Does your S13 give you crap ALL the time?

[Clatch]

I swear to god this car is the farthest fricking thing from the supposed reliability of a Nissan. I guess there’s a reason why my family as had minimal problems with Toyotas. Because they don’t give you the crap that a 12 year old 4 cylinder Nissan will. This damn car has the alarm go off while I’m driving causing a large amount of embarrassment and just today the radiator coolant started leaking while attempting to fix the f*cking alarm. In the 20K miles I’ve had this headache the water pump, alternator, brakes, battery, starter, tires, headlights, exhaust heat shields, clutch slave and master cylinder, and alarm (once already) have broke and been replaced. Also on top of all that I get ****ty *** gas mileage with religiously using 93 octane on a full tune up. Old cars with low miles just aren’t worth the deal you think you’re getting. Maybe I’ll look into a 05 Celica or something, it may not be RWD but my stress level will go way down.

[mrflip69]

Ehh low miles? Might have been abused like hell. Toyota reliability? My Uncle has had shat luck with all of his Toyotas through the years, including a Corolla, Camry, and Rav4; all of which started leaking within a couple of years. Generally, Japanese cars are typically reliable if you take care of them properly.

[Red coupe]

I had a Toyota truck with a 22re and my S13 is just a reliable...Sounds like you bough a crappy S13...The truck I had from 109k-150k and the Nissan has been 129k-144k and so far I am more satisfied with the mechanical condition of my Nissan

[slydin'240]

I take care of her, she takes care of me. Hasn't let me down yet. ( knock on wood )

[TheOne]

fixin and finding troubles has paid off, now i get to drive me 240sx(tho still not 100% fixed), i've gone through 2 engines after i bought the car(i bought it with 185k miles, knowing that the engine was almost dead cause previous owner didn't change the oil pump), after that i changed to another engine and set the timing wrong....valves snapped, then the oil pump of that engine died like 700 miles later, so i replaced the whole engine again, and now it works fine.(gotta replace tires and suspension now,lol)

[Silvia007]

Yeah depending on the previous owners, I've only had 2 owners before me on my S13 and when I recieved mine, it had 145k miles. Never did it ever gave me problems... maybe I swapped out all the brokable parts out for some nice aftermarkets before they went bad... but who knows. Mine served me super well.

[574-240sx]

I had a 3 month period where everything that can go wrong, went wrong. At the time it was my daily.

[240DRFT]

a couple weeks after i bought mine the problems started: leaky injector, leaky brake m/c, then i broke a tension rod and then the motor went out on me. im finishing up my swap now, hopefully it will get better.

[GhostDriver]

It sounds like you got a lemon s13. That's unfortunate.

[Florida240sx]

I've gone through 2 clutches.1st one was bad my dad was surprised it lasted that long.2nd clutch broke....stock ka....Then I hit the 140-150k horror era.Water pump alternator fan clutch starter and somethign else. Brakes are every 20k.But ym car is good mechanical for a while since I removed timing guides.Only fear is my oil pump

[TofuTechS13]

i understand how you feel. my car was just plain possessed. transmission blew on me, radiator started leaking, annoying dings, leaky hatch, IACV made my car stall everytime I stop, and then the most possessed thing Nissan ever designed was the MAFS. It would drive and function perfectly then all of a sudden, started malfunctioning and won't rev pass 2k which isn't high enough for a shift so it just stays in 1st. Stress level went through the roof for the year I had it and the 6000 miles stressful miles i put on it before selling it for a kouki and a ITR. The 240 is definately a good reliable car but its the previous owners you have to watch out for. Well theres my s13 240 story.
Modified by TofuTechS13 at 8:54 PM 7/11/2005

[VinceSez]

The day I bought mine, it gave me a HELL of a lot of problems. The day I bought my car and drove it, it wouldn't run any faster then 15 mph, but that's all gone. I've had my car for 4 months and so far I've had the starter, catalytic converter, tires, headlight, coolant tank, and the DAMN timing chain giving me problems. The only thing I need to fix now is the timing chain, and rattling headers.

[1991S13]

There is no happy medium with my S13. It's either on the verge of dying, or running great. I bought it from an older couple who each had S13's (I got the wifes) so it was babied. I replaced all the worn parts when I first got it, so none of that has given me any problems. It's left me limping home twice though - once when the transmission went out and again just 2 weeks ago when the radiator blew. They are the only real big problems I had...but I've had to do rear oil seal, head gasket, timing chain, guides and tensioner, fix the HUD, and replace the electric fan.

It creaks, vibrates, ticks, and makes every other noise you can think of but I've gotten used to it by now. Either turn up the music, or ride with the windows down.

[wickiewicked_240sx]

My **** is a 93 and is running ****ing great. oil change every 3000 miles i rarely drive it when i got it it had 120,000 miles know it has 147,000 miles i only have it for 1 year and a half.....................great car as for gas mileage i don't really care i use 91 octane gas prices are around $2.70 91 octane i don't really care gas prices are ****ty in CALI........

[1991S13]

I have found that if I let mine sit for a while and then go back to driving it it seems like it's running better. Then I get used to it again and it's not as fun, lol.

[574-240sx]

I had timing chain tensioners go, brake pins lock up, blew a open rear end, broke an axel, broke a rear subframe, master clyinder go out, and a few other minor things. I still kept with it and it ran fine until I hit a tree 3 months later.

[Juujai]

sorry but your car problems aren't really because of engineering. the stuff u listed basically go out over time.

brake rotors warp, pads wear out batteries die, waterpumps teeth get owned, radiators blow, starter motors go too, tires wear come on now... what does that have to do with the car's enginnering. pretty much everything you've listed i've experienced also

if you can't take it just buy a newer car with free service warranty... rx7 owners have it worst... "ecus unsoldering themselves... apex seals wearing out ahhh" this is just basic maintenance interval. check the service manual for the things that go out during the miles.... i'd rather be fixing little things than pay 300-500 for the new few year sof my life for carpayments...
Modified by Juujai at 1:09 AM 7/12/2005

[FliMSiCaL]

well, mine's been in the family since it was new. So far, the engine has been replaced at 114k miles (my fault) the transmission got rebuilt at 210k, radiator blew at 190k or so, along with hoses and water pump at about the same time. The car has been thru about 5 slave cylinders and 2 clutches. Power steering has been dead for a few years, as has been the a/c. The front shocks are gone (my fault again). I just replaced my fuel injector o-rings, timing guide, distributer cap+rotor, and alternator. Car now has approx 230k miles on it, still daily driven.

[nismofly]

nothing besides basic maintenance for me so far...

im just about to turn 77k miles too, that might be why it still runs so good