1988 Nissan Pulsar nx from North America - Comments

Water pump @ about 197,000.

Inner door locking/opening hardware (plastic) a number of times.

Muffler.

Brake pads.

Headlight.

Cap, rotor, plugs, and wires.

Fuel and air filters.

I'd always liked the looks of these things and read nothing, but positive reviews in all the magazines of the day. After a short test drive I struck a deal w/the owner. He had bought it new and said the motor was replaced @ 160,000 miles w/a 1.5. The block is stamped 1.5 and he had all the paperwork to show the work had been done.

Having sat for two years, it had a bit of a stumble in all realms of driving. New gas and a tune up helped a bit, but not completely. Replacing each vacuum line, one at a time, at my local Home Depot (about $0.35) did it.

The change was drastic. Though it's a bit of a rough rider, I love its feel and feedback. The small engine combined with a base elevation of 4500 feet make it, well, a dog to be blunt. But the controls all fall easily to hand, it fits my medium six foot two inch build nicely, and with the SE rims, and the sportbak I scored at the local junkyard, it's a one of a kind. I have, or have had, a Mustang convertible, a 240Z, a Mustang Hiway Patrol car, and other interesting cars throughout the years. Yet combined, they never drew the number of comments that this car has. Strangers in parking lots, guys on the sidewalk, people at intersections, they either want to know what it is or they just want to say how cool it looks.

When the odometer worked I was getting 34mpg. It's been an easy car to fix myself. From the quotes I've received at the dealer, the shade tree jobs are my only option. I've been quoted $450 for a dealer REBUILT throttle body. And just today I saved $120 over the parts house price, by buying a junkyard alternator.

The afore mentioned door mechanisms have, for me, been the biggest hassle. Small potatoes on the whole, just a pain that could have been avoided for an additional $0.15 worth of metal at the factory.

Parts for my nearly 18 year old car, are still plentiful. At least they are out west here. Some California nob slid his grandpas truck into my drivers door last winter (which ultimately paid for the car). Not only was I able to find a door for it at the junkyard, it was the same color red! Switching the lock was easy too.

I have used this car for work, for cross country trips and a little desert four wheeling, and it just refuses to die. I will only say this cuz none of you will know who I am, but I must have about 12,000 miles on the oil. And I'm very picky about that stuff. But it's now a third car and I have had to work a lot of overtime this last year. The cv joints are gone and the throw out bearing is making a lot of noise. If it breaks before I get around to it, I will remove and store the sportbak until I find a replacement.

As with any used car, it's vital to find an example that has been cared for properly. Still, a car can only be as good as it was built to be. For my money, you can't go wrong with an '87-'91 Pulsar.

I've read and re-read the owners bio of his Pulsar and just can't get how the author of the previous comment came to his conclusion. Seems obvious the guy loves his car. And what does skipping a couple oil changes have to do with door locks and throw out bearings? I want to cut the guy some slack and just assume he can't correctly comprehend simple sentence structure.

It makes me cringe to think of driving on the same oil for 12,000 miles, but the last guy was spot on. The first comment was by some malcontent. If my Pulsar ever gets totalled or just wears out, I'm shopping out west somewhere for another. Humid climates are not kind to the Nissan.

I have a 1988 Nissan Pulsar NE Automatic that still runs great. I am the original owner and it has only 68k miles on it. It gets driven in the winters in Boston and in the summer (on Cape and Martha's Vineyard). The air conditioning went two summers ago... and needed a major rehaul to get fixed. I started the process, but after about 700 dollars I stopped. It'd be another 800-1000 to get it totally fixed and I wasn't sure at the time it'd be worth it on my 18 years old car that I mostly take the roof off of anyway. Also - The gas reading doesn't work... so I used the trip mileage control to figure out when it's time to fill up again. I guess this can be fixed at some point. Last year I had a new removable cd player and new speakers installed.

Overall the car has been great to me, really fun to drive and I'll have a hard time when I have to part with it. I've been keeping it as a second car, but when I buy a new car I'm not sure I'll be able to handle a new car payment and insurance on two cars.

I have maintained this car - new water pump, transmission, mufflers, brakes, fixed the gloved compartment lock, etc. And during the last year - repairs and maint. have increased, but for the life of the car - I'd say I'm way ahead of the game and this car owes me nothing.

Still looks great too. It's black with a stripe and has no dents and just some scratches on the tee tops. Inside is clean and looks new.

I know I can't keep it forever, but it's going to be so hard to part with this car. (PulsarNE88@aol.com)

I love my 18-year-old Nissan Pulsar. It's the very first car that I've ever owned, and it has become a part of the family (seriously... her name is Blinky-B). Like the other commentator, though, I have to use my trip mileage in order to know when to fill up gas. The odometer is a whole quarter-tank off, but other than that and a few minor rust spots on her back, she's in great condition for being in the salty Hawaiian climate 24/7. My boyfriend just installed a CD player deck, amp, and sub-woofer, and with a little more touches, like new hubcaps, she'll be all pimped out!

I also have a 1988 Pulsar. The car has really surprised me for reliability. It has 285,000 miles on it. I change my oil every 10,000 miles or so. The body and interior is nearly perfect. Love the t-tops! I have also had problems with the plastic door components and it seems to be hard on rear wheel bearings. I machined a replacement door part with a Dremel tool out of an old plastic toothbrush. I will never part with the car, my wife has named her "Polly Pulsar". Would like to hear from other Pulsar owners, my email is k_sheets@hotmail.com.