Faults:
Had to replace the starter on the car since I've bought it. Was told it was a real hard job to do, thanks to the placement of where the starter is (in a really out-of-the-way place).
Had to replace the windshield right after the starter was replaced. There was a crack in the lower part of the passenger's side, a few inches long. (My guess is that it was a stress crack, from when the car was up on jack stands being repaired for the starter).
Since owning the car, I've noticed a few months ago that quite a bit of the lighting for the dashboard (heater controls, radio, and buttons around the steering wheel) have been burned out, which is probably due to the age of the car. Went to the local pick-a-part yards and got some replacement bulbs, and did what I could. I'd like to go back there again soon and try to work on the heater controls some more, as the only ones I've replaced to working bulbs were the easiest, the 2 that are to the far left. It's a bit of a pain in the middle of the night to adjust my heater controls without seeing what my options are, and the placement of everything.
Oh, and that brings up another point I'd like to mention. My slider for the temperature control (hot and the cold) on the heater control likes to stick a lot, when placed all the way to "cold" or all the way to "hot" for a very long time. Probably due to the age of the car.
Car has a low idle when sitting at a traffic light with the car in drive, it goes down to around 500 RPM, where the car likes to shake a lot. However, when putting the car in neutral or park, the idle is much higher.
Starting to notice a bit of rust on the car, especially on the fenders. Replaced both front fenders with ones from the pick-a-part yard, because the ones that came with the car had rust holes on the bottom. There's a big rust hole forming on the passenger's rear fender, which will have to be taken into a shop to be fixed.
Have had it a few times where I would park the car in my driveway (or at my friend's house), and when I go out the next time to start it, it won't turn over. Found out that the car isn't shifting into park all the way, and in order to start it, I have to put it in neutral and hold my foot on the brake for it to turn over.
I also believe there's a small exhaust leak under neath the hood. Guessing it's the exhaust manifold. Need to have it looked at.
Changed the radio and all 4 speakers to something much nicer.
Had to replace the master power window / power door lock control, as one of the switches was broken (the one for the power door locks).
Other than common maintenance (oil, brakes, tires, wiper blades, etc) the car is very good.
General Comments:
It's a very good car for me thus far. I have two cars, this 1992 Nissan Stanza XE, and a 1997 Chevy Cavalier. I switch between both of them every now and then.
I notice that the Nissan doesn't get as good gas mileage as my Cavalier does. I have a feeling the Nissan has a smaller gas tank than the Cavalier, and a little less fuel economy, so that's probably why I'm at the gas station a lot with that car.
Still, since I've owned the Nissan, I've put 11,710 miles on it, which would have been otherwise on my Cavalier (which has around 60,000 miles on it to date).
I've been told by my friend that the car does have a really nice interior, especially for being a 1992. I've also noticed that the Nissan seats are much better than that of my Cavalier.
I bought the car for only $800.00 from someone I knew at work, who was buying a new Hyundai Accent. She told me that the dealer offered her $800.00 as a trade-in for the Nissan. Instead of trading it in, I bought the car for the $800.00. I'm the 2nd owner of the car, and the lady who owned it before me idled it most of the time from traffic light to traffic light.
I was told that when she had owned the car, the front struts were replaced, it was given a newer set of tires recently, it was also given a new muffler and exhaust, and was given premium gasoline every week since she owned it. The car got all of the maintenance it needed when she owned it.
Since I've owned the car, the performance has really changed a lot. It runs so much better than it did when I first bought it, as it was so gunked up idling from traffic light to traffic light in the city.
The car had probably a rude awakening when I bought it, feeding it only Regular Unleaded and pushing it up to around 70MPH instead of 15MPH or 20MPH.
Looking into getting some better hubcaps for the car, as a couple of the ones I have look pretty bad. They're newer Nissan ones that fit the car, but one's got a big ding in it and another's missing a lot of the paint. Probably another reason to go to the pick-a-part yard.
Oh, and the nicest thing of all is that the alarm / keyless remote still works! I was told that the remote was unused ever since it was new. I put the fuse under the hood, and put a battery in the remote, and found that it has a working alarm and keyless entry! Fantastic!
Despite a few drawbacks I've had with this car, I plan on owning it until it dies. I plan on taking care of the current problems I have (rust, lights on the dashboard) to make it a pretty nice car for the money I paid for it.
27th Jan 2009, 14:41
I've always liked the final generation of the Nissan Stanza's, I consider the final generation Stanza's to be one of Nissan's most underrated cars, their power to weight ratios were excellent.