It is finally time for us to bite the bullet and replace our 2013 Navigator L. We've been spoiled by the size of it, and I know we likely cannot afford a similar (extended family hauler) like the Expedition Max, Suburban, or Yukon XL.

Looking into Armada's and they seem to be a good mix of size without a huge price tag attached. Anyone have a reason why we shouldn't consider it?

Budget ~45k or so, willing to go used as long as less than 50k miles.

Also been looking for a used Sequoia but near impossible to find one at that price point.

Any other thoughts or ideas? Minivan is probably out even though that is probably what I would prefer for simple ease of use with the sliding doors.

Thanks!

If you don't mind the gas mileage of the v8 you can find a cpo Sequoia 2021-2022 models for around that price point. We did though it took awhile for one to pop up.

Armada's are solid. Drive train is bullet proof, same as the Titan I believe.

My wife has had a 2023 Armada for I think almost a year. We have had zero problems with it. I think she has almost 30k miles on it.

She had an expedition EL before as well.

The only minor inconveniences are the gas mileage and small gas tank

Wife had a 2013 Infiniti QX56, which changed to QX80 the next year, and is very similar to the Armada. No non-maintenance repairs were needed up to 150K miles when we sold but the CEL was on throwing P0420 for 75% of the time starting around 2018. I read that the engine could run rich resulting in this but I just made sure to get it inspected when the light was off.

I bet you can get a slightly used QX80 in you price range pretty easily if you want nicer seats.

From a few years ago when we looked at both.

https://texags.com/forums/46/topics/3205754

Dill-Ag13 said:

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Armada is solid, it is cheap because it is an old platform with a dated powertrain. In today's world of turbos, hybrid AWD, 10-speed transmissions, and air suspension, an old school V8 with a moderate transmission at a reasonable price is an epic value proposition. Buying a 3-year-old one just out of warranty has got to be the best bang for your buck in that segment.

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It's funny you mention the air suspension. That is what just went out in our navigator and is the main reason my wife finally flipped the switch to get a new car. We've been repairing small things here and there every other month for a couple of years. HVAC a few times, a few cosmetic issues that broke for apparently no reason other than being old, and a few other smaller things. The Air suspension compressor went out, and our navigator now looks like a lowrider and feels like you are driving a boat through waves. It cracks me up. Not so much for the wife.

We have been looking for a Sequoia used and found a 22 with 45k miles for 45k, but didnt pull the trigger in time since we hadnt had this latest issue and were still on the fence about replacing the Nav. My wife still loves that car due to the storage space. If I find another Sequoia like that I will pull the trigger in a heartbeat I think.

Going to look at an Armada tonight that is a 24 with 2500 miles on it that someone just traded in. Not sure what the issue was and doubt they will be honest but I am going to ask if they know why it was traded in so fast.

We also looked at the new Grand Highlander which we both loved, but they are having recall issues on that from what I understand with no clear path forward on how to get the drivers side airbag to work over the window. So their solution is to not drive with the window down until they figure it out. I find that hilarious. Maybe it has changed since I was reading about that a few weeks ago though.

thanks for the link in the post above - seems like all the same cars still getting discussed. I wish the new price was still in the 45k range instead of 60!

I know you said you looked at the Max and couldn't find one, but there are multiple w/in 300 miles of Austin that meet your criteria.

2019
51k miles
$33k
https://www.johnsonsewelllincoln.com/details/?vin=1FMJK1KT9KEA82436&type=used&desc=2019-Ford-Expedition-Max-SUV

2121
41k miles
$42k
https://www.moritzkiaalliance.com/used/Ford/2021-Ford-Expedition+Max-ccb2d165ac184ce726d33966c1d1c7fe.htm

2022
47k miles
$48k
https://www.brownfieldford.com/used/Ford/2022-Ford-Expedition%20Max-f0cadbe1ac1837f770365c86af37d04b.htm

Can you let me know how you found those? I have been searching on dealership websites and it has been a pain. It has been a solid 10 years since we have gone car shopping, so I am a little out of date on how to even find things outside my area. That may be the issue.

I use auto tempest. example this an advanced search for certified pre owned armadas no more than 3 years old, less than 50K miles, and under 45K dollars.

https://www.autotempest.com/results?make=nissan&model=armada&zip=78132&radius=300&maxprice=45000&minyear=2022&maxyear=2024&maxmiles=40000&keywords=Certified

you can do this for any model. I also like this because you can have it alert you when a new match is listed. how e found our sequoia.

Use an aggregator like cars.com or Autotrader. Dealers list they cars on these too. And if you want a dealer you can filter that way

FYI I found a few Sequoias that meet your criteria but they'll all in San Antonio, Austin or DFW

The biggest trouble may be cargo area. The Armada cargo area (and the Sequoia) is much closer to that of the 4Runner than the Expedition/Navigator/Tahoe/Wagoneer, and certainly not that of the long wheelbase version of either of those.

I think the Armada has right around 50cu ft vs 70+ for the other large SUVs with the third row down. If you're taking family vacations on the road with lots of cargo, that may be an issue.

I used to have a Titan and drove it for eight years with no major problems and it had a ton of power.

The sequoia has a large cargo area with 3rd row down. Similar to Tahoe.

It is also truly flat. The armada is not, which is something we couldn't stand.

Rule Number 32 said:

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Thanks guys. I honestly didnt realize dealers listed their cars on those sites. I am like a fish out of water. I absolutely hate shopping for cars.

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Autotrader, Cars.com, cargurus.com, and sometimes truecar are good places to check. Don't rule out facebook marketplace. Use the filters on marketplace to set your prices. Set a lower limit around 10k. If you don't you'll get tons of dealer ads where the $10k is your "down payment".

When I'm on the hunt for something new, I make bookmarks to my searches on the "big" sites and check a few times a day. Generally have to be ready to move quickly if you see a good deal. I bought my last car two days after it hit all the aggregators. 5 people had already called and one had already come by to see it in person on day 1.

Make sure to google every prospective VIN. If the car has been wrecked, you should be able to find auction pictures that way. Don' trust a clean carfax. Helped a friend find a car for his teenager a few weeks ago. 90% of the good deals with "clean title" had been wrecked badly.

Also don't rule out having one shipped if you find "the one" out of state. It'll cost you ~$1k to ship something in.

Thank you all for the advice. This has reduced my stress level considerably. Tried to post on Reddit and everyone was super rude.

A follow up to the space issue. The older model Sequoia is more similar to most full sized SUVs in terms of space and it has the flat storage area. If you're looking at the newer models, the Sequoia is comparable to the Armada in size and neither are comparable to the rest of the full size SUV market. Plus the newer Sequoia back end is not flat. I went through this in looking for a new car as storage was one of the main issues. If that's not as important, this may be a moot issue. All sizes below are in cubic feet.

Your current vehicle: Lincoln Navigator L
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 43
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 86
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 128

Nissan Armada
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 17
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 50
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 95

Pre-2023 Sequoia
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 19
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 67
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 120

Post-2023 Sequoia
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 22
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 49
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 87

Toyota 4Runner
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - None
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 47
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 90

Tahoe
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 26
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 75
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 123

Jeep Wagoneer
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 27
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 71
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 117

Ford Expedition
Cargo Volume to Seat 3 - 21
Cargo Volume to Seat 2 - 64
Cargo Volume to Seat 1 - 105

Thank you for the list!

We drove a 24 Armada last night. The inside was nice but I could see the back storage not being flat driving me totally insane. Probably would not bother the wife all that much. But she definitely wasn't in love with it but it might be an option.

I'm always surprised at how little storage is in a sequoia. They look so monstrous from the outside.

Found a couple of expedition Max's and a suburban here in Houston that may be an option. Definitely appreciate the help.

I have a new suburban premier on vacation right now. Super nice.

Look hard at a 4wd V8 sequoia. Sequoia has more room inside, and mileage count is essentially irrelevant. Newer armadas look nicer inside, but Seq will last longer. The buy in is higher but the resale is also higher, so it will wash out if you ever want to sell.

redaszag99 said:

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My wife has had a 2023 Armada for I think almost a year. We have had zero problems with it. I think she has almost 30k miles on it.

She had an expedition EL before as well.

The only minor inconveniences are the gas mileage and small gas tank

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Do you like how the infotainment works? We have a 14 Armada with the smaller integrated screen so a move to a newer one would be a big change. Had read about the screens being buggy in the 21s but hopefully they got all of that sorted out.

Rule Number 32 said:

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Any other thoughts or ideas? Minivan is probably out even though that is probably what I would prefer for simple ease of use with the sliding doors.

Thanks!

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Then get one.

We had one for 18 years and it was a great family hauler, vacation vehicle, grocery getter, etc. Wife loved that car and we were young when the minivan was first invented and had a much bigger stigma attached to it. Neither of us wanted one but after twins and a third on the way we decided to get one. Definitely one of my top 5 car decisions in life.

texsn95 said:

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redaszag99 said:

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My wife has had a 2023 Armada for I think almost a year. We have had zero problems with it. I think she has almost 30k miles on it.

She had an expedition EL before as well.

The only minor inconveniences are the gas mileage and small gas tank

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Do you like how the infotainment works? We have a 14 Armada with the smaller integrated screen so a move to a newer one would be a big change. Had read about the screens being buggy in the 21s but hopefully they got all of that sorted out.

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The screen has been fine for us. I don't drive it by myself much so it is mostly connected to my wife's phone and I am usually just turning off her crappy music.

The wireless car play works well. We took the Armada on a spring break road trip for a week and it worked well.

Ha, I can relate to the crappy music part, thanks for the info.

Well, we went and drove a wagoneer, an expedition, and a Honda Odyssey minivan. We may be a minivan family soon. They were all nice but the ability to buy new at the same price may win out. Don't think we can go wrong with any of them to be honest.

2025 Armada brings the Nissan Patrol to the US

I like it. Will be curious to see how they price them. Gunna be looking for something next year to replace my wife's current 4runner.

Waiting to see if they put the patrol differentials in the new Pro 4x one, or just carry over the Armada /pathfinder ones to keep the domestic content levels up.

If they use the rock-solid powertrain from overseas, this might be a lot more expensive than the outgoing model due to the chicken tax.

My 2021 Armada is the smallest vehicle I could fit in w/ my kids in the backseat (we all range from 5'-9" to 6'-6"). Pretty handy offroad with better tires (stock size was 275/60R20 =33"), rides very smoothly over rough country compared to a pickup.

Toying with a mild lift on my 2021. Not as big an aftermarket as landcruisers to say the least. The biggest weak link is supposedly the front differential in the US models (better, heavier one overseas).

Not sold on the air suspension. Might rip it out and put on Bilsteins/lift springs. New air suspension on Pro 4x worries me, will have to see how that holds up.

Could probably build two or three used trail rigs for the cost of a new Pro 4x.

tk for tu juan said:

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2025 Armada brings the Nissan Patrol to the US

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Hasn't the Armada/QX80 been the same as the Patrol in the states since 2011?

2023 Patrol:


2023 Armada:

Same chassis, but US version got domestic-sourced components, shipped to Japan for final assembly to get domestic % up enough to avoid tariffs:
- US manufactured 5.6L V8
- Front suspension from titan
- Front aluminum case diff from pathfinder
- Rear diff from Titan w/o locker
- Smaller US sourced splined axle shafts
- EGR/Emissions/gas venting
- No offroad modes in transmission like patrol

They also cut weight and changed gearing for better fuel economy (which still ain't great).

The new armada / qx80 looks fantastic