# Folding Aerial, VIN Decode, Wrecks



## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

I just noticed the X-Trail has an aerial that sticks out of the front of the roof. It appears this thing folds. How do you fold it? And if, say, you backed under something without remembering to lower it, would it fold or be damaged?

Can you decode the VIN to determine which model an X-Trail is, and whether it has VDC? 

And, a couple of wrecked X-Trails:

http://www.canadatrader.com/result/detailinfo.aspx?ID=10215372&pgno=3
http://www.canadatrader.com/result/detailinfo.aspx?ID=10246322&pgno=1


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

X-Traction said:


> I just noticed the X-Trail has an aerial that sticks out of the front of the roof. It appears this thing folds. How do you fold it? And if, say, you backed under something without remembering to lower it, would it fold or be damaged?


The roof aerial/antenna folds flat on the roof if you want to. All you need to do is climb-up and fold it down with your hand.

The highest elevation of the antenna would be just a bit higher than your roof racks/spoiler (if you have any), this means that if backed under something that low, you would most probablt damage the spoiler and roof racks before the antenna.

It's also made out of rubber so it's very flexible and durable. You can actually un-screw the thing off in a matter of seconds.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

aussitrail, thanks for the info. If someone doesn't have anything better to do sometime, could they measure how much clearance is needed with the aerial all the way up? We may buy an X-Trail in the next few months, and we have a garage that was designed to fit our Pathfinder plus a few inches of clearance. The garage was built to a certain height limit, AND, we always back in. I can't see remembering to fold the aerial down every time we put the truck away. But I also can't see that being a "last straw" in our decision what to buy.

The reason for wanting the VIN decode is that vehicles listed for sale on-line often don't have the model number, and features such as VDC are often left out of descriptions, and are often added into the codes. Maybe I'll have to list the ones where I have both and see if I can find a correlation between VIN characters and the models.


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

X-Traction said:


> aussitrail, thanks for the info. If someone doesn't have anything better to do sometime, could they measure how much clearance is needed with the aerial all the way up? We may buy an X-Trail in the next few months, and we have a garage that was designed to fit our Pathfinder plus a few inches of clearance. The garage was built to a certain height limit, AND, we always back in. I can't see remembering to fold the aerial down every time we put the truck away. But I also can't see that being a "last straw" in our decision what to buy.


I can tell you one thing for sure and that is the Pathfinder is higher than the xtrail (even with the antena up all the way, which it never is) so if your garage can fit a Pathfinder you'll have plenty of room for the Exy.

Sorry I can't help you with VIN numbers, as they're different in Australia.

It is also a good practise to grab a brochure from your dealer which will have the exact height measurements of the exy (I've seen the specs on line as well)

The antena itself is no longer than 20cm from the roof (it doesn't extend any further)


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## aussietrail (Sep 24, 2004)

*Folding Antena*

Hi X-Traction,

I just got home and thought I'd measure everything up for you 

The antena is 22cm long.

This is a photo of it folded all the way down (away from the windscreen)



This photo of it up (the antena I mean  ) 



And the good news for you 



It folds in other direction as well (i.e. towards the windscreen) so there is no chance of it getting damaged if you do clip it in reverse.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

aussietrail,

Perfect, one less concern out of the way.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

Here are some typical X-Trail VIN's:

JN8BT08V25W103736
JN8BT08V95W102180
JN8BT08V35W104653
JN8BT08V15W104697
JN8BT08V45W104595

The first two are, I believe, from Canadian XE AWD Automatics, while the last three are from Canadian SE AWD automatics. The ads didn't list the model designations, but the first two had body-colored grilles, and the next three had chrome grills but no spoilers.

Here's the decode:

J=Japan
N=Nissan
3=model or manufacturer
4=engine code
5=model
6=model revision
7=body type
8=restraint system
9=vin check digit
10=year
11=assembly plant
12-17=serial/sequence/chassis number

Since the example vins are all the same except for the check digit and the sequence numbers, it appears Nissan does not code the model, transmission, drivetrain or VDC into the VIN.


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## alsterac (May 25, 2004)

X-Traction,

According to the Canadian Nissan site www.nissan.ca only the LE model offered the VDC as an option. If the model you are looking at is anything other than the LE, then it won't have the VDC option installed.

I hope this helps.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

alsterac said:


> X-Traction,
> 
> According to the Canadian Nissan site www.nissan.ca only the LE model offered the VDC as an option. If the model you are looking at is anything other than the LE, then it won't have the VDC option installed.
> 
> I hope this helps.


True, and I knew that. I was wondering if I could identify LE's that had the VDC option, from the VIN. Salespeople generally either don't know about such options, or don't bother mentioning it in ads. VDC matters a lot to me, but most buyers probably wouldn't know or care about it.

(I have a pet peeve against Nissan that you have to shell out $6000cdn over the price of a basic X-Trail to be able to buy the $800cdn VDC option. Given this is also an important safety feature, their marketing greed, in making VDC a $6800 option, seems inXcusable. Nissan has a long history of doing this, like with the All-Mode system. VDC is standard on all Toyota Highlanders and Hyundai Tucsons.)


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## AlexP (Feb 24, 2005)

(I have a pet peeve against Nissan that you have to shell out $6000cdn over the price of a basic X-Trail to be able to buy the $800cdn VDC option. Given this is also an important safety feature, their marketing greed, in making VDC a $6800 option, seems inXcusable. Nissan has a long history of doing this, like with the All-Mode system. VDC is standard on all Toyota Highlanders and Hyundai Tucsons.)[/QUOTE]

Not only that, but VDC is not available with a manual transmission, and neither is the leather interior. One of my pet peeves is the slow disappearance of the manual transmission, or at least its unavailability in many models.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

Yes, it seems X-Trails are made in Japan in batches depending on what country they're going to. Keeping the number of variations to a minimum helps keep the basic price down, but reduces our choices.

Automatics don't cost much of a mileage penalty these days, but certainly seem to be more costly to maintain, and fail far more frequently than manuals.

I don't mind the automatic-only aspect of the LE, because of another limitation, which is that the X-Trail has no low range. For rough-road use, an automatic is better than first gear in high range, because you can go slower without stalling. Neither is much use for saving brakes on steep rough and sustained descents compared to a low range.

It's possible that Nissan's VDC depends on having some data from the automatic, but I think other manufacturers have VDC that works with manuals.


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## Avery Slickride (Jan 6, 2005)

X-Traction said:


> VDC is standard on all Toyota Highlanders and Hyundai Tucsons.)


Given a choice between the X-Trail's great AWD system and Hyundai's cheap, dodgy VDC, I'll gladly do without stability control. Unintended braking is a very bad thing.


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## X-Traction (Dec 21, 2004)

Avery Slickride said:


> Given a choice between the X-Trail's great AWD system and Hyundai's cheap, dodgy VDC, I'll gladly do without stability control. Unintended braking is a very bad thing.


I hadn't heard that the Tucson's are suffering from unintended braking caused by their VDC. Is that common?

Actually, I'm more interested in traction control, which seems to come integrated with VDC these days. I need TC for two purposes: One is to climb and descend steep snowy/icy rough gravel roads while maximizing traction and avoiding "stuffing it". The other is to negotiate ditches placed diagonally across the same roads in dry conditions, which is a dynamic that defeats ordinary 4wd systems.

I should have mentioned that CRV's also have VDC as a standard feature. How many potential X-Trail buyers are choosing these other makes, rather than spend an extra $6000cdn to get an LE with VDC?


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