Faults:

Seats have never been comfy (they are old).

Air con drinks the fuel so fast you can see the gauge dropping (nice and cold though).

Speedometer works when it feels like it (it used to refuse to work on warm or hot days; now it has changed and loves to work on warm and hot days; hopefully when winter comes, it still works).

New radiator was required at about 215000km, as the rubber tubes had disintegrated (most likely because it has never been kept in a garage).

Paint work is patchy (but it's white, so no one can really tell).

General Comments:

This car has more guts than a lot of other cars I've driven. It's fast and responds quickly to acceleration and braking. The gear box is great at getting the right power to the wheels.

The lack of comfort is made up for by this car being a real character, and simply enjoyable to drive.

Zooms along both city streets and freeways with comfort, and doesn't chug-a-long in the slow lane up hills.

If it wasn't for the terrible safety features in the car, i.e. none. I'd want to drive it forever, and I'm sure it'll out live me.

Faults:

Broken headlight and bumper. Probably because of the front end bump we had.

Seriously, the only issues were:

The thermostat seized open; when replaced, the timing had to be re-adjusted.

Tappet cover leaking, replaced gasket.

Squealing brakes rear, cleaned out dirt and rust from lack of use.

Odometer died 2 weeks after we bought it. Replaced gear, all OK now.

That's it; 5000 klm and still going strong.

General Comments:

The only issue I have is the power of the car, which is somewhat lacking. But from a 1.6 automatic, what could you expect?

The car has been in serious rain and never leaked a drop. I left the passenger window open an inch, and no water got in; the gutters stopped it. In my Aurion, a half inch gap means wet seats and soggy shoes.

Starts first kick every time, gets 32 MPG consistently and is easy to work on.

Faults:

Engine failure on a hot summer's day, possible head gasket/head. Compression started to leak into the cooling system, leading to the car being eventually sent for re cycling.

Starter motor failed at 299000KM, replaced with reco unit from a 1.8 pulsar. Better than the original.

Clutch was needed replacement.

Cooling fan did not switch on automatically when I bought the car.

Badly worn driver's seat.

First gear crashing when the engine is hot.

Front C.V. joint boots were found to be cracked in the last service.

General Comments:

This car had been converted to LPG on the same year as it was manufactured, and performed brilliantly with massive savings in fuel bills until the engine failed.

The aftermarket high flow large diameter exhaust installed by the previous owner made the car lose power at low speed.

The GM sourced engine was noisy and harsh at high speed, and lacked the efficiency of it's Japanese counterpart.

Front wheels prone to locking up in sudden braking.

The lack of an air conditioner made it almost impossible to drive in the summer's 42C heat.

Lack of power assisted steering made it difficult to steer at low speeds and when parking.

Engine would have lasted a lot longer if the car had a better cooling system, as the car never used a drop of oil between services, impressive for a high mileage small capacity four cylinder engine.

Rear suspension had sags due to the weight of the LPG tank, especially when full.

Faults:

CV joints.

Backlight for radio is unpredictable.

Wheel alignment.

Paint started to peel, but I think that's my fault for not washing it or waxing it for ages at a time.

Transmission needed changing at about 220,00kms.

General Comments:

What a fantastic small sedan! We bought it second hand when it was already 7 years old and it had 150,000 kms on the clock.

The air conditioning is as good today as it as when we bought it, and we use it a lot.

The radio speakers could be better, but they are acceptable.

The suspension is soft without making the steering too vague, and it's very spacious.

We are only getting rid of it now because of safety concerns (it would probably get no stars in a crash test!) but I will point out that we're getting another Nissan, as the new Micra has just arrived in Australia, and it has a lot of the things we love in the Pulsar, and it's really cheap over here.

I will deeply miss the Pulsar. Especially the boot size.

So reliable from the day we bought it, and if I could go back - even though I know full well I was ripped off by the used car dealer - I would never hesitate.

I only wish I had looked after it a lot better, rather than just treating it as basic transport.