IT’S A TRUCK! A CROSSOVER! A TRUCK!

NO, IT’S A 2018 NISSAN PATHFINDER SUV!

A few years back I had a friend who said the reason she had bought her Pathfinder was because she had decided that if she was going to buy an SUV, she wanted a real, truck-basedSUV with body-on-frame construction, not one of the new unibody crossovers that were just coming onto the market.

Like she was going to go rock crawling or drive it up a mountain or something. Right.

I don’t remember what year that was, but the considering the time frame here (sometime in the early 2000s), she may not have gotten what she wanted.

Unless she had bought an older, used model from the Pathfinder’s first generation (1987-95), she just may have gotten the crossover SUV she was trying to shun. That’s because for its second generation (1996-2004), Nissan switched the Pathfinder to a unibody platform.

Or maybe my memory is such that this actually came up later than I recall and she got a third generation (2005-12) Pathfinder, which was back to body-on-frame.

Does Nissan have trouble making decisions? Well, yes and no.

Frankly, though, unless she really was going to take an off-roading adventure, my friend probably was better off in the crossover version of the Pathfinder. It has all the hauling capability of the truck-based model while providing the kind of smooth ride and handling that I suspect she is used to.

Nissan moved the Pathfinder back into the crossover genre in 2017 for its fourth generation. Following that makeover, it has added several new features for 2018 some of which are standard (Automatic Emergency Braking and a Rear Door Alert system that lets you know if you have left a package, pet,  bottom of milk, or child in the backseat after you have turned off the ignition and left the vehicle).

The Rear Door Alert system is one of the best innovations I have seen recently. It works simply enough. If you have opened the rear door prior to driving to put a package, pet, bottle of milk, or child in the backseat but haven’t opened the rear door at the end of your trip, it alerts you to the fact that you might have forgotten something (like a package, pet, bottle of milk, or child) if you leave the vehicle without opening that door.

After making its debut on the 2018 Pathfinder, it will be made available later on other Nissan models. The system can be turned on or off, though that would seem to defeat its purpose.

That the system is standard may be what the Pathfinder needs to set it apart in what is a very crowded midsize SUV segment with offerings like the Honda Pilot, the Toyota Highlander, and new Volkswagen Atlas, not to mention Nissan’s own Murano, all competing for buyers’ attention.

The Pathfinder also offers three-row seating for up to seven passengers with a decent amount of space behind the back row for storage. It’s kind of a pet peeve with me that engineers would design an interior to hold that many people and then not give them any room for their stuff.

If you need more cargo capacity than the 16 cubic feet behind the third row, you can fold that back row and capacity is boosted to nearly 48 cubic feet. For really big hauls, nearly 80 cubic feet is available with the second row folded as well.

Nissan offers the Pathfinders in four models starting with the base S followed by SV, SL, and Platinum trims.

All come with a 3.5-liter V6 engine that got a power boost for 2017 up to 284 horsepower and 259 pound-feet of torque. The only transmission offered with either standard 2-wheel or optional  4-wheel drive is a CVT (continuously variable transmission) that functions as an automatic.

I’m not a big fan of a CVT, but Nissan, generally recognized as the first mainstream company to go with the technology in a big way, has refined it to the point where I can live it.

CVTs are supposed to provide better fuel economy, and that is reflected in numbers for the Pathfinder of 20 miles-per-gallon city, 27 highway with FWD and 19/26 with AWD. Zeroto60times.com clocked the 2017 Pathfinder going from zero to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds. Towing capacity is cited at a hefty 6,000 pounds.

I found the ride comfortable and quiet with little to no wind noise, and features like the navigation system — optional on SV models and standard on SL and Platinum editions — are fairly easy to operate. NissanConnect, which features automatic collision notification, emergency call and stolen vehicle locator, and other customizable alerts, also is standard on SL and Platinum models, optional on SVs.

Consumer Reports recently included the Pathfinder on its list of 10 vehicles as the worst for visibility, citing its small back windows and the head restraints on the back rows as major factors. But, as with lots of things the magazine dives into when it comes to automotive vehicles, I find the criticism overwrought.

The Intelligent Around View system (standard on the SL and Platinum models) helps alleviate visibility issues when parking, and setting the mirrors right eases the issue when at speed.

The 2018 Pathfinder S with FWD starts at $31,765 including the $975 destination and delivery charge and the top-of-the-line Platinum with AWD checks in at $44,985. That’s well within line of its competitors as well.

What I liked about the 2018 Nissan Pathfinder Limited: The list of standard equipment on the lower trims is fairly extensive. It’s nice to see that Nissan didn’t keep the Rear Door Alert system just to the more expensive models.

What I didn’t like about the 2018 Nissan Pathfinder Limited: I am not a big fan of CVTs, but that’s what you often have to live with with Nissan vehicles.

Would I buy the 2018 Nissan Pathfinder Limited? I’d give it a good look, but with so much competition, I’m not sure where I would wind up. If I didn’t need a third row of seating, which I personally don’t, I’d likely go for the Murano.

2012 TOYOTA YARIS: Beware of sticker shock!

Sticker shock is defined as the feeling of dismay or surprise one gets when learning the high price of an item being offered for sale.

It is often associated with automobiles because it is thought the origination of the term goes back to the 1970s when the price of cars began jumping because of increased government regulation.

Also, the prices of motor vehicles, along with other information, appears on big window stickers called Monroneys, after Sen. Mike Monroney, who sponsored the bill that mandated the disclosure of such information.

An example of sticker shock is the reaction you may have (as I did) if you look at the bottom line of the Monroney for the 2012 Toyota Yaris: $18,234.

Whoa.

What happened to that inexpensive little hatchback that took the place of the subcompact Echo, which was priced even below the popular Corolla, itself a fairly economical family sedan?

When it hit showrooms as a 2007 model, the most expensive Yaris model still came in well under $14,000, which put it in the same price range as the Echo it replaced in the Japanese automaker’s portfolio.

But things have changed. Like the Echo, the Yaris was slightly less than a hit when it was first introduced, but the weaknesses weren’t fatal. They could be fixed, and Toyota has seen to that for 2012.

But the increased cargo capacity, a result of nearly three additional inches in length, suspension tweaks to improve the ride, and the overall upgrades to its appearance both inside and out have come at a cost.

Now the top-of-the-line SE carries a base price of $17,200. A couple of dealer-installed options and floor mats took our test vehicle up to an $18,234 price tag.

It is a much better car than its predecessor and also a big leap in improvement over its predecessor, the Echo. The Yaris is a lot more pleasing to the eye than the Echo, which was so nerdy that Fox Searchlight Pictures chose it for star Robin Williams to drive in his role as a troubled, slightly psychotic lab technician in the film One Hour Photo. Now there was a little bit of product placement that I’m not sure Toyota appreciated.

That wouldn’t necessarily happen with the Yaris.

The fully redesigned Yaris. which comes only in hatchback form now, the sedan having been abandoned, fits in very well with the style of vehicle that appeals to the Gen-X and Gen-Y audiences.

It comes in three trim levels, all with a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine puts out only 106 horsepower and 103 pound-feet of torque. The result is considerable engine noise when pushed to the limit, but at least it does respond to pedal pressure, and the overall handling is pretty solid.

The payoff for the meager horsepower is in mileage figures of 30 mpg city, 35 highway when equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission, 30/38 with a five-speed manual.

Those figures are better than what a similarly priced Scion xD Hatchback delivers with a 1.8-liter four-banger under the hood, though the xD somewhat makes up for its 27/33 fuel mileage numbers with a bit more power (128 hp).

Frankly, neither are going to wow you with power.

But that’s not what they’re all about anyway. What the Yaris gives you is a pretty good fuel-sipper that is a real car, not a bloated golf cart or chopped off bubble car with no backseat or storage that environmental radicals would like us all to drive.

Whether it is worth the price tag is another matter. Even the cheapest of the three Yaris models starts at $14,115, which, as noted earlier, is over $1,000 what Toyota was asking for the most expensive Yaris Hatchback just two years ago.

That’s sticker shock for you.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE YARIS: Because of its size, the Yaris is good for high-traffic urban areas, and it’s easy to park and maneuver in tight spots.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT THE YARIS: Even though the Yaris has been upgraded from last year, the sticker price is a bit much for this particular vehicle.