Faults:

The Serena was only a few months old when I bought it with about 12,000 miles on it. It had been used as a taxi and was in near perfect condition when I bought it. I had no problems with it mechanically during the time I had it; I did the oil changes at the required mileage and never had any major service items.

By the time I had it a couple of months I had taken a dislike to it for the following reasons. It didn't handle very well if it had only the driver and no other load on board; back wheels would lock up and skid quite easily.

It handled very well if fully loaded with 7 passengers, even at speed in the wet with high winds.

My main issue with the Serena was a safety issue.

When the two rear seats closest to the back window were folded down from the sides to the floor, they locked into position into the floor providing the third point for the seatbelt through that locking point.

Each seat had a release lever on it pointing or exposed to the rear of the vehicle inside the luggage area. If you happen to place a golf bag or a suitcase, or a gas cylinder into the luggage area you may not notice that it has pressed up against the release lever and released the seat and seat belt locking point from the floor. On impact or under severe braking, the seat rises up on its hinge towards the side window.

I did ask at the Nissan dealer in Rialto in Dublin Ireland if an alternative lever was available, perhaps with yellow or red warning marks on it, they said they had not come across any problems with it. Nor had their attention been drawn to it by anyone else.

General Comments:

You would have a hard job locating a 1993 - 2002 Nissan Serena 7 seater in Ireland now; I wonder where they all went.

Faults:

Rust in the left front sill under the mudguard.

Rust either side of the tailgate hinges.

Bad valve cover oil leak - yet to fix this; possible causes are blow by valve or leaking gasket. Still, the leak is relatively minor, with about a teaspoon of oil dripping below the rear of the engine.

Leaking rear heater core (fixed by bypassing up front).

Paint fade on roof (but I can't blame Nissan for this as the car is 20 years old).

Overheated due to leaking coolant T fitting on the right hand side of the block (by the injection pump); all fixed with a new pipe.

Turbo manifold cracked.

Exhaust cracked after muffler.

Suspect intake/exhaust gasket blown or warped. The leak is only minor though (a puff of smoke above the engine bay when starting).

General Comments:

Reliable people mover. The design is not as futuristic as the Toyota Previa, but that said it is easier to maintain. Visibility is superb, and as the engine is near the COG, it is more stable than you think. It is also solidly built, despite the cheap price tag. The CD20T is a little noisy, but is a reliable workhorse that is much easier to fix than say the Toyota Estima (3CT) if something goes wrong.

Some issues I have fixed:

Overheating - These models have an overly complex cooling system, and leaks develop e.g. rear heater core leak and rusted piping. I have overheated it about 5 times now - but it is NOT due to head gasket or cracked head! I filled it up with coolant and it overheated (thermostat didn't open - top hose hot, bottom cold). These vehicles need to be properly bled with the bleeding screw on the right side of the radiator, and add coolant slowly - top up the expansion tank NOT the radiator initially.

Timing belt (replaced with Mitsuba 111RU25) and tensioner replacement. Parts NZD$100. A DIY job if you know what you're doing - if not, leave it to a mechanic LOL.

You could replace the injection pump belt, but it has much less load so I didn't... it won't cause catastrophic failure anyway.

Treated the undercarriage with rust shield and fish oil; however in NZ there is no salt on the roads, just cold damp winter.