Are these trucks pretty reliable?

From what I've read they seem to be.

I'm going to look at a 4 door 4x4 this afternoon for a work truck.

The only one more reliable would be the hardbody that it replaced. Change oil and timing belts and they will run forever.

Good vehicles they just don't have the resale or aftermarket badass parts like the tacomas

All I need is a work truck, because I have my Jeep TJ now.

I think I have a buyer for my 1st gen Tacoma and I can pick up this 4x4 crew cab Nissan up for about 70% less $ and it has about 50k less miles than my Tacoma. Plus it's a 4x4.

Same as Xterra, they are all over the place. 3.3 needs a timing/water pump at 100K. gas mileage is marginal.

Yep... The hardbodies were pretty awesome little trucks.

I thought the Frontier's had timing chains? Never mind. The 3.3 does have belts.

Resale sucks on them had milage sucks with the 3.3, I've had two one 99 king cab v6 4x4 auto and one 3.3 5 speed 4x4 xterra. The xterra I traded off pretty quick the frontier i bought in 2006 with 117k miles, one owner clean as a pin, for $6k even sold it in 2009 with a 169k miles on it for 4500 and was tickled to death to get that out of it. That was my extent of trying out the Nissan was it a ok truck yes but usually got 14-16mpg with the 16 on the interstate, parts was expensive for it and no one stocked them hardly beside brake pads and shoes. I went back to Toyotas after that frontier and never looked back. Nissans are a vehicle you either love them or you hate them deal for most people. I personally would take a 2wd pre runner 1st gen tacoma over any Nissan product regardless of mileage.

The first generation Nissan was a Datsun.

1st Gen. "Frontier."

The first generation of Datsun was Kaishinsha Motorcar Works, but it just didn't roll off the tongue like Datsun and I think later the Japanese thought "Nissan" sounded less Japanese than "Datsun."

I used to have a Datsun Lil' Hustler Pickup which was a great truck, later a Datsun 510 and then later a 240z an a 260z. All were great vehicles.

I used to haul hay, and feed cows with an 81 Datsun king cab.
I think it had about 700,000 miles when we finally parked it.
Toughest little trucks I ever seen.

An ole Datsun with the 720 would roll forever. I still have an 85 king cab I need to do something with.

I don't know what year the first generation came out, but I LOVED my 2003 Nissan Frontier. My dumbazz traded it for a new Nissan Sentra in 2006 because I wanted better mpg and it had a cruise control. I got 3 tickets in the span of a month: one in Alabama near Grove Hill and three in the same dang block in Tyler TX in a week (darn motorcycle patrolman) and only the first of those three were a warning.

I had two other Nissans prior to those mentioned above. The first was a used Sentra that I drove several years, then I bought a Nissan pickup with the extended cab in 1997. I drove that first Nissan pickup until the transmission had to be replaced and after considering how many miles I had put on it and what a new transmission would cost, I opted to trade it for the Frontier. All of them were good, reliable vehicles with very few problems.

The 2006 Sentra got traded for our 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe, which we still have and I was the one who primarily drove it. Then we got another Santa Fe in 2014 and it is now my primary vehicle. I do enjoy what I drive now, but of all of the ones I have had over the years, I miss that Frontier the most.