1992 Infiniti G20 2.0 liter from North America

Summary:

Worst car I've ever owned

Faults:

Air conditioning compressor needs replacement.

Air conditioning condenser needs replacement.

Various A/C hoses need replacement.

Starter motor replaced.

Water pump replaced.

Corrosion on the inner A pillar.

Rust in various parts body joints, probably due to poor paint preparation.

Rear disc brakes need replacement, price quoted is 3 times that of front brake replacement.

Power window motor needs replacement.

General Comments:

The car is fast and handles well. Off ramps are exciting.

However parts and service are very expensive.

This car is probably the most unreliable vehicle I've ever owned.

I'll never own another Infiniti or Nissan EVER!!

The dealer in my area is a crook to boot.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th May, 2001

2nd Jun 2001, 12:49

Obviously we're not talking about the same car... I have had my '94 G20 since it was brand new, and the only thing that has been done is the brake pads at 75,000 miles, which is scheduled maintenance. Infiniti is a bellmark for quality and service in the industry, even more so than Lexus. I know, my dad has a Lexus.

27th Jun 2001, 14:07

I agree. I own a 1992 G20, and the car is so bad that I envy my girlfriend for owning a Honda Civic.

24th Aug 2005, 09:20

Do not take offense, but it appears that you just got a bad car. Did you have it inspected before purchase? Most of the items that you mentioned should have come up on a thorough purchase inspection.

18th Nov 2005, 15:50

That's really surprising that you've had so many problems. I have owned one (a '93 model) since it had only 6,000 miles and came with a factory warranty. I admit that we babied the car, but it has had an incredible track record up until today when it currently has nearly 150K miles. I replaced one fuel injector recently and had to replace the CV joints a few years back, but the roads I drive on are some of the worst in the US (Nebraska country gravel). The only other things that have gone wrong are the trunk latch (the electric solenoid switch) and I changed both headlight bulbs when they burned out on low. That's it (not even another light bulb)! I still have the original belts and hoses, alternator, water pump, starter - all the things that normally should have worn out by now. The struts are starting to get old and I've changed brakes. It's simply been a better car than I've ever owned. I can't compare it too many other Japanese cars, but it is at least TEN times better than a Toyota (I've had two of those both brand new) going by the repair record. I wrote a review for it, but it hasn't shown up yet. Maybe the salt got to yours. Salt really sucks and Japanese cars can't seem to handle it nearly as well as the other manufacturers.

1992 Infiniti G20 Base 2.0 liter from Japan

Summary:

A nice car that can be made much nicer

Faults:

No problems, just general dealer maintenance.

General Comments:

I modified almost every aspect of this car to my liking. These include:

Racing mods to the engine to make it faster.

Performance 1.5" drop suspension. Stiff ride, but awesome handling.

Cat back exhaust to improve sound.

Full custom sound system with subs.

Originally pearl white, but it wasn't flashy enough so it painted limetime pearl green.

Big rims, 40 series tires.

This has been turned into a show car and is no longer my daily driver. Look for it in a magazine near you.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th January, 2001

1992 Infiniti G20 2.0L from North America

Summary:

A good small car - somewhat pricey because of the Infiniti label

Faults:

Only two major problems so far. One was Nissan's 5th gear "pop-out" problem that happened to a lot of the SR engine/manual transmissions (Infinitis and Stanzas both had this problem). The dealer would not do anything about it until I videotaped driving down the freeway and having it pop out of gear, then they fixed it on warranty.

The other problem is a throw-out bearing noise in the transmission. I gave up on trying to get the dealer to do anything about it. Since the noise only happens under certain conditions I have just been living with it. When the bearing finally gives up the ghost I will take it to an independent garage here in St. Louis that just works on Nissans.

General Comments:

Like the car a lot.

Pros are that it's fun to drive, has classic looks (it's 8 years old and doesn't look dated), and is pretty reliable (except for the above, no other problems).

Cons are its ride is stiff (I switched to a softer tire and that helped somewhat), and no comfort features (I had a '92 Honda, that had a cup holder, a fold-down rear seat and a center arm rest which the '92 Infiniti doesn't).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 21st December, 2000

23rd Jun 2006, 01:04

Just a question: is this review in the right place? The reviewer appears to be talking about some kind of Nissan, this review is supposed to be an Infiniti G20.

27th Jul 2006, 04:07

To the person that commented that this review isn't in the correct place. The Infiniti is a Nissan product so the review is in the correct place.

28th Aug 2006, 22:01

The Infiniti G20 ('91-'96, '99-'02) is called Nissan Primera in Europe. It bears an SR20DE motor which also comes in '91-'93 NX2000s, '91-'94 Sentra SE-Rs, '95-'98 200SX SE-Rs and '99-'01 Sentra SEs. This motor has a timing chain (unlike most Honda and Toyota engines in the same class) and is the strongest, most reliable engine I have seen in my life! I've owned a few of these cars with the SR20DE engine and they are pretty quick, but still great on gas mileage! In Europe, they offer (essentially) a VTEC and TURBO version of this engine, which is readily available to swap into your engine bay in the States. I can't stress enough how great these cars are!!!