2008 Dodge Nitro SLT 4X4

Pros

Great vehicle! Looks good, lots of room.

Cons

Nothing!

Purchased As New

This is my first SUV, and I love it! Have owned it for 6 months, and can't imagine going back to a car. The rear cargo area is very roomy, I have three large dogs, and they all fit perfect for rides to the vet! Safety rating is great. Expecting my first child in September, and I will have no problem loading up the baby in this vehicle. Plenty of room and very stylish. Constantly getting complements on how good it looks!...read morehide

Pros

Nice ride, beautiful appearance

Cons

cheap interior

I ride this car in germany, europeans love this car, run faster and smooth in the autobahn (not speed limit freeway) this is a good small SUV for the price. I love it

Pros

4x4 versatility, clearance

Cons

Flimsy plastic exterior pieces, terrible mileage, cheap interior

In August 2007 my son insisted that this was going to be his new car. I had already agreed to cosign for the loan and help with the downpayment but he got to choose the car. He choose a 2008 Nitro 4x4.

Initially expecting mileage to be around 24 on the highway it quickly demonstrated that if you have anything IN the car it gets less than that, around 21 and around town driving delivered around 15mpg. This is really crazy for such a small compact SUV, why not just drive a Durango or full size pickup?

The first trouble with the car was with the transfer case that started making a buzzing sound when you applied the accelerator when in 4WD. We took it to the dealer here in Andover and the diagnosis was- "needs a new transfer case", that was with exactly 2,790 miles. This was done under warranty over the course of 6 days in the shop.

Second issue was with the stereo which my son says was a problem from the beginning. It has the optional Sirius pkg and an AUX jack. If you plug something into the AUX jack like an iPod you get static feedback so you cant really use this feature. It got worse in that if something was plugged into the AUX jack but not "on" you couldnt use the radio or Sirius without a buzzing that was unaffected by the volume control. We took the car to the dealer in Andover and they said it was improperly grounded. When we picked the car up the problem was still there even though we were told that the stereo had been grounded and they couldnt do much more. My son asked what the next step would be and they said that if a new stereo was required the old one had to be taken out, sent to Chrysler so that they could test it and see if it was really broken. We were told that maybe there were powerlines in our area causing the interference or maybe a cell phone, whatever. So they took the stereo out and that was the last we ever saw of the stereo, 10 months on now. There has been a hole in the dash ever since.

About 3 weeks ago a piece of the massive single piece plastic front air dam popped out it its bracket holding it to the bumper so it was bowed up and sticking out causing whistling and buffeting while driving. We took it to the dealer and they said that obviously we ran into something. No, we didnt run into something, no scratches no damage........they suggested that we take it to State Farm and have them determine if it was caused by an accident. So we did and State Farm generated a letter stating that they thought it was due to the failure of a retaining bracket not realted to an acident. We took this back to the dealer and they dismissed the letter telling us that body damage is never their fault. We have not been able to get this fixed.

Other issues included a rattling exhaust pipe heat shield, warped front brake rotor, radiator leaking at a seam and inoperative tachometer.

this week my son and I decided that we had had enough with the Nitro and went to trade it in. We choose a used 2006 Subaru Outback and proceded with the trade. The Nitro must have the worst trade in value of any vehicle as we were offered $11, 400 for the trade on a vehicle that less than a year ago cost $23,300 and had 17,000 miles on the odo. We were told that there is no market for this vehicle due to the mileage and the huge stock currently available new with cash back, 0% financing, etc. We managed to sell the Nitro ourselves for $15,000 but we still took a loss of about $9000 inlcluding financing.

Stay away from this stinker! It looks like the Nitro is being dropped for 2009 as far as I can see. It seems like this pathetic, warmed over Calibur with a V6 represented one too many low mileage SUVs in the Dodge lineup....read morehide

Pros

Smooth ride, glides on air, roomy

Cons

Sucks gas

Great car. I love my nitro but with rising fuel cost I'm wondering if I love it enough to keep dish out more money for gas and cut costs elsewhere to afford driving it. Great in snow - glides through rough weather with no problem.

Pros

Not bad for the class it is in.

Cons

Terrible ride, noisy...noisy....noisy....rear wheel drive, oversteering. MPG 14.8 Avergage.

I have had it as a company car for about 3 months. I would not have bought this vehicle, but my company apparently got some type of great deal. Well the gas MPG for this thing is less then 15 MPG as advertised and I do a lot of highway driving. The best I ever got on straight highway driving was 16.4 MPG. At $3.15 a gallon and me driving about 1200 miles a month.....you are talking about some heavy fuel costs.
No wonder the American Car Manufacturers are in trouble....read morehide

Pros

Good fuel 18 city Turn's people's head's

Cons

N/A

I drive arounf 250 t0 300 miles a day in the city, and I love it. I bought the black one and it draws alot of attention. Took it on a road trip got 23 mpg. So far no problems

Pros

Looks, fun to drive, like layout, heated seats etc

Cons

Don't really have any.

I've been getting a car every other year it seems as I couldn't find anything I've liked well enough to keep. I think this new Nitro is a keeper, it fits well, I sit upright, not down on the ground in a car, I feel pretty safe in it and I've had mine 6 months now and I still enjoy driving it. I love the new MP3 feature, as I rarely listen to regular radio anymore. Nothing but praise for the Nitro......read morehide

Pros

Great mileage for long distance driving, great style/turns heads and awesome color.

Cons

Side mirrors large, cuts off view, recall on brake system.

STYLING AND SIENNA COLORING IS INCREDIBLE IT'S LIKE NOTHING THAT I'VE SEEN BEFORE. THE CHROMED GRILL REALLY SETS IT OFF. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME IF IT'S A HUMMER. I DID HAVE TROUBLE WITH THE RADIO IN THE BEGINNING, DOGDE FIXED IT WITH NO PROBLEM. I'M CONCERNED W/THE RECENT RECALL ON THE BRAKES BUT MOST NEW MODELS HAVE THEIR FLAWS JUST AS LONG AS THERE IS NO PROBLEM GETTING IT REPAIRED ASAP. (AND THEY DID) I DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT THE HIGH BEAM SWITCH IS CONNECTED TO THE TURN SIGNAL SOMETIMES WHILE TURNING I HIT THE BRIGHT LIGHTS AT THE SAME TIME, ANNOYING. HOWEVER, I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING ELSE AND BELIEVE ME I'VE OWN SOME VERY HIGH END CARS AND I LUV MY NITRO THE BEST!!!...read morehide

Pros

Very nice and Stylish. Strong Vehicle

Cons

Only problem is with the Electrical System. Many Glitches.

Overall the vehicle is nice. Only problem is that there are many glitches with the electronics of the vehicle. So far there has been two recalls involving reprogramming certain computers. I had to have the windows reprogrammed due to them not coming up properly and about two days ago the radio was not working. I let the vehicle sit for two hours and turned the vehicle back on and the radio worked fine. Other than that it is still a very good vehicle....read morehide

Pros

Head turning looks, great features for the price, UConnect

Cons

Fuel economy, but what do you expect from an SUV?

It certainly wasn't my intention to buy a Nitro when I walked into the dealership that day. But after they talked me into test driving it, I was in love. I've had it for a month now and haven't found anything I dislike about it, except for the gas mileage. Doesn't get quite what the sticker says, but they never do. One thing I love is the head-turning looks my Nitro gets. I even had a gentleman follow me into a store last night to ask me what I was driving and to tell me how sharp it looks. I'm having lots of fun driving this vehicle with all the cool features!...read morehide