Faults:

Very minor problems; most were my fault.

Power antenna broke when driving on a country road by clipping a tree branch - approx. $120AUD.

Buttons on CD player broke off, not my fault.

Nothing else, good reliable car.

General Comments:

Comfortable car, the Ti model is very well equipped. The reliability is excellent - no major problems.

The car does have a low gear transfer case for off-road driving, which when switched on turns on the rear wheels (normally the car is FWD, it is not a full-time 4WD like Toyota). This locks the front and back 50:50, same as having a centre differential block. So this car does have the potential to do some serious 4WDing, but the clearance is low.

Fuel consumption: 15-17L/100km in the city and 10-11L/100km on the freeway.

The tyres for this car are expensive, as with all 4WDs.

The car is not very powerful and needs to rev to go up steep hills. Smaller sedans will almost always overtake it at the lights. But it's a 4WD, not a racing car.

Faults:

Both sides of exhaust manifold had to be replaced 104000km one side and 144000km both sides.

Indicator leaver does not return to normal position 115000km.

Ignition key jams in ignition while in off position 135000 km.

General Comments:

This is a great reliable vehicle and is easy to drive. Roomy and comfortable, great on long trips and easy to park in town.

Good air-con and heating system our heated front seats work better than in our Alfa Romeo (worth NZ$88000 new in 1990).

However we do find this vehicle thirsty on fuel approx 15-17L per 100km at NZ$1.70/L. We may consider putting an LPG system in, to lower the cost of the fuel expense.

Faults:

The car has nothing mechanically wrong with it, but there are numerous rattles and squeaks through the car.

The first rattle was coming from the top of the door frame on both sides of the rear doors.

There is quite a few rattles from the dash and the windows are extremely noisy when winiding down.

There is also excessive wind noise from around the A-pillar and the mirror.

General Comments:

This is a great four seater car, but is awful as a 5 seater. We have completed numerous trips up to Queensland from Victoria and never had any trouble.

Nissan service has been great, but with a caravan and a large load in the boot the end seems to sag, that's why we installed airbag suspension on every corner and couldn't be more happy with this family car.

Faults:

Automatic front left hub wore out. Self destructed actually, with fragments getting into the wheel bearing. Had manual hubs fitted, at half the price of auto ones.

General Comments:

This vehicles goes really well once warmed up. A bit slow on the hills though, especially with the boat or trailer on behind. This is my first diesel, so getting used to the "rattle" has taken a bit.

Faults:

Water pump leaked at 100,000 kms and was replaced.

Alternator & battery replaced at 140,000 kms (not cheap!).

Rear hatch electric lock ($40 secondhand unit - easy to fit).

Consumables consistent with the vehicle's age i.e. brake disks/pads, tyres etc.

General Comments:

We bought this as a second vehicle, intending to use it as a workhorse.

Turned out to to be such a neat wagon that we use it as our main vehicle.

Tons of room for two people and any gear that we like to throw at it. Never seems to have any problems going where we want it to go, in rain, hail or sunshine; off road or on.

It is no sports car, but handles reasonably well for a 4X4 of this age. A bit more grunt would be nice at times, but the 2.7 is economical, flexible and so far appears to be bullet proof.

One thing, I am religious about maintenance; oil changes (5000 kms) and also had the transmission serviced, including fluid extraction and replacement, on purchasing the vehicle. So far no problems with the auto.

Thus far we have had no reason to want to replace it and suspect that we'll clock up another 100K before we do. There is a perverse pleasure to be derived from seeing people driving 4X4s that cost five times as much as a '91 Terrano. You just know that most of the purchase price is likely to have been added to their mortgage!