Sales of pickup trucks are dropping precipitously this year because buyers don’t want big, gasoline-guzzling vehicles. But the 2008 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab isn’t a big, V-8 powered pickup truck, it’s a midsize pickup with a strong V-6, an accommodating interior and two sizes of truck bed — 5 and 6 feet long.

With a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $22,025, the Frontier Crew Cab carries the lowest starting price of all midsize pickup trucks with two rows of seats and four doors. This starting price is for a two-wheel-drive Crew Cab SE with manual transmission.

The lowest-priced 2008 Frontier Crew Cab with an automatic transmission is $23,075, while a Frontier Crew Cab with four-wheel-drive starts at $24,725.

These prices are roughly comparable with the $23,225 starting retail price for a two-wheel-drive, V6 powered 2008 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab, offered only with automatic, and the $22,275 for a 2008 Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab with automatic, two-wheel-drive and a four-cylinder engine.

It’s also worth noting that the Frontier is recommended by Consumer Reports magazine, where its predicted reliability is better than average.

I’ve always liked the Frontier for its utility. A driver can put bicycles into the truck bed and head to the park, or stock camping supplies back there and spend time at a campground and fishing spot with nary a problem. This is especially true because the Frontier has good ground clearance underneath it — at least 8.6 inches — and so can navigate the dips and rocks on off-road trails.

Note that a spray-on bedliner is standard in all Frontiers to help keep the steel bed from getting scratched. A track system with tie-down locations also comes standard back there and helps secure items in the bed.

The Crew Cab’s bench back seat offers 33.6 inches of legroom and a comfortable 38.7 inches of headroom. But the seat cushion back there is a bit short.

If the back seat isn’t being used, the rear bench can be folded against the rear cabin wall to provide a wide, carpeted storage spot.

Passengers notice quickly that they’re riding in a truck, not a car, as the Frontier shudders a bit over big road bumps. The Frontier is a traditional, body-on-frame truck that uses the same platform of the larger Nissan Titan pickup — the ride doesn’t have car-like refinement.

The Frontier includes low gearing for adventure treks and seems right at home on both pavement and dirt.

The power rack-and-pinion steering has good on-center feel. But, as you’d expect in a tall-riding pickup, passengers notice some body lean in curves and turns. In the test truck with uplevel, 17-inch tires, there was road noise and, at highway speeds, some wind noise.

The interior is well arranged, but the extensive use of hard plastics is less than impressive and couldn’t be overlooked even in the test Frontier, which had the optional leather seat trim.

The front seats were comfortable.

My passengers and I readily heard the 4-liter, double overhead cam V-6. There’s no wimpy power in this truck, even though it doesn’t have a V8. This is due in part to a generous 261 horsepower and 281 foot-pounds of torque that the engine develops. It’s more than the 210 hp and 235 foot-pound of torque in the V-6-powered Dodge Dakota Crew Cab and the 236 horses and 266 foot-pounds of torque that’s in the V-6-powered Tacoma.

The engine in the Frontier Crew Cab never left me lacking for passing power on country roads or climbing power on mountain highways.

I just wish the fuel economy were better. The federal government rating for the Frontier Crew Cab in four-wheel-drive is just 14 miles per gallon in city driving, and in mostly city driving, I managed just 14.6 mpg in the tester. The 14-mpg city rating for the four-wheel-drive model is just 2 mpg better than the rating for a V-8-powered, four-wheel-drive, full-size Nissan Titan pickup truck.

On the highway, the Frontier is rated at 19 mpg, which is just 2 mpg better than the Titan. Both city and highway ratings are notably lower than the comparable Tacoma.

The maximum towing capacity for a Frontier Crew Cab is 6,300 pounds, just shy of the maximum 6,500 for the Tacoma.

I’d prefer that the Frontier’s curtain air bags and side seat-mounted air bags be standard equipment. As it is, they are optional, which is unusual today. Nissan also charges extra for a Traction Package that adds vehicle stability control and some helpful traction features.

The 2008 Frontier earned four out of five stars in federal government front crash testing and five out of five stars in side crash testing.