I needed a good flashlight because you never know when you're going to need to find something in the dark. A Maglite was the only solution. I got a good deal on a 4D Cell Maglite and all I needed was a place to mount it, I though where would I want to be reaching when I'm fumbling in the dark. The front of the rear passenger bench was a good place that I could reach from the driver seat and the light is still out of my way.
I needed a power inverter to run my Laptop and I decided while I was at it I'd get one that was powerful enough to run small electric tools. The Vector 400watt inverter does the job, and it fits nicely out of the way under the passenger seat.
There's one thing missing from the cargo area, when you fold down the seats there's nothing to hold down the cargo you put on the seat backs. I decided to bolt on some D Rings myself, I added 4 all together. Now I have 6 tie downs on the floor of the cargo area and two on the back of the seats (8 all together. The D rings are 1" wide and 2" long, the same that you can get at most hardware stores.
It's always good policy to keep a fire extinguisher in all of your automobiles, all I had to do was figure out a good place to put it. I decided on the driver side speaker panel in the cargo area. It's best to have an ABC rated extinguisher but BC covers most automotive fires. If you get a very large extinguisher you'll probably need a sturdier place to mount it, or at least put something behind the plastic to reinforce the mount.
Neoprene Waterproof Seat Covers
I was more worried about people spilling food and drink on my seats than me getting in the Xterra soaking wet but you never know. So the Nissan Neoprene Seat Covers were a good investment. The only problem is they require cleaning more often, the stains don't soak down into the fabric they just spread over the seat. And if you spill a drink in you lap is will all be channeled down right to your butt.
Unlike the seats the floors were constantly getting muddy and dirty, I got sick of constantly cleaning the carpet floor mats so I got the Nissan Rubber Floor Mats. They also do a good job holding the mud and dirt on the mat, instead of letting it spill off the sides onto the carpet like the carpet floor mats did. Some people say that the carpet feels better on you feet, I wanna know why those people are driving barefoot!
The Nissan Cargo Cover came with my Xterra it works great hiding what I carry in the rear of the Xterra from prying eyes. I try to keep all the gear I carry packed low enough to stay under the cover. But I've been over a couple bumps off-road that were big enough to bounce the cover right out of its socket. So make sure the gear underneath is tied down. And if you do pack your gear higher than the level of the cargo cover make sure you arrange it so that you can still see out the back window. Driving with your rearview isn't just unsafe for you, it's unsafe for those of us around you.
The In-Cabin Micro filters were one of the best purchases I made. On the trails in Moab they keep almost all the dust out. I have to keep the windows up to keep the dust from coming in that way, which would be hell during a Moab Summer. Luckily the Xterra has Air Conditioning, another reason I'm glad I have a less capable Xterra over a more capable Wrangler.
