Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-47
Hello! I'm a proud owner of a 1995 Nissan Altima GXE. I got it in 2003 for $2900 when it was blue booked at $4300. It had 90,000 miles when I bought it. I put 40,000 miles on it in ONE YEAR! I did a lot of long distance driving from Colorado to Arizona and California. The only thing that it has ever needed was tires and a new alternator. The timing chain has never been replaced and no other part either. I know the car has been in an accident in the past, but I've exceeded 100mph and the car is as solid as a rock. The paint on it is still great except for a few nicks due to highway driving.
For the people with speaker problems, I have a factory tape player with the factory in-dash 6 CD changer with the stock speakers as well and the sound is still superb on it. I do all the maintenance on it myself at home. I did replace the brake pads and rotors with the best ones I could get from the local auto store and the whole job only ended up costing $150 dollars (All the parts even have a lifetime warranty) Now I'm only 19, and you can imagine how I drive. I've put this car through hell AND I live in colorado with hills going up and down no matter where you go using brakes going down hill alot and I've never had a squeaking problem.
My gas mileage is excellent as well. I have a K&N air filter in the car and I have the "BOSCH Platinum+4" spark plugs on it as well. I make it all the way to Vegas (1000 miles) on 2 3/4 tanks of gas. That's about 35 gallons of gas. I've had nothing, but a blast with this car and its my 2nd Nissan. I've owned a 1995 Pathfinder SE in the past and also had absolutely no problems with it. My altima has been great and still is. I drive approximately 500 miles a week on average right now and I have absolutely no problems with this car at all. Maybe its cause I use AMSOIL on it, but who knows. All I know is that this car is doing great for me. Low maintenance costs and great mileage. Got any questions, let me know, I've got a lot of experience with Nissan considering I've owned 2 and did any work to them myself.
reshak@uccs.edu.
I bought a 1999 Nissan altima GXE in December of 2004.
It had 119,000 miles on it at that time and now in June
of 2005 it has 129,000. The ride is somewhat rough, but
it has adequate power from the 2.4L 4 cylinder engine.
The paint and interior are like new. I liked this car
very much until about one month ago when the engine
trouble light came on. The trouble code read number 4
cylinder misfires and engine fuel mixture is lean. I
always do my own repairs, so I got a repair book for
Nissan`s at the library. While the trouble light is on,
the car runs perfect at running speeds, but the idle is
somewhat rough and there is a puff, puff sound at the tail
pipe. After many hours checking the various sensors under
the hood I could`nt come to a conclusion as to what the
problem was. So since the trouble code said number 4 cylinder misfires I changed the spark plugs and installed a new fuel injector in number 4 cylinder. The puff, puff is still there. Next I sprayed a light dose of starting fluid in the area of the number 3 and number 4 cylinders and the engine sped up and the puffing sound from the exhaust stopped temporarily. My conclusion is that there is an
intake manifold vacume leak and normally I would`nt consider this to be too hard to repair, but on this engine
the book recommends removing the cylinder head with the
input manifold still installed and then removing it because
access to the intake manifold bolts is about impossible
otherwise. This turns out to be a big job so I`m now
hesitant to tackle it. Since the car still runs fine I`ll
wait on this problem until it gets worse. So my suggestion is that this is a good car, but the repair access could be
better. If I were to bring it to a shop I think the repair
bill would be quite high. The fuel injector I replaced
cost $113 plus the cost of new O ring seals.
If you have a question or suggestion I`m at ra7434@Merr.com.
I have the same problem with my 1999 nissan altima. It has an intake manifold leak requiring me to replace the gasket. according to the mechanic it is a four and a half hour job at 80 dollars and hour which computes to over 400 dollars. I have 94000 miles on the car and this is the only problem I have ever had so fix it I will.
I have a 99 Nissan Altima. It was my third Nissan and the first one that had less than 200,000 on it when I got it. (Other two were inherited from parents).
It had 40,000 miles when I bought it 3 years ago and now has almost 100,000 miles. I am happy with it so far. There are many small things that irritate me (wind noise, vibration, etc) but mechanically, it has been a really solid car, which is the most important thing.
There is always wind noise in the car, which irritates me, and it's starting to get that strange vibration other people have mentioned, so I think it's time to get the bearings replaced. Today, the windshield wiper motor gave out on me and left me stranded in an ice storm, but these are the only repairs I've had to do in the last 3 1/2 years.
Mileage seems to be pretty good without air conditioning, but the a/c sucks the life out of this car, especially as my car gets older.
Still, it's a solid car and I never have to worry about it. I expect to be driving it for at least 100,000 more miles.
(My 87 Maxima had 225,000 and my 92 Stanza had 250,000 when I got rid of them -- original motors. The stanza still had lots of life in it too. The Maxima, not so much.)
Just a note to everyone - It is common for the intake manifold gasket to fail on these cars.
I own a 97 Nissan Altima GXE, and this is by far the most reliable car I've ever owned.
I bought it in 2002 with 85,000 miles on it for $5300 dollars, and got every penny out of it.
I average about 20k a year in mileage, and right now it has 165,000 miles on it, and it's still running strong.
I have only ever had to replace normal stuff - tires, brakes, starter, battery, alternator, muffler, and that's about it.
Once my windshield wiper broke, but I figured out what it was. The control arm under the hood had a broken bearing, so I just bought the arm for $20 bucks from the dealership and had a friend replace it for me, it took all of 5 minutes, so if you have this problem, don't go to the dealership, because they will charge you like 100 bucks for it (true story I checked first:) ).
I also cannot unlock my passenger side door with my key, but I think that's just cause my key is wearing out!
I drive this car all over the place, every single day, and run it into the ground, and it just keeps going like a champ. I can even afford a new car, but don't want to part with my Altima!
Everything still works on it, all the power windows, locks, a/c is ice cold, cruise control, etc all work great.
Gas mileage is great too. I've gotten up to 36 miles/gallon a highway trip one, no lie!
My car does have squeaky brakes, and has had them the whole time I've owned the car. All it is, is brake dust. I even had a friend take the tires off and spray the rotors with an air compressor and the sound went away, but within a few days it was back again. No big deal considering this car is super reliable.
It does shake in the front end, but didn't really start doing it until the last year or so. I was told it's bent rims also, and with 165k on it, I know the front end is just slowly succumbing to rust, and just wear and tear, no biggie considering it still has great pick up (I have the 5 speed) and is really fun to drive.
My original speakers just started to crack, but that's no biggie.
There really is no downside to this car! I also owned an 87 Stanza before this, and when I got rid of it, it had 190k on it, was all rusted out, but no matter what, it started every day without a problem.
These cars will run forever if you take care of them! I get regularly scheduled oil changes, and change the air filter, fuel filter and spark plugs like every year or two, since it's got a lot of miles on it (even though it's never driven like it needed these changed).
I still get compliments on my Altima, people think it's a better car than some of my friends that have newer Corollas or Sentras.
Sorry for those with problems, I've found that the newer models after 97 seem to have the most problems. I will definitely buy another Nissan in the future, but this time hopefully it will be the Maxima.
Any questions email me at christinadocs@yahoo.com
I have a 99 Altima, it has a rubbing sound from the right/front tire. Took it to a service center to get it checked, I was told it was the suspension, all it needed was to be greased and it wasn't a problem. Is there a problem with 99 Altima's front suspension, that would make it a defect, which Nissan has to repair at no cost? Other than this noise, car runs great, gas mileage is okay considering I'm on the road a lot.
I bought a nissan altima (1998) - used in 2001. Up until now it's been good to me. I have had to do regular things such as change brakes, oil, tires, and batteries. Now my "service engine soon" light has come on. Mechanic checked and said it needs knock sensors. After 2 days lights come on again. States hes got to put it on some machine and let it run. Got the car back. Light comes on again. He had an electrician looked at it. Sensors were loose. Fixed it. Now 2 days later same problem. What do I do at this point. Take it back to same mechanic or switch? Or take it to nissan dealer? Help!
I have a 1999 Nissan Altima. I bought it in 2002. It runs like a champ. I have 141,000 miles on my car. I have regular oil and air filter changes. I recently had spark plugs up in. The only problem I have ever had is boot replacement. Now the bearings need to be replaced.
1998 Nissan altima.
Lower Timing chain breaks after tensioner/guide wear out.
Just happened to mine after 145,000 miles.
What a nightmare to replace it you must remove all of the stuff on the front and backside of the cover ie alternator power steering pump water pump ect.. then take off the steel oil pan, the aluminum bigger oil pan and the engine mid mount, and the exhaust just to remove the timing chain cover because they bolted the oil pump to it from the inside!!
NOT a fun job..
I have a 1999 Nissan Altima, and she runs great! I was in an accident 2 years ago and she runs better than ever now! The quality is nice, the style, comfort, handling! everything is great on my car!
I have 2002 Nissan altima 2.5S with 70k miles on it. on highways it started giving me windy noice that comes from driver side at speed more than 70 mph. if I reduce the speed, the noice gets decelerates. I was told my tires are not in right position, I had corrected at dealer, it still have problem. the noice annoys, irritates so much that i can't go more than 70mph, any suggestions?
I purchased an Altima 1996 back in 2004 - I have purchase another one recently, this time Altima 99 gxe - I must say Nissan designed one of the best cars - and even I have not purchase them directly from the agency: is economical and runs great!- I carry gas almost every week and a half - I am hopping one day purchase the latest version directly from agency!!!
Nissan altima 2001 75000 miles. asking price by dealer is $8000. the steering vibrates profoundly at speeds upward of 60 mph. dealer says tires is the problem. problem persists even after tires changed. please help me as to what the problem is.
I had an earlier comment about my 1999 Nissan Altima Gxe.
It developed an intake manifold leak at #4 cylinder and the
repair manual said because it was very difficult to get at
the manifold bolts it was best to remove the engine head and
then to remove the intake manifold and gasket. Then re-install the head. __Forget this advise__! It requires the removal of too many pieces. The better and easier way (as I learned from a mechanic at Nissan after I had already stripped away many parts) is to remove the starter and then loosen the manifold bolts until there is about a 3/8th inch gap between the manifold and the head. Now remove the top bolts. This is difficult, but can be done. Then remove the old gasket using a thin putty knife. The new gasket can be installed by enclosing it in thin cardboard and sliding it into the 3/8th inch gap from the top of the engine. Before doing this cut out pieces from the gasket that contains the round holes where the manifold bolts are which will then allow the gasket to be slid into place. Then the cardboard must be removed by pulling it out from the bottom with a needle nose plier. Then the bolts must be replaced and torqued in the proper sequence. This procedure is not easy. It may take one day of trial and error, but compared to removing the head it is a snap.
Good luck. Ron at: ra7434@merr.com.