Forget Toyota, this is where it's at...

The moment I saw the Nissan Frontier Crew Cab introduced, I knew I had to have one. Compact trucks are my thing. I loved my Toyota, but to have four real doors, not suicide doors or a third door but four real doors and great styling that cinched the deal.

This, the 2001 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab 4x4, blows away all the competition, even its predecessor, the 2000 model. Now days you've got a few other options if this is the kind of vehicle you're looking for, the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, the Toyota Tacoma Double Cab and the Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Nevertheless, the Nissan Frontier Crew Cab will hurt your wallet less, has by far the best styling, and is the only one of the bunch to earn a five star safety rating.

I tested both a 2000 and a 2001, I found the interior and body styling of the 2001 to be superior. The seats are comfortable, (they're designed by a furniture company) but feel substantial and built to last. Even the back seat is roomy considering. The climate and audio controls are intuitive and within easy reach. In fact, the leather wrapped steering wheel has audio controls mounted on it so there's no need to touch the 6 disc in-dash CD changer, a great design I might add. Visibility is good and the tinted rear glass keeps a glareless and cool interior. The turning radius is nice and tight for a truck and the body roll is surprisingly absent.

Don't believe the hype, you don't need the supercharged model. It will cost you at the pump as it gets lower mileage and requires premium gasoline of 91 octane or higher, plus it will raise your insurance in most cases. The standard 3.3 liter fuel injected V6 has plenty of get-up, more than I expected. I live in the Reno/Tahoe area and the steep mountain passes such as Donner Summit and Mt. Rose Summit are a breeze. You can set the cruise and not even think about needing power. On ramps are a snap. Fully adequate horses under the hood.

The engine is designed so that all fluids are easily seen and checked. all reservoirs are clear and dipsticks are within easy reach. You could mud-bog all day and then check all your fluids without getting your clothes dirty.

The truck is a capable 4x4 with decent 4wd low, skid plates, limited slip read diff and none of that weak, spongy suspension you find in "sport utes" designed for soccer moms whose idea of off-roading is parking on a soft shoulder.

Utility is not sacrificed for styling. The roof rack holds 125 lbs and despite the shortened bed, it is still a half ton truck able to haul 1050 lbs and tow up to 5000 lbs even when loaded. The bed extender, a surprisingly convenient, useful and easy option gives you a full 6 foot standard bed when folded out and makes for a great cargo cage for groceries when folded in.

The truck is not exactly a Chevy Metro at the pump, but yet isn't too thirsty at an EPA estimated 15 city 19 hwy, my actual mileage has been slightly better, but that's the price you pay for the power and utility.

If you're going to buy one, spend the extra few bucks and get all the extras. I got the SE with the deluxe package and a few other extras and believe me, all the creature comforts were worth it. If you get the options, Nissan doesn't leave you wanting for anything.

It's only major drawback is availability. In my area, in fact in all of northern Nevada, there were only two 4x4s on dealers' lots when I bought. Thus, you may have to take what the dealer has. Luckily in my case, they had one equipped exactly as I wanted it, only it had Automatic and I prefer a stick. I was told to expect to find sticks only in the lesser equipped XE models and that the SE models with more features and options tend to be autos. Their popularity is such (at least in my area) that you can't be choosy and the dealer better have what you want. I would assume that this will only be temporary.

Surely the best feature and indeed the icing on the cake was the warranty. I bought the Security Plus extended service agreement which is a 6 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty which covers almost every part of the truck and even includes scheduled maintinence - even tire rotations and oil changes. That's right, every oil change for 100,000 miles is free and performed by a dealer tech. Far better than most warranties which don't last as long and/or don't cover scheduled maintinence - most don't.

Finally, the price was right. The dealer was having a sale and all 2001 Nissans were $79 over invoice. The sticker was $25,624.00, we paid $23.403.00 and after a theft recovery glass etching, sales tax, doc fees and the extended warranty, it came to $28,168.95. I feel that was a steal for this part rugged truck/part SUV/part luxury car, all purpose truck.

Lots of truck for the buck.