1997 Nissan Altima GXE 2.0L gas from North America
Summary:
I got the lemon
Faults:
Purchased a 1997 GXE with 17,000 miles on it and the extended warranty in 1999. The car ran well until 65,000 miles.
Alternator died while I was far from home. Had it fixed at a Nissan dealership. They called and asked me to clear the use of a non-Nissan part as the Nissan part would take several days to come in. I cleared this work only to discover that it would not be covered under the warranty because it was a non-Nissan part. Mind you the part was no cheaper than a Nissan part.
Two months later the alternator dies again and my local Nissan dealer refused to cover the work saying that I would have to take it back to the dealer who did the work. This was not feasible as they were over 100miles away and the car was dead. I called Nissan customer service and they offered me a coupon for $100 off my next service.
40,000 miles later I have replaced the Alternator twice more, the intake manifold gasket, both front calipers, and various sundry other parts. The car runs badly at idle, tries to die in reverse, the dash light occasionally disappear for no apparent reason, air conditioning and cruse control no longer work and the check engine light is on.
General Comments:
I general the car performed well except in snow. While I have never had a serious accident before, this car has twice had the back end came lose and slammed me into something during winter driving.
I have never been happier to get rid of a car and will never buy another Nissan product again.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 3rd February, 2004
23rd Sep 2004, 11:10
Give me a break!!! did you drive only interstate or in the city??? somethings happen just be lucky it could be fix. what other car would you buy?? Something that does not have to be fixed?
9th Nov 2004, 04:22
Sorry to hear about misfortunes. However, I've had very good luck with mine. In 140K miles it has had new brakes (pads only), two mufflers (no additional parts) and "not so regular" oil changes.
Additionally, my wife ran over an object that was large enough to put the car up on two wheels at 70mph, it was stolen (joy ridden & abandoned) and hit (while parked) by a garbage truck. Still on the original clutch and rotors. Damn car just won't die. I have been robbed of a good excuse to buy a new car.
1st Dec 2012, 19:24
The instrument light dimmer shorts out often on my Altima 1997. If I touch the dimmer switch, the lights in dash instrument cluster come back on. The part is called a rheostat.
9th Jul 2004, 07:13
I also had the intake gasket go bad on my 97 GXE. From what I have heard, others are having this problem also.