Endeavor looks best from the rear. The back end is simple, smooth and classy, angular on a two-dimensional level, with the tailgate shaped into a subtle stretched hexagon by small taillights. Its elegance creates a small mystery as to how it fits into this in-your-face geomechanical theme. Elegant describes the Limited with body-colored bumpers, at least. The LS has black "garnish" on the bumpers, and the XLS has gratuitous chrome bumper caps.
Because the independent rear suspension is mounted low in order to provide more cargo space, the control arms are oddly visible and catch your eye from the rear. It gives the Endeavor an air of mechanical seriousness, if not a suggestion of fragility from low ground clearance.
Finally, the roof rails are wide oblong tubular aluminum, neither easy to reach nor especially functional, at least not without the crossbars that come standard on the XLS and Limited. These thick aluminum rails may look rugged on the Nissan Xterra, but not on the Endeavor, whose point is that it's not supposed to be the truck-based Montero Sport. Next Page