# Got my X-Trail



## DL500 (May 7, 2004)

Picked up our X-Trail at the dealer today.

First of all, Manuelga, the AM radio seems to work fine for us. I didn't test it too much but every station I wanted to tune to worked.

A few questions for any X-Trail owners (I think the Canadian model is very similar to other countries):

1. When we lock the car the lights flash twice but there is no beep sound like on other cars. Can that be changed?
We would like it to beep like on other cars.

2. There are two different tires available.
The Dunlop ST20 Grandtrek and the Bridgestone H/T 689. Which would you prefer? It snows a little here but not too much. Mostly dry and rain with a bit of snow.

Otherwise the car seems very good. The large sunroof makes the interior very bright.

Thank You


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## manuelga (Dec 14, 2003)

Congrats for being one of the first Canadian X-Trail owners.










Later, please check if @ the radio section says something about the AM setting.

Answers:

No beep sound & I guess it couldn't be changed without any mod. you can always put a jump with a Diode between the wire that sends the light turn on signal & wire it to the horn (the problem is wich cable send the light turn on signal).

For Mex no shoice, just the Bridgestone H/T but there's no snowing here, just rain & a lot of sun.

Sunroof is awsome, it's incredible.

Did your X-Trail have dimmable for dash light????? I found today the lack of it.

Horn sound is horrible but really easy to change them, I just get them & I'll change them tomorrow.



DL500 said:


> Picked up our X-Trail at the dealer today.
> 
> First of all, Manuelga, the AM radio seems to work fine for us. I didn't test it too much but every station I wanted to tune to worked.
> 
> ...


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## DL500 (May 7, 2004)

Manuelga, looks like you and I are the only X-Trail owners in North America 

I was hoping there was some alarm programming that could be done to activate the alarm chirp when arming.
I don't want to bother modifying it myself. Many alarms allow some programming setup.

I have the Bridgestone H/T but the Tread Life rating is 180.
The Dunlop tread life rating is 300. Also, the Dunlop looks like it would be much better handling. However, the Bridgestone looks a bit better in the snow. Dealer is willing to trade for me.

You're right, the huge sunroof is excellent. One of the best features.

Yes, we have dash light dimming right near the mirror and VDC control.

I took a quick look at the owner's manual and I don't see anything about the AM radio that could change the increments that the tuner changes. You would think that they wouldn't make such a mistake. Would Nissan not replace your radio with a North American model? My radio looks identical to yours but seems to be N.A. model.

Question: Car has about 40 km on it. When we parked it in our garage there was a very slight burning smell.
Do you think that is normal? It looks like the pre-delivery mechanic opened the radiator when hot too, there is some splashed anti-freeze on the engine parts.

Thanks


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## DL500 (May 7, 2004)

Two differences from our car that I just noticed from Manuelga's photos:

1. Your model has metal brake and gas pedals. I don't think my car has that.

2. Just above the heating controls you have something that looks like an ashtray. My car has a rectangular hole only.
What is that? Looks like you pull it out? Wonder if I could buy that part and fit it into that hole.


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## manuelga (Dec 14, 2003)

DL500 said:


> Manuelga, looks like you and I are the only X-Trail owners in North America


Shure not, there are a lot of X-trails at the streets here, it was the light-SUV most sold here, much popular than Jeep's Liberty or Ford's Escape, it's a very good deal.



DL500 said:


> I took a quick look at the owner's manual and I don't see anything about the AM radio that could change the increments that the tuner changes. You would think that they wouldn't make such a mistake. Would Nissan not replace your radio with a North American model? My radio looks identical to yours but seems to be N.A. model.


It's evident I need to take the whole radio out, maybe there's some switch or some decal attached to it that explains how to do the change, if not... I guess 6-cd's can solve the problem ehehehehehe.




DL500 said:


> Question: Car has about 40 km on it. When we parked it in our garage there was a very slight burning smell.
> Do you think that is normal? It looks like the pre-delivery mechanic opened the radiator when hot too, there is some splashed anti-freeze on the engine parts.


I think the smell is normal, I guess it's the protector the guys put at Japan plant to avoid rust during the transportation, it has to dissapear in a few weeks, i have a Renault's Scenic (imported from France) & it also smelled during the first weeks.



DL500 said:


> Two differences from our car that I just noticed from Manuelga's photos:
> 
> 1. Your model has metal brake and gas pedals. I don't think my car has that.
> 
> ...


The pedals came with the car, I swear I didn't change them 

That fake "ashtray" is just a gate for the hole, Mexico City (largest city & market here) it's not so safe, that's why (I think) they included that gate.

Have you seing the "double glovebox" at passenger seat????? it's a funny discovery seing that above the "regular" one, there's an extra space to put some stuff.

There's another thing that could be very usefull, you can remove the rear seats, not the back, just the seats, there is a level (¿lever?) that can be pulled to remove the seats, you could use the space to put some things in a trip that couldn't fit anywhere else.

As long as we are the only X-Trail'ers :cheers: and some tequila= \_/ heheheh


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## vento1 (May 10, 2004)

Hi DL500, looks like I'm the second Canadian on this site about the X-Trail.  :cheers: 

Where are you located DL500? I'm from Burnaby, BC. My wife and I have placed our order for a X-Trail LE with the VDC/TCS option after test driving an X-Trail LE a week ago. Have been advised from dealer that it should be here by May 20th, hopefully sooner. Ordered an Athabaska Blue, but might consider the Champlain Green.

I also noticed the X-Trail comes in 2 tire options and when I questioned the dealer, he wasn't aware of this, but he also would exchange to whichever tire I wanted. I'm leaning towards the Dunlop as the tread pattern looks more geared for handling whereas the Bridgestone looks great if you are going offroading or for the winter season.

I only test drove the X-Trail with Bridgestone tires and found the handling great, so I would imagine the Dunlop's to be a little better. DL 500, have you tried the Dunlop tires?

My wife loves the large sunroof, only other car in same class that has similar size sunroof is the Subaru Forester. 

Only minor complaint I have about the X-Trail from the test drive is the power steering is a little too light, great for parking lots, but am a little concerned on highways as I didn't get a chance to take the X-trail on highway when on test drive.


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## Madmax (Apr 30, 2002)

Don't worry about highway driving with the X-Trail. I test drove the X-Trail a few times. Well my clientsand I did and no one mention it on the highway. It's a fun little SUV that's for sure. Only down side with the LE is that it only comes in auto.

Max


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## vento1 (May 10, 2004)

Madmax,

Thanks for the reassurance about the X-trail on highways. Only reason we thought of the light power steering is because we had a chance to test drive it back to back with a Murano(great SUV) but a little out of our budget and with needing premium gas and V6, we wanted something a litte more economical that sits higher up and with good visibility which the X-trail has with the centre dash. Took a little getting used to with centre dash, but after 10 minutes you get used to it and it actually improves driving visibility.

Anyone know why Nissan would come out with 2 different tires for the X-Trail? It's not like it's on different models XE,SE,LE, as I've seen the LE with Dunlop and Bridgestone tires. Could it be different production dates? I though manufacturers would want to save costs by using only 1 tire manufacturer?


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## Madmax (Apr 30, 2002)

Yeah the Murano is an awesome SUV. Got to love the tranny on this thing. And the gas millage kicks ass too. By the way you don't need premium gas onto the Murano. The X-Trail as the same tech nologie when it comes to the engine. I'm looking into the tires for you. I'll post back as soon as I have the info. (I work for Nissan in Calgary).

Max


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## Madmax (Apr 30, 2002)

For the different tires on the X-Trail it's just like you said, a date production thing. Also the wheels on the SE/LE are a little wider compare to the XE.


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## vento1 (May 10, 2004)

Max,

Great to hear you work for Nissan dealership, you can give us the latest scoop on things.

Can you confirm which tires is the latest production? Dunlop or Bridgestone? 

My dealer told us our X-Trail has a April 2004 production date and I'm hoping it's the Dunlop tires.


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## DL500 (May 7, 2004)

*X-Trail*

Vento,

I am also in Vancouver. And, also bought the LE with traction control.

Interestingly enough, I was also asking about the tires.
The dealer is going to swap them for me later this week if I decide to change.

We got the Bridgestones. As far as I could tell, there is no correlation on tire brand vs earlier or later production.
Maybe they will go to one brand eventually but so far I've seen Bridgestone and Dunlop not in sequence according to VIN#.

I like the look of the Dunlop too but am a bit concerned about the winter ability since I don't plan on getting snow tires. The Dunlop has a much higher treadwear rating (although that means nothing sometimes).
The Bridgestone (or a variant of the Dueler H/T) is probably the most commonly used tire on small SUV. I've seen them on CR-V and many others. So, they're probably at least acceptable.

If anyone ever finds out how to make the alarm chirp when locking then let me know. (or auto-lock doors at a certain speed).


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## DL500 (May 7, 2004)

Vento,

I forgot to answer your other question. We test drove one with Dunlops. By memory only, I couldn't remember much difference between the tires. However, I used to drive a car (low to ground) so the move to a small SUV probably clouded any difference between the tires.


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## Madmax (Apr 30, 2002)

I unfortunately don't know which cames with which. I'll ask my boss tomorrow when he comes in if he knows the answer. They both ride pretty much the same as far as I'm concern.

Max


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## manuelga (Dec 14, 2003)

Bridgestones in my X-Terra & shure there's no snow here, a lot of rain, the season had already started & finishes around late october... but 0 (cero) snow....

Maybe I change these tires for Michelin's Pilot (the ones for SUV's), much better for these kindda weather.


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## vento1 (May 10, 2004)

DL500,

What colour did you get your X-Trail LE with VDC/TCS? Which dealer did you purchase from? I'm still waiting for mine and from what I understand not too many X-Trail LE with the VDC/TCS options yet, so you must be one of the early lucky ones. 

We bought our X-Trail from Southside Nissan, great service and fair pricing with some discount as I know the salesman well.

The Bridgestone tires that are on the X-Trails appear to be more like a snow tire or offroading tread, therefore the lower tread wear rating. I have seen other variations of the Bridgeston Dueler H/T, on CRV and RAV4 which the tread looked more performance oriented for good weather conditions similar to the Dunlop's.

In regards to your question about chirping when activating your alarm, I'm pretty sure that feature is available. Check your manual as I had a friend who purchased a 2004 Nissan Sentra (which X-trail is based on) and he was complaining about the chirping sound when arming his alarm(he wanted it quieter as everytime he armed or disarmed the car, the horn would sound and when he got home late at night, he didn't want to bother his family). I checked his manual and I believe if you pushed and held the arm button, it switches it from non-chirp to chirp.

Give that a try, but I'm sure the manual will be able to tell you more information, otherwise check with the dealer.

As for the auto-lock, I'm not sure that is available on the X-Trail, but again the manual should be able to tell you.


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## DL500 (May 7, 2004)

Vento1,
Our X-Trail is silver. My wife liked the red too but we just decided to play it safe in case of resale. You're right, I thought most LE models would come with the optional Traction/VDC but I've seen a couple other LE without it now.

Today I swapped the tires over to the Dunlop Grandtrek ST20.
When I drove the car I didn't notice much difference, maybe slightly firmer, but let me drive it a bit more and I might have a better idea. Hopefully since the ST20 is a new model, it will have decent wet and snow performance. On the dry pavement I'm quite sure it should be equal or better than the Bridgestones.

The alarm doesn't seem to chirp. The service dept guy tried something (I think he held down the arm button) but nothing changed. Oh well, not the end of the world.


Manuelga and other X-Trail owners:

Sometimes when I drive the car, usually after it was parked, I hear a sound from underneath that sounds like a burp.
It has happened in 2WD and AUTO mode.
My guess is it's the 4WD system resetting or something like that. Is this normal? It is just like a short burp (half a second) and then I don't hear it again until maybe the next time I park and go.
Last day it seemed to come from the back, this morning it sounded like it was directly under the driver area.


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## manuelga (Dec 14, 2003)

DL500 Sorry but my X-Trail is FWD, it's not so necessary AWD here 'cause never snow & off road is not so popular here.

It's supossed that at fall we could get AWD X-Trails but I guess these are not going to be as popular as FWD here at Mexico.


Al this speech to say... sorry I've never heard any noise, burp or anything like that, maybe as you say is the AWD readjusting.


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