1997 Nissan Altima GXE review from North America

Brakes, tires, oil changes, alternator, battery and that's it.

My car has 170k on it. Car has been in 3 car accidents, one in which I slammed into a crane that fell off the back of a truck (car was claimed totaled). One my girlfriend did a 360 and slammed a rail (car was claimed totaled). The last car accident was a minor fender bender, but the car still drives fine and starts fine.

Besides me having to rebuild the whole front end (hood, radiator support, radiator, two fenders, bumper support, bumper, and two headlights) which cost me about 600 bucks in parts, both times, the car is so great. So the car company saying my car was totaled was wrong because with both car accidents combined, I used 1200 bucks worth of parts to put the car back to normal.

The car goes together like a Lego set. Everything has a bolt or clip, and is so easy to figure out. Someone with minor mechanical experience can work on this car with ease.

I have changed the oil every 3000; I do brakes whenever I hear the first squeak; and tires, alternator and battery. For a car that has 170 thousand miles, that's a joke.

I like to calculate my two car accidents and the price of the car together, which is 3200 dollars, and I would pay that again if I knew I was going to get 170k out of a car.

This car is well worth the money, great for a college kid like myself. I sometimes leave the car outside my dorm for weeks on end, and once I put the key in the ignition, the car starts like I drove it the day before.

I love the car so much that I want to buy a similar one with lesser miles, or possibly a newer model.

By the way, the car sips gas; I get 30 mpg on the highway, on cruise control at 70.