Best Year for a Used Nissan Frontier to Buy

2021, and 2020 right behind it. Those are the last two years of the 2005 to 2021 Frontier, and they are the only ones that pair the current 310-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 and nine-speed automatic with the older, narrower, simpler body. You get the modern powertrain in the truck that is easier to park and easier to work on.

The engine and the gearbox, and nothing else that you can see. Nissan dropped the new 3.8-liter V6 and the nine-speed automatic into the existing body a full two years before the redesign arrived. Output went from 261 horsepower to 310. The four-cylinder was discontinued at the same time, so every 2020 and 2021 Frontier is a V6.

It is a better truck in most measurable ways and it costs more, which is the whole trade. The 2022 redesign brought a wider, stiffer body, a much more modern cabin, better seats and the PRO-4X with its electronic locking rear differential and Bilstein shocks. If you want the current truck and the current technology, buy the newer one. If you want the same running gear for less, the 2020 and 2021 cars are sitting right there.

The 2018 and 2019 trucks are the simplest configuration Nissan sold in the modern era: a 4.0-liter V6 through a five-speed automatic, with very little between you and the mechanicals. They are the budget entry point and they are genuinely straightforward to own. What they are not is quick, efficient or quiet by current standards. Buy one for what it is rather than expecting a 2021 for less money.

The current truck is rated at up to 7,150 pounds when properly equipped, and the 2020 and 2021 trucks with the same engine are in similar territory. The important word is up to. The real rating depends on cab, bed length, drivetrain and whether the tow package is fitted, and it varies by several thousand pounds across configurations. Get the number for the specific truck from its door jamb and its owner's manual before you hitch anything to it.

For valley-floor work in Puyallup, Kent and Auburn, 4x2 is usually enough, because the South Sound gets rain rather than deep snow at low elevation. Four-wheel drive earns its keep the moment you go up: SR-410 toward Crystal Mountain, forest roads, a boat ramp, or an unpaved job site in February. If you tow anywhere with a grade or a wet launch, get the 4x4.

Get underneath it first. Look at the frame, the leaf springs and the exhaust for corrosion, and look at the hitch and the bed floor for the marks a working life leaves. On the drive, take it up to highway speed on WA-512 and listen for driveline vibration, then find a quiet lot and cycle the four-wheel-drive system through its modes if it has one. A truck that has never had 4WD engaged is a truck nobody has tested.

On the newer ones, possibly. Nissan's new vehicle limited warranty runs 3 years or 36,000 miles basic and 5 years or 60,000 miles on the powertrain, whichever comes first, and the clock starts from the original in-service date rather than the model year. On a 2020 or 2021 truck both clocks have likely run out. Give us the VIN and we will pull the exact remaining coverage rather than guessing at it.

A Nissan Certified Pre-Owned Frontier has passed a 167-point inspection and carries documented history, and Nissan's age and mileage limits mean not every truck qualifies. That matters more on a truck than on a car, because a truck may have spent its life working rather than commuting and you cannot tell which from the odometer. A plain used truck gives you far more choice, including the older and harder-worked ones, and puts the checking on you.

No. The Frontier is a gasoline V6 and nothing else. There is no diesel option, no hybrid and no electric version in the lineup. If you are cross-shopping midsize trucks specifically for a diesel, the Frontier is not on that list and never has been in this era.