1980 Datsun 310 1.2
Summary:
World's worst in my opinion!
Faults:
Every single exterior/interior knob, handle, switch and lever broke, including door handles, e-brake lever.
Rocker panels and doors rusted thru after being driven in only three Michigan winters.
Hard to replace the clutch four times as it was about the size of a tea cup plate.
CV joint boots constantly tore three times/both sides. Had to replace CV joints because dirt and sand entered them and destroyed them.
Muffler and tailpipe rusted out and fell when the car was only three years old and had only 60,000 miles.
Rear window latches would never stay tightened.
Tiny carburetor needed cleaning at least once every two years.
Would not keep a front end alignment, ate front tires.
General Comments:
My wife bought this car from her Grandparents when it was only three year old. They knew a sucker when they saw one!
The thing was cheap, cheap, cheap, in every regard. It had awful handling, noisy - like driving inside a beer can, ugly styling, way underpowered, would do 75-80 mph tops.
Interior pieces were a cheap plastic that disintegrates over time in the hot summer sun. The outside door handles were cheap pot metal that broke off in your hand if you pull too hard.
The good thing about it got good gas mileage, a consistent 35 MPG, and I pulled 46 MPG over a couple of tankfuls hyper-miling it.
And it was the easiest car to work on that I ever had. The last clutch replacement I did only took 18 minutes! I could adjust the valves in less than an hours, pull, clean, and replace the carb in under an hour. Replacing the head gasket was simple. The engine was near indestructible. I ran it months with coolant in the oil until it hydro-locked one day and forced me to replace the head gasket that was leaking the coolant into the crankcase.
It met its demise when the stupid mechanic (me) didn't torque the right side driveshaft flange bolts, and the shaft came loose and smashed complete through the transmission. I sent it to the junkyard, but some fool got back on road. Who knows, it may still be running?
Other than the engine reliability, everything else was wrong with the car.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 6th February, 2015