Rollin', rollin' rollin', in our 1992 Nissan Pick-up Truck

Our teenage daughter will be 16 next summer. She is hounding us to buy a new car, and has a list of “requirements” the vehicle must have. I remember being almost 16 and dreaming of a sleek car, that went fast and had a good sound system. A “sports car” is what we used to call them, and oh how I wanted one. Never in my farthest memory did I consider the fact that some 30 years from then I would be the owner of a station wagon and a pickup truck! My, my how my “dream” became confused!!!!

My husband and I are the proud owners of a 1992 Nissan Pick-up, King Cab truck. Even though he is the primary driver of the truck, and of course the sole mechanic, we share ownership. It is powder blue with a white lightning bolt decal. Really cool?? Ok, us 40-somethings think so.

We purchased the truck 5 years ago, used. The dealer told us a little old lady had only driven it to church on Sundays, and of course we believed him, hook, line, and sinker. (What we didn’t know is that little old lady must have done some mean driving.) The truck seemed to be in near mint condition, and only had a little over 30,000 miles on it. The dealer made us a deal we couldn’t refuse, and off we drove proudly.

Our truck has a 4-cylinder manual transmission. It does not have 4-wheel drive. Occasionally, here in the northeast, we might get a snowstorm. When that happens, we must weight the back, usually using bags of sand or salt, so that when driving down the street, we can keep the truck moving in a relatively straight line!!!! The engine size is 2.4 liters, and the truck averages about 20 miles per gallon of gas. It has a working air-conditioner, (my car has the “roll down the window model” air conditioning) a radio, cassette tape deck, a heater, defroster, and power steering. The windshield wipers are only in 2 speeds, fast and slow.

It is a King Cab. That means that it will seat 4 persons. Behind the two front seats, are two smaller pull down/fold up seats that are perfect for small children or vertically challenged adults. The pull down seats have seat belts and although at one time very convenient, are not ideal now that our teenagers are hovering around 5’6” and 5’8”. So for us now, the truck only seats 2 persons. The area behind the seats is great for storing packages, a briefcase, and groceries.

The truck has had some difficult moments during its first 3 years in our family. One morning as my husband was driving to work, the clutch stopped working. The truck had to be towed to a repair shop. The entire clutch system needed to be replaced. Shortly after purchase, the entire exhaust system needed to be replaced. Seven months after we took our truck home, it needed a new starter. Eleven months after that, it needed another new starter. About 6 months later, we still experienced problems with the starter. After some serious investigation, the repair shop was finally able to discover the problem and fix it.

The truck seemed to “squeak,” screech, and whistle as it was driven down the street. After visiting several outside mechanics, (who could not figure out the problem) our “resident mechanic” (my husband) took the engine apart only to discover some bracket was broken, and missing some bolts. He ordered a new part, and voila, no more “squeak”! The truck has needed brakes and tires too. Right now the handle on the drivers side window is broken. This isn’t a big deal, unless the driver wants to lower the window. My husband keeps the handle in the door pocket for those times.

Well even though our truck has had a difficult start in its life in our family, we still love it. My husband bought a cap for the back, so that it doesn’t look so much like a pick-up. I find it difficult to drive with the cap on, as I cannot see clearly out of the rear view mirror. The truck has a 6-foot bed, which makes it very convenient for trips to the home improvement store, or when buying large, or bulky items. We recently have done some remodeling of our outside deck. All materials fit into the truck nicely. It sure beats paying delivery charges!

Our 1992 Nissan Pick-up gets relatively good gas mileage, and is easy to drive. It is easy for me to handle, and I am not afraid to drive it. As far as I can tell, its road performance is very good. The large windshield provides for lots of visibility.

As pick up trucks go, our 1992, Nissan King Cab, is a small truck. It is a truck for the everyday family-person. It is my husband’s primary vehicle—he drives to and from work daily- (he is an electrical engineer, and works in an office). It is not a rugged truck to be driven over rough, unpaved terrain. It would not be useful as a truck to haul or tow. I don’t think it would be a good truck for someone who works primarily outside and must carry a great deal of tools or equipment.

This review is one of several in the Great Epinions Gender Bender Write Off, scheduled for later this evening. My other esteemed colleagues participating are:

amykhar, bluehawq, ChrisJarmick, conradd, crazym3, gracef, janesbit, KaraHoo, KateTPZ, KristenNC, MsBayLady, netKat, njymix, prepoia, slick4591, soxfan, tipu, T.Rob, taurusmoon, VeeZee, white_hat, wivabef and zoey123.

You can view all these reviews courtesy of amykhar at:
http://www.epinionaddicts.com/writeoffs/gbw.html

Special thanks to taurusmoon for hosting this fun event.