X-Trail Tango

Today I picked up the cargo blind and dash mat that I had ordered for the X-Trail from Magic Nissan.  I was impressed with the quality of the service.  The man unpacked the items then carried the cargo blind to my SUV and fitted it.  He told me to allow the dash mat to settle down in the sun for a few days before fastening it down with the velcro provided.

Unfortunately I did some minor damage to the right side of the SUV pulling into Brenda's last night.  It is a tight fit between a telephone pole on the left and a street sign on the right.  I allowed myself to get distracted by Coral's car parked on the other side of the telephone pole and managed to scrape the side of the street sign.  This could turn out to be a blessing in the end because I had been thinking of having an auto detailer touch up the body paint and this will prod me into action.  The simple dent (no crease in the metal) should be easy to push out then I'll have the car touched up.

I visited Tony's Wrecking to have another look at the X-Trail from which the nudge bar (called a "bunny" bar by the industry) that I purchased had been removed and confirmed that two holes will have to be drilled on each side as we had figured.  I took photographs and measured the distances of the holes.  A template is provided for the drilling of these holes with the purchase of a new bunny bar.  The man at Nissan did not have a T30 in stock in order for me to trace out the metal template but he printed out the instructions and Stephen read on how to site the holes without a template. 

Now that I know how to fit the bunny bar I am willing to figure out how to remove the front bumper in order to make the installation.  Stephen seems more confident too and will help me do the job on Sunday morning. One of the accompanying photographs shows the existing vertical holes for the lower bunny bar bracket and the horizontal holes for the upper bracket, which we must drill.

Upper horizontal holes must be drilled

Bumper must be removed

A new bunny bar from Nissan, by the way, is priced at $1200 plus installation of about $300.  I purchased a genuine Nissan T30 bunny bar in good condition from Tony's for $275.  The cargo blind from Nissan cost me $475 but I could not find any second hand ones on the internet and looking at the quality of the new blind and the service that it will deliver to me I do not begrudge the price.