[rickaren]

Why did you buy your Nitro?

For me it was that first TV commercial that Dealers hated of jump starting an old “K” car blowing it up in the air and finally hitting back in the parking lot. Thought it was so funny I even recorded it for my Wife to laugh at, too. That started my Internet search of the then new Dodge Nitro.

Having a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with a painted grille I was drawn to the R/T from the start. Not really thinking of buying another new car (SUV) I used the Company’s Web Site to build my own, and then went to two dealers to order at the best price (test drove one too) and put 10K down. Well that did not work out since I wanted full-time four wheel drive just like shown on the Net listed as late availability. As we know now that never became an option for the Nitro, just the 2008 Jeep Liberty!

I have never been a Chevy or Ford guy and started with a Pontiacs when I was 16! Then built and raced a highly modified Suzuki X-6 motorcycle. Built up a AMC Gremlin X with a 401 dual-quad, nitrous oxide, 5500 torque converter and a Ford 9 inch running 543 gears. Car ran 1/8 mile bracket racing. It was a 10 second quarter mile car. Not the norm.

I really wanted a new fully loaded white Nitro R/T and when Chrysler announced their new Lifetime Powertrain Warranty on July 26 and I confirmed there was not going to be a 2008 full-time 4X4 option, I called up one Dealer and they had just received a new R/T in white with every option except the engine heater! It had been 7 months since my first Nitro R/T test drive and one year since the Nitro production started. This Nitro was built in July of 07 and the 08s had not started production yet. On July 27th I drove home my new “Toy” and could not be happier!

With only 67,000 Nitros being produced (don’t know how many are R/Ts) through November it has been called a “Dud” and may be phased out of production due to slow sales. Do I care? Not really since I have mine, and I’m sure some of the new cars I have owned in the past never came close to 67,000 sales!

Yes I do think it would be a big mistake. I enjoy the looks, drive and power of the 24 valve motor and all the goodies inside.

What is your story?

 

[fcsallan]

I had no intention of buying an SUV when I went to my dealer.

I had an 05 magnum with only 32000 miles on it but my dealer was offering almost $24000 trade for it and I knew I was not going to get that much ever again. The car booked for $20000 trade everywhere I looked so now was the time. Add the lifetime warranty and how could I go wrong. But as I said, I wasn't looking for an SUV. I was after a Charger SRT with the Road Touring package.

THey did have such a Charger on the lot and I drove it but there was something missing. I just wasn't quite sure. Then the dealer told me that this car would not have the lifetime powertrain so I started looking elsewhere. I looked at the Jeeps and the Chrysler Aspen then the Dakota and Full size Pickups. Nothing really impressed me. So I left and decided to sleep on it. The next day, my lovely wife and I were talking about the options and what we wanted. Maybe just another Magnum. We really liked the extra storage. We decided to look at the Nitro that day. I went online and found the options I wanted and there was no choice other than the R/T for me. It had all that I could want, but leave me enough room to "make it mine".

My wife and I work together but had gone to work in separate cars that day. I left work a bit early and took the Magnum to the dealer to test drive a Nitro. The rest is history. It was NOT a Magnum or performance "car" by any means, but I already have a classic hot rod, I don't really need two. The Nitro gave me the "something different" that I was looking for and the lifetime powertrain warranty was a bonus.

So far so good. I have about 2500 Miles on it and have not had so much as a hiccup.

I even got my Nitro's picture on the Dodge-Nitro.com forum Christmas card post.

How does it get better than that?

Good idea Rick, thanks for starting this tread.

Anybody else?

 

[nitrotastic]

I liked the way it looked so I traded my srt-4 for my slt. Oh and I screwed my wife out of getting one LOL she's stuck with the dodge grand caravan now.

 

[BSBOB]

We had a GMC Sonoma quad cab since 04. my 2 boys are getting BIGGER, so we decided on a new vehicle. most 05 trucks are at least 15 to 20 thousand dollars with 60 plus thousand miles used. the NITRO fit the bill with dvd , remote start and hands free tele for less than 30 grand.also the HEATED SEATS are the S#%$! Mopar SEXY style was the CLINCHER! BSBOB

 

[corsairkid]

Well, as my 16th birthday approached in April, I began my search for a car. Originally, my parents told me I could look for a used car under $15,000. I was looking at used Grand Cherokees and I found I could get a 2005/2006 GC laredo for right around there. THEN, one day my dad suggests we take a look at the Jeep Patriot. He said I could prob get it new if we liked it. I test drove it with my dad one day, and I actually liked it quite a bit. It seemed like a good size, came in cool colors, but it was kinda slow. Anyways, my dad made it seem like I would be getting a silver patriot sport for my birthday. I got all excited and started researching about it.

Fast forward to three days before my birthday. My dad picks me up from baseball practice. On the way home, we were talking about the patriot, and what not. As my dad opens the garage door, I see my nitro sitting in the garage with a huge red bow on it. I was speechless for a good 5 min. Since I only had my permit at the time, I took the whole family for a quick drive around the neighborhood. Odometer read 37 miles lol. I got my license three days later and have been driving it ever since. O and my dad told me that him and my mom had already ordered the Nitro even before we test drove the Patriot lol.

Ok so that is how I got my Nitro. Well, since I already wrote this much, I might as well tell everyone what happened soon after getting my Nitro.

So my birthday was on a Friday. I got my license that morning, so me and a friend decided to drive to a Culvers to get some food after our baseball game. While we were eating, some punk kids thought it would be funny to throw FISH all over my new, clean, shiny Nitro. It got all over the windshield, in the grille, and in the air vent intake. I had to wash my car in the parking lot to even drive home. When I was finally coming home, I turned the air on. BOOM! Fish smell in the car. Bye Bye new car smell .

So fast forward to a week from the fish incident. I am driving to my friends house going about 22mph in a 25 zone (lots of cops). I was driving down the road when all of a sudden, I see a flash of brown fur. BAM! I slam the brakes on and pull over. I get out to see a dog walking back over to its house where it collapsed. I never found out wut happened to the dog, but it broke my front bumper. It also vomited all over my front driver wheel which then sprayed up all over the side of my car. I had to get the bumper replaced, but the dog owners had to pay for it thank god.

So after 1 week of driving, I had been fished, hit a dog, vomited on, O and I left my lights on all night and killed the battery ( I was used to auto head lights). Great times, huh?

 

[evlwevl]

LONG:
Hes how we got our (actually my wifes)
I had already owned a '93 Ford Ranger XLT which is still drive today @ 150kmi. It was my first new truck. Well fast forward to today..Married, 2 kids (toddler and newborn).
Just this last weekend, we were in the search for a new truck to replace my Ranger since Ford doesn't make a 4 Door Mid sized pickup liked. My wife was partial to the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon until she saw all the bad reviews (haha I happend to point them out). I talked her into a Toyota Tacoma which has always been a favorite of mine. She was a fan of this truck as soon as she saw it in person even though she was completely against buying foreign. We talked to the Salesman who couldn't have been more pleasant and non pushy. Unfortunately at that time,we ran the numbers at home and it just wasn't in our price range....Total disappointment

DAY 2:
We decided to go back out to one of the dealerships we visited the day before. We had walked away the day before we had seen the Dodge Dakota and were Thoroughly disappointed, talk about a pickup needing an interior face lift...DODGE... GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER IF YOU WANT TO COMPETE WITH TOYOTA. Well, the sales lady was just tailing us all over the lot, it was a little annoying. We'll with 2 tired kids with us and a long day, all she could bring out was a bright red Dakota with a V8. Totally the wrong package, wrong color, wrong options and most of all wrong engine. Another guy shows up and starts offering all these deals to get rid of it, its just not what we wanted and we left.
Next day:
We come back thinking maybe it was just the salesperson that drove us off and we give Dodge another try cause we spotted a few Nitros the day before and even though an SUV was sort of an option for us, we really wanted a 4 door pickup. We met up with (or should I say he met us at the sidewalk) a new sales person and although we thought we were going to be tailed, he turned out to be one of the most well informed, considerate sales people we ever met. (hes going to get a thank you letter and very high marks on any survey we receive. He showed us the truck and we were in love, plus I think we got a great deal on an 07 ~3,300 below sticker. I gotta tell you, this is hands down one of the most attractive vehicles on new lots today. We took our test drives and this little SUV hit all of our marks. With the lifetime powertrain warranty, how could you go wrong. The DVD system with be a godsend on our longer trips. My 2 year old son is a monster truck fanatic, forget blues clues and that otherstuff. The features on this truck are way too cool and its got as much horsepower as my Dads big Ram truck. All in all, I only wish we could afford 2 of them so I could be driving one as well every day too.
btw. We purchased the '07 R/T fully loaded black/black leather......and Dammed its sharp sitting in the driveway

 

[fcsallan]

btw. We purchased the '07 R/T fully loaded black/black leather......and Dammed its sharp sitting in the driveway

Sounds like a great experience in the end. Post some pictures when you get a chance.

 

[MYREDSLT]

My brother-in-law has a friend who worked for Chrysler and he gave him a pre-production brochure of the Nitro that wasn't available to the public. A couple of weeks later, I was over my brother-in-laws house and the brochure was on his kitchen table. I picked it up and opened it. Thats all it took. When I first saw the pictures of the Nitro "concept", I was hooked. Two years later I have a shinny Inferno red SLT sitting in my driveway.

 

[RB-86]

i just won my lemon law case against chrysler for my dodge ram. At first i was gonna get the new new liberty but when i saw it in person it wasn't that much to look at. I went to the dodge dealer yesterday to walk around and found a black on black nitro R/T 4x4. It had everything i wanted, four wheel drive, tow package, leather, infinity speakers, sunroof, etc... The only option it didn't have was the mygig, but i didn't really care for it. Before i even test drove it i told the manager thats the one i want for the trade. He had it washed and i test drove and was instantly in love. I should be picking it up on friday once the paper work is finished.

 

[Gailie]

I bought a Nitro

- one reason was the commercial on TV as well, my hubby and I laughed so hard every time that was on. We decided to check them out one Saturday and ended up buying one, and picking it up on Tuesday !

We had a 2005 Saturn VUE and we were towing our tent trailer, we knew we needed something with more guts to tow..... as soon as I test drove the Nitro I knew that was the truck for me !

 

[isakssonmartin]

Well the design and that it was awalible in Diesel version.
so i traded in my Mecedes Benz ML 270 CDI (2005modell)

and everything from USA is exotic in Sweden so it really stands out
nobody even looked att the ML i had before becuase german cars is everyday shit here but the nitro even people with ferraris turn ther heads

so im ass happy ass can by an with 4000miles after 7months of owning im happy with it and i gett 30miles per gallon sinse its a diesel.

 

[TheTuck]

I bought mine to tow my Neon SRT-4 to the Racetrack and Autocross events. Also, wanted the 4 wheel drive for going back and forth to work in the winter.