Dodge Nitro?

[Gravy]

Who likes them? What do you know about them?


Looks like RT got a 4.0 and the others got a 3.7.

Shopping for my wife, she is pretty particular about what she likes and our cash budget is under 10k (I don't really want to borrow money to buy a car), so when she came up with the idea on her own I came here for advice.

I know they are pretty much a Liberty right?

 

[joshbmx1201]

did the dodge journey replace the nitro? dont know much about the nitros but several of our friends have journeys and really like them. the dodge stuff has come a long way in the last few years. we bought a durango and couldnt be happier.

 

[TRD270]

Isn't the dodge nitro just a rebadged Jeep Liberty or commander or something

 

[Greg]

Isn't it a Dodge?

 

[thefirstzukman]

I have a 2009 Nitro that I bought new, It has the 3.7 and it has plenty of power. It has lots of room in the back seat, I have a 3 grown kids 16-21 and they fit in the back seat with plenty of room. It can get about 20mpg on trips but averages 15-17 with my lead foot. I have put 85000 miles on it and never had a single problem.

 

[anderson750]

We used to have a Nitro R/T with the 4.0. Strong motor that tan great. I liked it a lot. My wife traded it in for a Grand Cherokee with the Pentastar v6 and it was the most gutless POS. I traded that in last August for a Durango R/T with a Hemi and love it.

 

[Gravy]

We drove a nitro heat last night.
Here's what I learned: 3.7 motor
R/Ts got the 4.0 V6 (250hp!)
it's basically the same as an 08+ Liberty.
Same everything, but most Nitros didn't get the low range Tcase.
Chrysler 8.25 disc brake rear.
Pretty impressive, and inexpensive used.
We are expanding or search to 08+ Liberty also.

 

[Houndoc]

Used one as a rental for a week a few years back in Nome, Alaska. Put 150-200 miles of gravel on it daily, plus some willow pin stripe inducing mud on some river access trails.

Liked the way it drove and was a comfortable ride for the conditions. Was disappointed in it fuel economy (seems like we get in the upper teens, which with Nome gas prices was note worthy.)

Curious to know what those who have had them found as far as reliability. Drove lots of Dodge products from mid-90s until 2 years ago when soured on them because of my Ram 2500. If the Nitro is more like the others we had (Durango, Caravan, Stratus) is something I may well take another look at.

 

[Gravy]

It seems the motor is the caravan motor.

 

[TurboMinivan]

It seems the motor is the caravan motor.

No. The 3.7L V6 was never used in the minivans. It is a SOHC design and is unrelated to the pushrod 3.3L/3.8L V6 engines which were commonly used in the minivans.

The 4.0L SOHC V6 which was offered in the Nitro (but never in the Liberty) did see limited use in some minivans, though.