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

[psteng19]

I have a 1995 Nissan Sentra GXE now with 65k miles on it.
Bought it 2 years ago with 45k miles for $4500.

Repairs ever since then:
CV Boot - $120
O2 Sensor - $150 (should have been a cheap repair, but my idiotic ass took it to Nissan service)
Thermostat - $20
Pipe from cat to muffler - $120 (totally my fault, I drove my car through a car wash after a 1.7" drop - hand washing my baby from now on)
Brake Pads - $60

Other than those, and regular oil changes, the car has been trouble free.

My mechanic suspects the mileage is fishy. He says there's more than normal rust under the car, which lead to the cracked CV boot and rusted piping under the car. He says the odometer was rolled back, or used heavily as a delivery vehicle (lots of local driving in the winter time thru snow and salt).

Nissan's are just as reliable as Honda's and Toyota's IMO. They just don't the reputation that comes with Honduh/Toyo, and the added price as well, which makes them excellent 2nd hand buys.

Nissan ~ Driven

 

[RGN]

I used to drive a 93' Maxima. I bought it from my family, who purchased it with 16K on it in 1995. @ 70K an injector went bad and was replaced under warranty. It currently has 103K and is still going. Its now my sisters car.

I bought a 1992 Maxima SE with 60K and it is an awesome car. Its still in nearly perfect condition, 10 years after it rolled off the line.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I drive a 2001 Max SE, but with only 20K miles on it, it should and does run perfectly. My dad has a '96 Max GLE that has always run like a top, and is up to around 100K. Overall, like most other Japanese cars, Nissans will run well for a long, long time with reasonable preventive maintenance, with the added benefit of being more fun to drive than most Hondas and Toyotas (though this is obviously in the eye of the beholder - I know my Max kicks every kind of butt over my Accord EX V-6).

 

[Cyco]

I have a 2001 Nissan Frontier that I think is just great. Get plenty of compliments on it too. We've had it for close to a year now, and haven't had any problems whatsoever.

 

My 2000 Sentra is bitchin'. I love it to death and have never had any problems with it.

pic

 

[Jal]

I have always owned Nissans.. Love them all..

Old Sentras are great.. Have the transmission double checked over.. Old Sentras seem to have that problem.. If it does not exist now, you should be ok.

 

[kehi]

Bump for bro

 

[KennyH]

Thank you so much guys and gals for posting, it makes me feel good about buying it (hopefully). The auto tranny was overhauled in March of 2000. My father drove the car (he knows more than I could ever imagine about cars, been working on them since he was 15) and the tranny shifted fine. The CV joints made no noise, one CV boot is cracked but both will be replaced, if I get it ASAP and in the backyard. It will not be taken to a garage for anything, even AC recharge (which it does not need).

 

[d33pt]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

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

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

Hah... I meant toyota or honda..oops

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: KennyH
Ah, the price, umm..... very cheap 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! Anyway, this thing will NOT be riced out, just a decent transportation car here folks.

Sounds OK to me, not a bad bet. Nissan has always made decent cars and trucks. I'd say on average, an older Nissan is on par with a Toyota, Mazda, Honda, or Subaru that has led a similar life, meaning if you take care of it, it will take care of you.

If the car is as cheap as I know an insider deal on a "bone" car can be, just buy it and take it to a mechanic and get the alignment checked. Have him replace any suspect parts (ya know, tie rod ends and ball joints) and let you know how much wear the brake pads have left. Then, if you're mechanically inclined, replace the spark plugs with some new NGKs, change the oil and oil filter, fuel filter, and air filter. Then flush and replace the coolant, and any belts and hoses that don't look so nice. If there is a timing belt (I'm not sure on this one) that looks like it isn't new, plan on getting it and the water pump replaced for a few hundred. 150,000 miles is really pushing it if the belt has never been replaced. You don't need to get everything done all at once, but over the course of a couple months, you can ensure that you will have a dependable car. I've gone through this process with over a dozen used cars, and I've never been stranded without warning.

EDIT, actually, the alignment should come after you get the rest of the car up to spec. Looks like your dad will be a great resourse for getting you up to speed.

 

[BenRosey]

I have had a 90 Maxima and it was notorious for having problems toward the end of its life (what do you expect?).

Nissan pickups are supposed to last forever (so I just bought one).

A friend of mine has an older Sentra and his brakes/rotors just went out.

Otherwise, it's probably not too bad of a deal.

 

[KennyH]

Yes, all of the aforementioned items needed to be checked and will be, the thing is that it will all be done in the backyard. If my dad, bro and I can basically cut a '66 Nova SS in two pieces, then a few ball joints, etc. are a walk in the park. I will have pics up hopefully in the next week or so on my new site. On my bro's Nova we have hummmm..... replaced the doors, reskined one quater panel, cut out and replaced the floor pans as well as the trunk pan, you name it, we have done it just about. The built 327 will be dropped in this weekend. I can't wait.

 

[cmdavid]

this may not help much..
but i drive a 98 Nissan Frontier Pickup... it has ~60K miles on it now.. not a single problem yet.. its a daily driver.. about 65miles/day... i use about a tank of gas a week... ~24mpg...

 

[CraigRT]

Nissan forever!!!

 

[Rookie]

I have a 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE...I have had it for about 3 years now and it is just over 90k miles.

I haven't had to do anything outside of routine maintenance since buying the car. NO COMPLAINTS!!!

 

[Draco]

I have a 2001 Maxima, with only 12k on it. It's been fantastic so far (knocks wood). My brother-in-law has a early 90's Sentra with 70 or 80k on it, and it works great. So I'd say they are reliable cars. I would buy another Nissan, but I want my next car to be the IS300...

 

[Parrotheader]

I didn't read through all the other responses. But as for the original poster, my comments should be fairly relevant.

I still have my '92 Nissan Sentra XE. I've had it for 8 years and I still love it. The engine doesn't have quite as much zip as it used to. The interior is obviously a lot more worn at this point. But it's still a great little car. Mine has over 177,000 miles on it now and as far as the engine goes it's been relatively hassle free. I do have a seal leak which isn't too surprising at this mileage level. But I just check it weekly and put in thicker weight oil whenever it needs it. I'm planning on getting a new car next Spring so I'm not going to bother with an expensive seal repair at this point.

I'm not mechanically-inclined when it comes to cars, but the last time I changed the oil myself the filter cost all of $5 or $6 I think and air filters are maybe $7-$8. To get an oil change at a quickie place usually costs me about $15-$22 depending on the place. The only major repairs I've had to do on it since I've had it have been the axles and the CV boots. The transmission on mine (automatic) had a little quirk about 50,000 miles ago where it would sometimes need be shifted to Drive and then back to Park before the ignition would work. I had to take it back to the shop about 3 times before they fixed it right, but it ended up being something minor and relatively inexpensive (can't remember what it was now.) Brake wear has been good, MUCH better than my wife's Accord. My air conditioner has had a little quirk lately where it seems to stop cooling periodically and then cycles back on a few minutes later. I may take it in, but if I can just get through the next couple months I'll hopefully never need it again anyway.

I'd DEFINITELY buy another Nissan again in a heartbeat. I'm kind of leaning towards 4-door trucks right now for my next vehicle, but the Nissan Frontier 4-door is not on the top of my list. However, if I end up getting a car instead of a truck, I'll definitely be looking at 2000-2001 model Maximas as I'd like my next car to have the gusto I've always wanted (while still giving me reliability.) Hope this helps.

 

[eakers]

i have a 1990 black nissan stanza

it has >300,000kms on it and until recently has been goin strong. the engine and transmission (which was replaced before i owned it apparently) are still goin strong but its starting to rust (stupid winter!) and stupid things are breaking like the windsheild wipers, speedometer *finally got taht fixed* and it does this weird shaking thing like its going to blow up if i run the a/c on full blast.
its been really good to me for the past 3 years especially wehn i compare it to my brothers 1990 neon.

 

[eakers]

oh and i would not hesitate buy another nissan product again.