle, it was warm and definitely water, had no noticeble smell, wasn't sticky, etc. Should I be concerned?

Please help. Thanks everyone! Hoping to join you guys soon!

Hey..Welcome..Well...For the H2o..there is a small pin hole in the rear of the muffler that allows any condensation to drip out..which is probably the drip you see. Vapor out the exhaust is common on cold nights on most vehicles. S/C is super charged. Seems cheap to me..but I'm no expert on prices...any accidents???? Was the vin number changed?? How many previous owners? Where has it "LIVED"? (in any flooded hurricane or storm areas)Perhaps the seller was tired of buying premium fuel for the S/C..Maybe it is just a great deal too!! Mine is not super charged...so maybe someone else who has one will chime in!!

Thanks for the answer on the exhaust. Nope, no accidents, VIN is original, and hes the second owner. It has lived in Virginia and he moved to NY with it and doesn't need it here. My biggest concern is the S/C part. He says he doesn't know if it has or not, he is just going with what AutoCheck is telling him. When I run the same VIN # over at CARFAX, it comes back different with:
VIN 5N1ED28Y72C561843
Year/Make/Model: 2002 NISSAN XTERRA XE/SE
Body Style: 4 DR. WAGON/SPORT UTILITY
Engine Type: 3.3L V6 SFI SOHC 16V

Not mentioning anything about a S/C. Again, there are no emblems saying SUPERCHARGED anywhere on the vehicle. The manual has nothing about S/C. So I'm wondering how I can tell if its S/C or not.

Thanks,
Jack

Hey..Welcome..Well...For the H2o..there is a small pin hole in the rear of the muffler that allows any condensation to drip out..which is probably the drip you see. Vapor out the exhaust is common on cold nights on most vehicles. S/C is super charged. Seems cheap to me..but I'm no expert on prices...any accidents???? Was the vin number changed?? How many previous owners? Where has it "LIVED"? (in any flooded hurricane or storm areas)Perhaps the seller was tired of buying premium fuel for the S/C..Maybe it is just a great deal too!! Mine is not super charged...so maybe someone else who has one will chime in!!

[ January 11, 2007, 11:38 PM: Message edited by: Bios ]

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Make sure some of the roads you take in life are dirt.

About the S/C, yes, you should see a big supercharger on top of the intake manifold. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-Xt...072430733QQrdZ1 QQsspagenameZWDVW#mainImage HERE is a link to a S/C on ebay that has a pic of the engine with the Supercharger. I am wondering if he is telling you that, to get the amount the S/C would cost on KBB.com Be careful. Have someone else check it out with you.

This post also contains a pic of a supercharged engine:
http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=000590#000005

Listing as XE/SE That's wierd those are two different packages. As for the water, don't worry about it, unless the vapor doesn't go away when it reaches operating temperature.



Forewarning though, I had nothing but problems with my '03 SE/SC. Knock sensor, S/C, Plugs, Steering Gearbox all bad before 30K.

Another Giveaway on S/C models are the Charcoal Wheels that are 17" rims. VERY Expensive size! If you can't afford Premium or the larger rim size tires you may want to opt for a non-S/C model.



265/65/R17 $80 - $179 Ea. on Tirerack. Ok, the price came down a bit since I owned my '03. :rolleyes:

What kind of wheels does the Xterra have? Most of the Supercharged ones came with the wheels that are in the picture of mine in my profile. I would guess that 90% of the SC models have the gray colored wheels. Also, another way to check if its an SC besides looking under the hood is to open the gas cap door. There should be a sticker on the inside of the door that says something about premium fuel.

Does it have the Rockford Fosgate stereo system? I may be completely wrong, but I thought if Xterra were supercharged they had the RF stereo system.

Yeah, the cap will say Premium Fuel Recommended, but it really is REQUIRED. When I was having problems with my S/C the first thing the Dealer asked was if I was using the Premium.

SE packages have the upgraded radio and steering wheel controls, also the wheel is leather wrapped.

Good Luck!

Wow, Conundrum, we had the same idea.
I also think that the interior dash trim was always black with the silver/titanium inserts, and that all SC models came with fog lights. Also, the leather wrapped steering wheel was included in the SC package. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Sorry.. I keep thinking of things. The headlight cases in the SE models are always the light gray. The Dark gray is the XE model...

For comparison, here is a pic of a NON-supercharged engine:


You can see the obvious difference in the intakes on top.

As far as XE vs SE - it doesn't make that big a difference... SE is the premium package and has a bunch of little things like a better radio, better wheels, sometimes a sunroof etc.

I'd be more concerned with getting a 4 wheel drive one - as most of us here are offroad enthusiasts.

I have not ahd any problems with my truck. I have 40K on it, but the price seems really low??

The 2002's don't, at least mine doesn't.

I'm gonna say it's non-supercharged if there is nothing that says "supercharged" on the tailgate where the "XTERRA" badge is, and it is also pretty obvious to spot the supercharger...

double post

wow i forgot what it looks like to see a clean engine.

Mines pretty dirty.

mines filthy