Modern Nissans are so unreliable (rant incoming)

[gingofthesouth]

In the last yearI have owned three modern Nissans ( > 2000 ).

2003 Nissan Stagea with a VQ25DD
Timing chain was stretched and caused the VVT clutch cover to fail. the VVT cover was $1000+ just for the part.
According to the local Nissan wreckers (and the inter webs) this is a common fault for these engines. Sold this bitch at a loss and moved on.

2003 Nissan Cube with a CR14DE
Fan fuse died causing the car to overheat in traffic on the highway. Being that there are no temp gauges in the car, all my wife knew was a light on the dash came on indicating it was hot when basically, it is already too bloody late. Head gasket went on it
I am just finishing putting the engine back in after giving it an overhaul. Expensive episode that was (and a complete suck up of any potential Datsun 1600 money). Who would have thought fluid for the CVT transmission would cost so bloody much! (needs 8.3litres of that super expensive oil too!)

y33 Cedric with VQ30DET
This lovely car has not had an engine issue, but the AV system which also controls the air con etc died and the bonnet hinges died. Apparently very common on these models. Got hinge ex japan from Nissan, and the AV system ex Japan via a Yahoo auctions broker.

Never had so many issues with any of my older Nissans. I thought I was just unlucky until I found out that Nissan is now considered the most unreliable Japanese brand in Britain.

A quote from the Dog and Lemon guide:
"Modern Nissans share bits with Renaults. Renault quality has therefore improved from ‘appalling’ to merely ‘dreadful’, while Nissan quality has often dropped from ‘reasonable’ to ‘poor.’

For example, according to a recent British reliability survey, 40% of all diesel Nissan X-Trails had a serious engine problem.
A couple of decades ago, Nissan was one of the most reliable Japanese makes, according to most British reliability surveys. Now Nissan is the least reliable Japanese make sold in Britain, according to the consumer magazine Which."

Obviously, I don't know how entirely reliable the figures they based their conclusions on are.

Here is another where Nissan leads the Japanese list:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/car ... s/3304413/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fingers crossed that new Nissans how found their way back to reliability.

Ps. Did you know in the 90s, Nissan bought back every C20 van in America for cash and crushed them after four recalls didn't fix their catching on fire problems?

[brocky41]

In the last yearI have owned three modern Nissans ( > 2000 ).

2003 Nissan Cube with a CR14DE
Fan fuse died causing the car to overheat in traffic on the highway. Being that there are no temp gauges in the car, all my wife knew was a light on the dash came on indicating it was hot when basically, it is already too bloody late. Head gasket went on it
I am just finishing putting the engine back in after giving it an overhaul. Expensive episode that was (and a complete suck up of any potential Datsun 1600 money). Who would have thought fluid for the CVT transmission would cost so bloody much! (needs 8.3litres of that super expensive oil too!)

Hey dude - did you just go with "Genuine Nissan" on the CVT oil - At BNT we do Fuchs ATF CVT which is nissan accredited.

Yes its still expensive but may be cheaper than "genuine" which will only be one of the top brands rebadged anyway (ie Fuchs, Castrol, Mobil etc)

heres two of the websites i use

http://www.fuchs-europe.com/about-us/company.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.fuchs.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bartman]

Old cars are cheaper to get parts for too.
In another 20years, we're all going to be fucked. As cars which are new today, will all be beyond the end of their life span.
Planned obcelesnce (sp) FTL........

[M spec]

I think we are seeing it now with the likes of the common rail diesels, the cvt tranies . A lot of the new school stuff with hi KMs (the time bombs) are selling less than the pre 2000 vehicles.

[Bartman]

True story

[DJZ]

Unfortunately it's what they call technological advancement.

The C22 van problem was due to the engine Nissan had to fit for the American market, they weren't designed for a Z24. There have been quite a few high profile recalls but different manufactures in recent years, Toyota recalled over a million cars last year and Holden recalling Captivas for a being a fire risk ring a bell.

[vegie]

i had one of those nm35 stageas too. 4WD turbo auto.

only problems i had were a drivers window motor and the AFM died (under warranty). otherwise it was sweet as for 3.5 - 4 years i had it.
cd player sometimes skipped too which is common as.

ive got an '04 350GT skyline sedan in 6speed manual now.
only gremlin is the same skipping cd player...

i dont think it matters which late model jap car you look at, the electrics are usually shit quality, and the cars generally arent made to last past 10 years it seems.

[280zx_nz]

VQ30DETs are a pretty strong engine, aren't they based off the old Super GT nissans in the early 90s but twin turbo instead?

Bart, hopefully in 20 years time 3D printing will be alot more refined by then!