No more Nissans for me. Long post.

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: sayjac
Afaik the V6 is ok, different exhaust manifold design. Heard of no recall for it.


Thanks, that's good to know. I have to admit, I've never heard of a pre-cat until
you started this thread. My Buick has one catalytic converter on it and that's it.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: sayjac
Afaik the V6 is ok, different exhaust manifold design. Heard of no recall for it.

The last generation Maxima with the VQ35 had some precat issues as well, but maybe not as often as the QR25.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/nissan-3-5-dead-engine-picture.124180/

 

[Cutehumor]

Nissans are junk. my dad has an 03 nissan sentra with the 1.8L engine and 110k miles. the head gasket has been replaced twice. my dad called me last month in a panic that the check engine light was on. the code said it was a misfire. the #3 and #2 ignition coils have been swapped and has kept the check engine light off for a month now. I told my dad not to put any money in that pile. Dealers won't fix the car under warranty, but nissan dealers are glad to fix on your dime. Nissan corporate would not even help. Car was built in Mexico in 2003. it also seems the Altima in that time period was junk too with the precat issues. I may need to replace my 96 sunfire soon and I will not be buying a Nissan.

 

[Sayjac]

I remember that thread regarding the 3.5L, but if one goes to the auto beef/complaints site there's no mention of any pre cat issues. Again, afaik there was also no recall(ie. joke) on the 3.5L. Not saying it's not possible, but compared to the 2.5L, it seems an anomaly. Check the 02 and 03 2.5L Altima engine problems/engine failure, very common.

As for Nissan quality, it seems to me that a drop in quality, especially as relates to my knowledge about the Altima/Sentra 2.5L, coincides with the alliance with Renault and it's much lauded CEO Carlos Ghosn. At this point though, I won't be giving him any praise.

 

[Finklejag]

Nissan makes good and bad cars just like every other auto manufacture. My first car was a Smyrna built 1990 Hardbody. I had it for 8 years and 120,000 trouble free miles.

I bought a 05 Sentra 1.8. The B16 Sentra are known to have problems, pre cat, butterfly screws, head gaskets. I started seeing the signs of the head gasket leak at around 24K with my UOA's. I went in to the dealer to tell them this. They pressured check the system and found no leaks. At 34K the head gasket blew. They gave me a 07 Altima as a rental. I really like the new Altima. When I got the car back. I traded it in for a 07 Altima 2.5. The new Altima had a lot of teething problems the the first year. I had it in the dealer around 8 times for recalls and TSB's. After the first year, I didn't have any problems with it. I traded it in for a 2010 GTI. I just got bored of the CVT.

The funny thing is. After owning 2 MK4 VW's. I told myself I would never own another VW ever, seven years later, I'm driving a VW and loving it!

 

[Spazdog]

I wonder how much of this can be attributed to Renault's influence on Nissan?
Quote:
As for Nissan quality, it seems to me that a drop in quality, especially as relates to my knowledge about the Altima/Sentra 2.5L, coincides with the alliance with Renault and it's much lauded CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Everyone knows someone with a B13 Sentra, VG30 powered Maxima, 720/D21 pickup that went an ungodly amount of miles on minimal maintenance. (sister in law has a 90's Maxima with well over 200,000 miles and minimal maintenance and suprisingly little corrosion for 10+ Cincinnati winters)

The only Renault I can think of that is known for it's reliability is when they converted one of thier diesels to a gas engine.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Sorry to hear about this.

But I agree Nissan started going downhill since Renault showed up in 1999. Yes, Nissan was having financial problems back then, but they made some really good cars.

When I was living in the UK, I had a '99 Maxima (Infiniti I30 in the US). That car was rock solid - excellent build quality, very reliable and I put a lot of mileage on it without a single problem. Too bad some drunk idiot backed into it with a truck in a parking lot and it was written off. A lot of the newer Nissans lack all the fine aspects the older models had.

 

[Sayjac]

Quote:
Nissan makes good and bad cars just like every other auto manufacture.
That likely is true, and one of the reasons (as I sometimes read here for other products, stores etc) I didn't use a thread starter like 'Nissan sucks'. I realize that others may have a different experience or judgement. I am simply relating my experience, and others can decide for themselves.

That said, as the early recall implies, I believe Nissan knew these precats would fail and consequently cause the engine to fail. They had to replace engines under warranty on many of the 2.5L engines, so they knew. I would have been better off being a "spirited" driver, as apparently some of the SpecV owners are. At least I would have gotten a new engine out of the deal under warranty.

The correct/proper repair would have been a recall to replace all the 02-03 2.5L exhaust systems from the exhaust manifold including the precat. Nissan also knew this, because in 04, the exhaust/precat system was redesigned and afaik no engine failures related to precat failure was reported. And I'm not putting IMO, because as my experience here clearly shows(read UOA, link on first post) they had time to make the recall and apply the correct fix before the engine failed. It was preventable.

So, while don't consider myself one of these, I'll never buy such and such again based on one bad/less than satisfactory experience, in this case, that is a fact. Based on the expense involved here, the size of the failure(engine) and the fact that it was preventable, Nissan has shown me, that they are not a company that I can put my trust in again, period. Thus, the fool me once reference in the first post.

 

[Vikas]

All the VQ engines (3.0 and 3.5) that means all Maxmias (including mine) have the same design i.e. pre-cats. Even 4th generation i.e. 1995 through 1999 had the same engine but I am not sure if they had similar pre-cats. If it did, then Nissan has been using this for last 15 years at least :-(

 

[Bamaro]

Originally Posted By: Tortured_Soul
I used to own an 02 Sentra SE-R... I too will never buy another Nissan.

It was most definitely the worst car I've ever owned.

Same here. It didn't bother me as much that there were problems, what bothered me was that when Nissan finally admitted to the problems 02's were out of warranty and Nissan refused to do anything. Mine was an oil burner from day one using a QT/1500 miles and Nissan said that it was within specs. Later it became much worse probably because of the loose screw issue on the intake butterflys which would get sucked into the cylinders. They refused to do anything about it.

 

[mechanicx]

It's too bad. Nissan use to have the most interesting and nicest cars of all the Japanese makes, the Z cars, the 240, etc. I liked the last model Altima a lot more than the Accord or Camry except for the CVT and the reliability issues. For the midsizes the Accord is about the only Japanese make with a good reputation left. But I think it is uncomfortable, noisy and hard riding. It doesn't matter too much to me I guess since I just go with domestic. It's just Nissan was always my favorite of the Japanese makes.

 

[edwardh1]

MAximas have trouble with brakes, valve cover leaks, EGR tubes clogging and quirky Bose radio stuff.

 

[FZ1]

Sorry,man. Fingers crossed on my AT Bass Boat towing 02 V6 Accord at 111,000.

 

[Towncivilian]

IIRC, Nissan's 2002-2006 QR25DE engines had an issue where the power valve screws could come loose and be eaten by the engine, causing severe engine damage. This was covered with a recall for certain year models I believe.

The 01-04 Pathfinders with VQ35DE engines also suffer from this issue of power valve screws becoming loose, but reports of this actually happening is less widespread. There are still sporadic reports of these screws coming loose and killing the engine, and Nissan has done nothing for most of those cases. There haven't been any recalls, either. Speaking of which I need to put some threadlocker on those darn screws for my '01 PF...

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
It's too bad. Nissan use to have the most interesting and nicest cars of all the Japanese makes, the Z cars, the 240, etc. I liked the last model Altima a lot more than the Accord or Camry except for the CVT and the reliability issues. For the midsizes the Accord is about the only Japanese make with a good reputation left. But I think it is uncomfortable, noisy and hard riding. It doesn't matter too much to me I guess since I just go with domestic. It's just Nissan was always my favorite of the Japanese makes.

That is not surprising, coming from you, because I have personally found that most American car fans prefer Nissan over the other Japanese brands. I think this is because Nissan vehicles tend to have attributes that American car drivers appreciate.

 

[moto94536]

I never owned nissan. I will never buy a nissan.

If you are looking to buy a new car, you should look for a toyota. I have 2006 toyota camry v6. 204,000 current miles. No major problem. Engine is still strong.

 

[Scienceman]

Or a Ford...

 

[Sayjac]

First, thanks for the responses and the kind words, much appreciated. As for the precats on other Nissan models, admittedly I'm not as knowledgable about them as my situation (02-03 2.5L). But, whether it's the proximity to the engine, the precat design or both, these models seem most susceptible to causing catastrophic (non pun intended) engine failure.

Towncivilian, I do remember reading about screws coming loose on some Nissan models and falling into the engine causing engine failure. As I said, I had to have the entire throttle actuator control replaced. The car would hickup ie., cut out for a split second (threw a cel/ses) on the highway, scary. At the time, I told the service writer that this part shouldn't go bad, especially in this short a time. While I didn't buy an extended warranty he apparently agreed with me, because all I paid was the $100 minimum payment. Also, the tech said at the time, that when this first started happening the control was ~$500, but because they had rebuilt/remanufactured so many the cost had come down. That tells you something.

Also, crank angle and/or camshaft position sensors are a problem area on many Nissans, I replaced both this past summer. It can cause the engine to quit or make the engine hard to start, especially when engine is hot and/or when ambient temp is high.

Yes, I do think there is some correlation between a fall off in Nissan quality and the Renault alliance. As spazdog alluded to, I too don't associate Renault with reliability. And while the styling seemed to improve, quality seemed fall off, IMO.

Cost aside, the part that angers me the most, is that as my 1/09 UOA shows, the engine could have been saved with the correct fix. It was preventable, but Nissan chose to let the engines fail. And, while hollowing out the pre cat could be illegal, I could blame no one owning one of these vehicles for using that fix. Frankly, those folks are looking pretty smart to me right now.

Lastly, I do believe all makes can have their issues, and didn't want this to turn foreign v domestic or make v make, part of the reason no specifics about my new ride on this thread. Hope it won't go that way. Thanks.

 

[edwardh1]

Yes, I do think there is some correlation between a fall off in Nissan quality and the Renault alliance. As spazdog alluded to, I too don't associate Renault with reliability. And while the styling seemed to improve, quality seemed fall off, IMO.

agree- it started in 1999 when Nissan went on a big cost cutting kick lead by a ex renault CEO. most older Renaults were junk

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
most older Renaults were junk


I don't think that you are talking about the 4, 8, 10, 12, 16 there.