Faults:

Power steering pump at 170,000 miles.

Internal heater Matrix sprang a leak at 190,000 miles.

Rear nearside section of Handbrake cable required replacing at 225,000 miles.

Drivers side windscreen wiper link bar required replacing 3 times in the 4 years I owned the car.

General Comments:

A well built extremely reliable all-round car which never let me down even on the coldest mornings. Excellent Japanese engineering.

The 1.6 engine was probably a bit under powered for this size of car so acceleration was a bit poor.

Fuel economy was ok. Around town I got about 33 mpg and on a long run about 39 - 40 mpg.

The Premium model I owned was the base model which the original purchaser could add extras too. They chose power steering which was a bonus.

This car was 13 years old and had covered 245,000 miles when I parted with it and was only just starting to show signs of rust, which is a testament to how well it was built in the first place.

My only gripe is with the price of Nissan parts. The rear nearside part of the handbrake cable (handbrake cable comes in 3 parts) was only available from the dealers and cost over £60.00!

The only other gripe was the windscreen wiper link arm which had to be replaced 3 times in 4 years as the nylon cup on each end wore out. The Nissan dealers told me that this was their biggest selling spare part, so it was clearly the only design fault.

The interior of the car was spacious and quite comfortable although the drivers seat was starting to sag a little.

Boot space was copious. Plenty of room for luggage.

This is a car more suited and comfortable for long journeys rather than urban driving.

I would have purchased another Nissan, but was only put off by the high price of parts and the high insurance groups which I think is ridiculous for a range of cars built in Britain. Comparative cars built in Britain are Fords and Vauxhalls and parts and insurance groups for these makes are a lot cheaper.

Faults:

Suspension was totally stuffed.

Engine blew clouds of blue smoke when started.

Car blew smoke at all times.

Oil leak.

Used 4L of oil every 2 months.

Car didn't look clean, even after being washed.

Bad ticking noise from motor.

Speedo needle did not move smoothly.

Temperature gauge was faulty.

Difficult to do anything to, eg install a stereo/speakers.

Clutch was on its way out.

Two rear tyres replaced.

General Comments:

Paid NZ$2500 for it, spent $500 on repairs in first month, sold it 5 months later and lost more than $1000.

Sluggish for a 1.8L.

Faults:

Front engine mount.

General Comments:

What more could you want from a car? It may not be the most stylish, and is old fashioned by todays standards. However, its comfortable, fast, roomy, reliable and easy to drive. The 5 speed box is a dream, and the overdrive is a great feature to aid economy. It has electric everything that still works, full Connolly leather interior, air-conditioning and fly's through every M.O.T. No wonder they were so popular as taxis. I shall really miss her when she goes.