Nissan isn’t a byword for reliability. Well, it’s not that since the alliance with Renault switched to maximizing profits over improving build quality. The Frontier, however, is an exception to that rule because it’s a fairly old design.
Instead of a Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado, or Dakota, an independent delivery driver by the name of Brian Murphy decided that his truck of choice would be the Frontier. A 2007 model, to be more precise, which has served him well for more than 13 years and a million miles with the original engine and tranny.
“I change my own oil every 10,000 miles and drive carefully,” the owner told Nissan at the beginning of the year when his workhorse passed the million-mile mark. The Chicagoland delivery driver racked up more than 50,000 hours behind the wheel to cover the same distance as two round trips to the Moon.
He replaced the clutch at 801,000 miles and the timing chain was replaced as a precaution at 700,000 miles. The four-cylinder, five-speed manual, rear-drive pickup is a King Cab with a Red Brawn exterior and a pretty Spartan interior that features only the most essential of creature comforts. A radio and air conditioning, to be more precise, which is pretty much all you need in a delivery truck.
What comes as a bit of a surprise is that Murphy “never used GPS to guide him on his route, and his driving record is free of any moving violations” according to Nissan. Google Maps and Waze have no place here, and this makes the owner as well as the pickup a little more special than they appear at first glance.
The Japanese automaker bought off the million-mile workhorse on the spot, and by the end of the year, the Frontier will be exhibited where it was assembled at the Smyrna assembly plant in Tennessee. As the headline implies and as part of the trade, Murphy received a brand-new Frontier for the 2020 model year with the more powerful 3.8-liter V6 as well as the 9-speed automatic transmission.
These two will also be found in the 2021 Frontier, which is a top-to-bottom redesign of the mid-size pickup. Thanks to a teaser published on YouTube at the end of May, we also have an idea about how the newcomer will look.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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