2015 NISSAN Xterra

BODY RUST and Bluetooth mic issues

Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 2 Value Rating: 1

I bought my Xterra PRO X new from the Ft Lauderdale Dealership replacing my "one owner" 12 year old Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Loved the Xterra and body style and a few of my friends had them in the past and raved about it. Now, I only drive my car 6 months a year, otherwise its stored in a covered shed when not in use in Sebastian, FL 10 miles from the coastline. I rated the the in/out access as poor since my 6' mate complains about the clearance when he gets in. I'm 5'5" and have no complaints. My first real issue which was never resolved was the poor quality of the mic for the handsfree voice command which was extremely important to me when making my purchase decision. I took it back three times with promises of a solution but in the end nothing could be done. Basically if I drive over 40 miles an hour and tried to use the handsfree phone my voice was unrecognizable rendering all the voice command functions useless. My battery died after 14 months but the dealer replaced it at no cost. Right now I am battling a rusting issue. Two years old and everything outside in the rear end is rusting badly. The bumper, hitch, bolts and apparently the under carriage too, so I was told. For a "Sport Utility" vehicle, its not very sporty. I took it back to the dealer feeling this was a warranty issue. Two visits and weeks later they are still not agreeing to cover the rust. So far they are claiming its an environmental issue. HELLO!!! Its Florida. I had my Ford Sport Trac for 12 years in FLORIDA at a time when I lived in a house that was right on the water and it never showed any signs of rusting. Because the Ford had an external bed I would toss my wet salty kitesurfing gear in the back all the time. It was awesome. However, with my new Xterra, I am anal with the my wet gear because I have to put it inside the car. As I am a born and raised Floridian, I don't like the smell of dampness so I always clean and rinse everything before it goes in my car and take it out when I get home to hang and fully dry every time. I use a "wet gear bag" to isolate the damp items in transition. The interior has no rust signs which if I was a careless owner with wet or salty gear, it would surely be apparent inside the cargo space. I am mainly concerned with the long term value of my vehicle. If after two years I have this much rust what will it be like in 10? I am a yacht captain and like to keep my possessions in tip top ship shape. I am very disappointed with my Xterra and at a loss as to whether I should sell it now before its to late and loses much of its resale value. I'm still making payments at this time. How bad is that? Its sad to see a nice car rusting. My brother has a Chevy Suburban. Its over 20 years old and has over 250,000 miles. He uses it for launching his boat all the time and he has zero rust. The dealer asked me if I was using my Xterra to launch a boat. Even if I was, its still only 2 YEARS OLD!!!!