Used Nissan in Rome, Georgia

In a market where the default new truck keeps getting bigger, the Frontier spent most of two decades not getting bigger at all. Nissan held the second generation in production from the middle of the 2000s until 2021, with the same cab shapes and the same basic dimensions throughout, while the rest of the class grew toward the size half ton trucks used to be.

The last years of that generation say something about it. Nissan dropped a new 3.8 liter V6 and a nine speed automatic into the outgoing body before the redesign arrived. The current truck carried the frame forward and put new sheet metal and a new interior on it. It is still a midsize truck by the old definition. A bed a person of normal height can reach into, a footprint that fits a carport, and a rear drive layout with four wheel drive available rather than assumed.

The Titan is a smaller part of the story and a more interesting one than its sales suggest. Nissan built it in Canton, Mississippi, which makes it a Southern truck in a way most buyers here never think about, and the Titan XD was an honest attempt at a size the domestic makers had left empty, sitting between a half ton and a heavy duty. Nissan has since ended Titan production, which means the used market is now the only market for them.