Well, it's been about 11 months since I last posted here. I figured this was an important enough event to drop back by.

This story starts on Dec. 2. My 18 y.o. daughter was borrowing the Xterra (remember my red 4x2?) to pick up some friends from school. She didn't quite make it there, though. She misjudged the position of a car while making a left-hander on a solid green. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.



Just in case everyone was wondering if the airbags on the Xterra even work, here's proof. This was from broadsiding a moving vehicle at probably 25 MPH.



Original damage estimate was about $7,500, including the airbags and seatbelt tensioners. Since I had a $500 deductible and the entire bumper assembly would obviously need to be replaced, I took the liberty of ordering a Shrockworks bumper.

Then, the adjuster found that the left side of the body had been completely shifted back on the frame. See front-left body mount skewed here:



State Farm decided to total the vehicle and cut me a check for about $12,600. That was after the $500 deductible and is about $600 more than I originally paid for the X 1.5 years ago.

Now, the good part. I found this 2002 XE 4x4 with 64k miles (my old one had 76k miles) for $12,800. Picked it up yesterday. The tires will soon be replaced with BFG AT/KO's, either 31" or 32". I got to keep my old AT/KO's and pretty much have them sold.

Sorry for the driveway shots. I'll post some more appropriate pictures once I get the bumper mounted, the steprails removed (I'm ordering sliders within the month) and mud applied.

Bet you aren't letting your daughter take this one out.

Good color choice!

You gonna xfer that light bar too?

I assume your daughter is ok.

Welcome back, xorand...and sorry about your beloved Red X (shame on your daughter)...I know you loved it...but Congrats on your Blue 4x4 X (give your daughter a hug for wrecking your X)...you will Love your new 4x4 even more...

Nice color.

Glad to see no one was injured and you were able to get a better truck out of the deal.

Very glad to hear your daughter and the others involved were not hurt. I am sure she was quite shaken up. I would definitely get everything out of the red one before it goes away.

Nice color choice on the new one, glad to hear your daughter is ok too.

Glad everyone is safe.

I bet your gonna get your daughter something nice for christmas

Think of it this way. She basically took your X and gave it a paint job and converted it to a 4X4



Merry Christmas Bud
Glad the family is ok

That is the most important thing, in that nobody was hurt.

I did get quite a few parts off the truck before they towed it away from the body shop (today, I think). I wish I could have removed the tow hitch, but didn't have the time and tools available to do it.

Other than that, I grabbed the roof basket, side rails, center caps, and first aid kit. I got some old tires put on the rims and kept my BFG AT/KO's (which I just sold, since they are 15" and I now have 16" wheels).

Going to sell off a bunch of stuff (probably put up a list here) on Ebay or locally, so I can afford to get back into a set of AT/KO's (priced at $830 for a set of 4, mounted and balanced.)

Edited to add: Yes, KJ_Dragon, I already have the light bar on the new truck. I have the wire and parts to wire it up. Waiting for good weather, or Christmas day, to finish it up.

Congratulations & welcome back.

Before you go back to the KO's, be sure to check out Cooper STT's & Bridgestone Revos.

Thanks, Jeff. I was thinking that this evening. I like BFG's, but they are pricey. That Cooper looks pretty nice. Might have to have the tire shop give me some more quotes.

Those Coopers are $$$$$, too.

Continental makes a great substitute to the BFG's, though.



It is available at Tirecraft or Tires Plus only.

Lots of people have had good luck with less expensive tires........

My Nankangs:



Good luck.

Hey that blue Xterra looks familar!

It should. Hey, thanks again Brian for doing my remote test drive. For anyone else reading this, I found this Xterra about 3 hours away from our house. Ramness lives nearby and kindly test drove the vehicle and took lots of pictures of it for me.

Nothing like fellow Xterra club members helping each other out. This could have been a chancy proposition without some help.

I just noticed that the Wind Deflector Design is from the 2000-2001 Xterra version...they changed the design starting in 2002 Xterra's...

Xoran, is that your white VW bug infront of your new X in that driveway shot? Just curious, I restore old bugs on the side. 1971, If i'm not mistaken?

P.S. Congradulations on your new X!

Yeah, I noticed the wind deflector appears to be the older design. No big deal to me.

Yes, that's my "other" car. It's a 1969 VW. We do have another, a '71 Super Beetle that I'm doing bodywork on right now. Should be painting it pretty soon and reassembling it to put it back on the road. Technically, the '71 is my daughter's car.