Faults:
At 90,000 miles, I replaced the muffler and pipe. They had both rusted through.
Brakes and a rotor were replaced at 106,000 miles.
The car required a new starter at 120,000 miles.
General Comments:
I have owned my Nissan GXE for almost 4 years and during that time I have been a little rough on it. I have driven through both Chicago and New York City with this vehicle. A few times I have taken a road trip between these two cities and never once have I had any trouble with the car on these vacations.
I mainly do city driving during the week, and every few weekends I drive "Up North" (through the woods) to visit relatives. I have never had to wonder if these frequent long distance trips are too much for the car.
The CD player in my car was always finicky and the second year of my ownership it stopped working completely. I haven't had it fixed, but a nice thing about the car is the Tape/CD combination so for the past two years I have been using the Tape option for both needs.
The cruise control and A/C both operate at optimum, and my automatic seat belts are both working just fine. My radio antenna no longer retracts back into the car when it is shut off, but I think with a little grease it should be fine.
My car has also had a few accidents, one with the previous owner that left a small dent in the front of the car, and once while I was driving where I struck a deer. I hit the animal at 35-40 mph and thankfully, no one (including the deer) was severely hurt, nor was the car. I was sure my front end would be totaled, but I found only a small dent in my hood, that you cannot see only feel, and a cracked grille. All lights and other components were fully functional. They may not look it, but these cars are tough.
My car is getting up there in age, and I expect problems to start occurring. However my love and faith in Nissan was renewed after my car went above 100,000 miles and so far, has not given me any major problems. Even when my starter "died", a nearby mechanic was able to "tap" the car and get it running with ease. He informed me the car would most likely not start again until I had it fixed, so I should drive it straight to a shop to sit and wait for repair. I definitely pushed the limits, but my car continued to start throughout the next week, and after work on Friday, I drove it to a mechanic as advised.
My next car will be a Nissan.