Nissan is trying hard to get its mojo back. One way is with the upcoming 2023 Nissan Frontier midsize truck. The current Frontier has remained almost unchanged since its introduction in 2011. That said, it should also be working on an all-new full-size Titan pickup. Truck fans have mostly abandoned the current model, based on its production numbers.

Does the Nissan Titan have the worst depreciation?

And its resale value. The Titan has the worst resale value for any full-size pickup. But does it really? Don’t forget that after discounts, the Titan is the lowest-priced full-size pickup you can buy. It also offers more in its base configuration, than any base model truck in either 1500 or 2500 segments.

Mostly, resale values are driven by consumers, not by dealerships. If a truck is not popular and has a lower acquisition price when new, those two factors result in a lower resale value. But looking at the numbers for a 2020 Titan, the depreciation over two years is not as bad as one would be led to believe.

The Nissan Titan has no depreciation

In fact, there is no depreciation. The Titan came in five trims; S, SV, Pro-4X, SL, and Platinum Reserve. Both a King Cab and Crew Cab were offered, as they are now. 

The price when new for an SV model was right at $40,000. Looking at CarMax and Carvana used truck prices in the Los Angeles area, prices range from $41,000 to $49,000. Yeah, the price of used trucks is high, and dealers have their markup. 

What are some of the Titan’s other numbers?

But that doesn’t look like depreciation to us. Mileage on these Titans ranges from just 9,000 miles to 20,000 miles. Taking a cursory look at Craigslist for private sellers, there isn’t a single 2020 Titan listed between San Diego and the Canadian border. So it must have some popularity with dealers because that’s where they all are. 

Production figures show a truck in need of something. It received a facelift in 2020, but Nissan has been paring back choices, like its Cummins diesel engine. In fact, your only engine is the 5.6-liter V8 with 400 hp combined with the nine-speed automatic transmission. 

Its payload numbers trail behind the competition at between 9,240 lbs and 9,660 lbs. Still, for most owners this is plenty. For fuel economy, again, the numbers are at the lower end. 21 miles Highway and 16 mpg City, with the 2WD truck. The 4×4 sees those numbers drop by one mpg each. 

The interiors have been improved, but how are they next to Ram?

Inside, with the revamp of the 2020 model, the interiors are much improved for noise. And Nissan’s “Zero Gravity” seats are comfortable, but not on a scale with the Ram 1500. The downside is the abundance of plastic slathered around. Going with the Premium Reserve trim, some of that is eliminated.  

So maybe resale value is an indicator of used prices for some trucks, but for the Titan, there is no depreciation after two years. In fact, it is worth a bit more than when new. Theoretically, you could have driven your new 2020 truck for two years and 20,000 miles and sold it for what you paid.