1996 Nissan Bluebird LX review from Australia and New Zealand

Distributor failed at around 135,000kms, was about $300 to replace. Other than that absolutely nothing has gone wrong in the 2.5 years I've owned the car.

The Bluebird really is a great car; it's not so big that you have trouble parking it in the city, and yet not so small that you can't fit people and luggage in it.

Even the base model LX that I have comes standard with power windows, mirrors, central locking, airbag, etc. so even 11 years on it's got all the basic stuff that you need. I went for the LX model mainly because it is cheaper to buy and insure than the SSS model.

The 2.4L KA24DE is a reliable and quite powerful engine, with plenty of torque for getting up hills, etc. I've serviced it myself every 5,000kms and haven't experienced any hassles except the 1 problem mentioned above. It never burns or leaks any oil, and never seems to get hot, no matter what I throw at it.

The car's interior is comfortable and definitely not as flimsy as I've seen in other cars (Commodore for example). All the controls have a solid feel to them.

Fuel economy isn't bad, obviously it is going to use more than a small 1.6L or something, but it's really not that much more, I average around 10L/100kms, and around 8L/100kms on the highway.

The only negative I have with regards to the car is that the suspension is just a bit too soft. Obviously some of this softness is due to the kms the car has done, but from what I've heard the Bluebirds had suspension from the factory that most people thought was a little soft. You most likely won't even notice it though unless you go over a speed bump or push it around a corner.

I definitely recommend the Bluebird for a good value daily driver.