**Calling Nissan Owners** How do you like your cars/trucks and how reliable are they?

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KennyH

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2000
5,904
0
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Hey guys and gals, I am looking for a second cheap car to haul my butt to and from my internship this Fall. I will be working in a Cardiac Rehab. Center next to a local hospital if anyone was wondering. :) Anyway, I have a good friend that works at a Chevy dealership where he has access to older trade in cars that would just be sold at auction if not by other means. I am currently looking at a '92 Nissan Sentra that has 156,000 miles on it. The paint is on decent condition, which is not a problem anyway. So, my question to you guys that have them is, what are the things or problem areas I need to look for, what parts cost the most, etc. I would also greatly appreciate an overall view/standpoint of the car (would you buy another Nissan). Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance. Oh by the way, I do have mechanic skills, I am restoring a '65 Mustang Fastback but that is going to take a couple years. ;)
 
UNCjigga

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
25,656
10,357
136
nissan ~ driven..a lot!

c'mon fanboys, where u at? come on I'm callin u out NOW!!!

BTW, I always thought that pre '93 Nissans (pre-Altima) sucked in terms of reliability, but maybe that was just the original Stanza.
 
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Alienwho

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
6,766
0
76
My old car, an old 94 nissan pickup is rock solid. I can't kill it, and believe me i've tried.
 
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d33pt

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2001
5,654
1
81
rallispec will come tell you to put a vinyl sticker on your windshield and it will make that sentra good as new. how much for that car btw? it would be a good deal for under $1000, if not, i wouldn't touch it. as being a nissan maxima owner, i'd have to say...there's no way in hell i'd ever own another nissan... if i were to buy import again, it will be toyota or nissan
 
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mithrandir2001

Diamond Member
May 1, 2001
6,545
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What fanboys think about Nissan has little bearing on how that '92 Sentra will perform. How the previous owner(s) treated the car will matter much more than the Nissan label (unless it was a Hyundai or a Fix Or Repair Daily, Found On Road Dead, Fixed Often Rarely Driven, etc.)
 
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KennyH

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2000
5,904
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Ah, the price, umm..... very cheap :D The car looks like it was taken good car of, no smoke when cranking it up so the valve stem seals seem intact, CV joints make no noise, new tranny 2 years ago (auto). The engine bay could use a good degreasing though. Castrol Super Clean here I come! :D Anyway, this thing will NOT be riced out, just a decent transportation car here folks. :)
 
Rallispec

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
i can only speak from personal experiences here...

of the 2 nissans i've owned, i've averaged 2000 and 3000 miles a month on them, and have never once had a single problem with them (knock on wood)

as far as reliability goes, i think they're top notch. i love my car, and i'm pretty certain that i'm a nissan owner for life now.


however, nissans, like any other car company, has its downfalls. They often skimp on interior materials to help keep the cost down.
 
Rallispec

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
Originally posted by: d33pt
rallispec will come tell you to put a vinyl sticker on your windshield and it will make that sentra good as new. how much for that car btw? it would be a good deal for under $1000, if not, i wouldn't touch it. as being a nissan maxima owner, i'd have to say...there's no way in hell i'd ever own another nissan... if i were to buy import again, it will be toyota or nissan
Click to expand...



wow.. did that last sentance confuse anyone else too? :p


bottom line is, nissans are good cars. They're cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, and will run forever if you take good care of it.

dont buy expecting it to be like a BMW though, becuase its definetly not one.
 
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KennyH

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2000
5,904
0
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Hell, it could ride like a stagecoach for all I care, as long as it gets me to and from, I am golden. Not expecting much. :) By the way, I am hoping to pick it up for $350. :Q:p
 
bigrash

bigrash

Lifer
Feb 20, 2001
17,648
28
91
I have a 94 Sentra and it runs good. I've owned it for over 3 years and it's good so far.

Nissans and Toyotas are usually reliable.
 
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Occifer

Golden Member
Mar 27, 2002
1,002
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My '93 Sentra gets dang near 40 mpg on the highway! Good reliable little car. Change the oil once in awhile and you're good to go.

:p
 
Rallispec

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
i believe Skoorb also drives an older Sentra (94 also, i think) anyways, i think he's said his has well over 200,000 miles on it and still runs good.
 
yllus

yllus

Elite Member & Lifer
Aug 20, 2000
20,577
432
126
Originally posted by: KennyH
I am currently looking at a '92 Nissan Sentra that has 156,000 miles on it. The paint is on decent condition, which is not a problem anyway. So, my question to you guys that have them is, what are the things or problem areas I need to look for, what parts cost the most, etc. I would also greatly appreciate an overall view/standpoint of the car (would you buy another Nissan).
Click to expand...
Since buying my 2002 Nissan Sentra about a month ago I've been paying special attention to Nissan in the news. I remember reading somewhere - my guess is in the Toronto Star - about three weeks ago about three used cars with great resale value even today. The Nissan Sentra of the early 90s was one of them, cited as a car that baffled the Big Three as a car never since duplicated.

Would I buy Nissan again? I'd love a Pathfinder Chikoot Edition. The Sentra GXE is a very nice car too, though lacking in power - though that impression may stem from my regular driving of a 3.0L V6 car a good quarter of the time. Fit and finish are good, can't really say much about reliability since only ~4000 km are behind me thus far. The buying experience was quite painless and pressure-free from the dealer as well, although that's not really relevant for your use.

Good luck with your purchase. :)
 
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SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
14,000
2
0
I have 96 Max SE with 107K.
I bought it with 76K miles on it. It's slightly modded, and I drive it hard.
Some problems so far:
both rear window regulators broke and windows came down. Both having to do with same design flaw by Nissan that I diagnosed. Fixed one myself. The second one replaced because I jammed it / $30 or something like that.
a few squeaks. Some noise when turning left at speed. (can't hear uless driving next to a wall with windows open)
Right front brake seems to warp rotors quckly
Some problems that I blame on speedbumps that I take too fast:
CV boots ripped. replaced both.
Alignment off.
Adittionally some routine maintainance and preventative measures:
replaced spark plugs, brakes, accessory belts.
Added transmission cooler. I run synthetic ATF.
I have intake and recalibrated valve body mods, and strut brace and sway bar for suspension mods.

I do a lot of my own repairs with haynes repair manual, and also I have a fellow maxima owner (mechanic) who works on my car on weekends if I need it.
Overall I would say that in 30K miles that I drove in 1.5 years unscheduled maintaince was under $500. Which to me is pretty good, although if I took it easy on the car it would be less.
 
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KennyH

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2000
5,904
0
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Yeah, working on my new site this week. I hope to have it up and running next week. It will have pics of the '65 Mustang and my dad's '64 Fairlane and twin bro's '66 Nova SS. They are all under construction. :D
 
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gregshin

Diamond Member
Jul 13, 2000
3,273
0
0
hmmm where should i begin...

My first nissan was a 89 240sx...drove that puppy past 150,000 miles and had only regular wear and tear issues for that car...it always kept me going and never broke down on me.

2nd nissan was a 94 sentra LE coupe....drove it until it had 90,000....no problems what so ever.

3rd nissan 89 nissan maxima SE dove that car past 176,000 miles and still redline that sweet engine. The car still ran fine when i sold it.

4th nissan 98 240sx SE @50,000 miles....minor clutch squeak which i fixed myself. no problems what so ever also.

All i can say is that every nissan that i have driven has not let me down.
 
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MajesticMoose

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2000
3,030
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we have two nissan trucks in the marina where i work. Let me tell you, those things get abused, and keep running strong. They both run in 4 wheel low nearly 100% percent of the time. We tow extreamly heavy boats that far excede capacities rather often as well. These trucks probably run for longer than 10-20 minutes maybe once or twice a month and always at low speeds but high rpms. Also, i have this tendency to hit large bumps for the hell of it. For the abuse we put them through, i've never seen anything bad go out. On needed a feul pump and is losing it's charging system, but it is from 1984. The other is a special edition desert runner. Other than the time the bed broke off (due to excessive loads and usage) i don't think it's had much bad happen either. They are prone to rust though.
 
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MomAndSkoorbaby

Diamond Member
May 6, 2001
3,651
0
0
(Skoorb posting too lazy to logout):

I bought a 93 sentra with 142k miles last november. Since then I've put about 13k miles on it and other than oil changes not a single thing has gone wrong. Right after I bought it I had $350 in repairs but these were things that I had before I'd bought it (didn't have a mechanic check it first hehe) - like a cv boot and some seal leak or something.

Anyway I've gotten the oil changed every 3-4k miles and the tranny fluid replaced once (standard transmission) just cause it made me feel good.

I paid $2300 for it last november. The stereo was effectively non functioning and I replaced that in march. The AC when I bought it works fine but the fan only goes up to #3 (4 stops it). These are all things that were there when I bought it and nothing has gone wrong since. Power mirrors, cruise, etc. all work.

In conclusion the car kicks heiny for something so old and cheap and it was a very fortunate purchase. Our next car will be a 2002 or 2003 altima later this year :D
i believe Skoorb also drives an older Sentra (94 also, i think) anyways, i think he's said his has well over 200,000 miles on it and still runs good.
Click to expand...
Right ballpark anyway ;)

PS - This car was all driven before hand by one owner only and it seems he took extremely good care of it.
 
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