Just Another Nissan Noob w/ Pics

[RiceRocketGal]

Hey everyone. Just registered yesterday. I joined the forum because I thought it would be nice to be able to talk with people about my car without getting the stink-eye and being questioned about not buying from an American company. (I live in Missouri)

Got my 08 Sentra a couple weeks ago. 17,000 miles. I gave 13 grand for her. I'm having a lot of fun getting to know the car. It seems like every other day I discover some new feature I didn't know it had. I had to look up SSV. I had no clue what it was for.

So here she is...



I wanna add stuff to it over time. Bling it up a little bit... maybe some rims, etc... but I do like the way it looks now.

Comments?

[ABNRML4U]

You got to love those Ford and GM owners And there the one's that keep close attention if Ford, Crysler or GM automakers are going Bankrupt. If one goes down that's not good on there warranties on there cars. I am a NEW member here started posting a week ago. There are some good people to chat with nice and frendly. The first car that I had was a Chevy nothing but problems turned into a money pit . Then my Dad bought a 1990 Nissan Maxima and later sold the car to me and ever since I steped into a NISSAN I never bought anything else. . You have a nice Sentra It will last you a long time and it will keep it's VALUE for sure more than a {GM or FORD } NISSAN #1

[VMPhil]

congrats on your purchase. Welcome to Nico. If you have any ?s we will do the best we can to help ya.

[nametakennow]

^What he said.

Bring on the questions if you have any, otherwise drop in and chat whenever.

Welcome to NICO!

[ProudNissanFreak]

Welcome to Nico, glad to have you on board!

[RiceRocketGal]

You got to love those Ford and GM owners

Ya those are the people I'm talking about. This is actually my first non-American car (which is sort of not true.. since NONE of them are really any more American than the others now. I mean walk into a Ford dealership and tell them you want a vehicle made TOTALLY in the USA.. and they will laugh you out of the place)

Quote »And there the one's that keep close attention if Ford, Crysler or GM automakers are going Bankrupt. If one goes down that's not good on there warranties on there cars. I am a NEW member here started posting a week ago. There are some good people to chat with nice and frendly. The first car that I had was a Chevy nothing but problems turned into a money pit . Then my Dad bought a 1990 Nissan Maxima and later sold the car to me and ever since I steped into a NISSAN I never bought anything else. . You have a nice Sentra It will last you a long time and it will keep it's VALUE for sure more than a {GM or FORD } NISSAN #1 [/quote]My last car was a t-bird I got new. It was a great car. I got 15 years out of it with no power train issues at all. Only started having "worn out part" issues in the last few years. I put 202,000 miles on her and she never broke down on me.. not once. The only reason I traded it in was because of the MPG. It got 20 and I moved 26 miles from work so I needed something better than that. I would love to have been able to walk into a Ford dealership and get a car just as reliable as that one was but I did my research and I learned Ford just doesn't make them like that anymore. None of the "big-3" do. Even the 2008 Fusion 4-cyl doesn't get much better mileage than my 4.6 ltr v-8 T-bird did. There is just no excuse for that.

All the data on reliability and re-sale value says buy Nissan, Toyota, or Honda. My fiance spotted the Sentra sitting on a lot on a Friday evening. I looked at it on Saturday.. test drove it and fell in love with it on the following Tuesday evening... and by Wednesday it was mine.

I'm hooked.

[ABNRML4U]

Just here to say that GM announced It will discontinue there Pontiac CarsThey will not make anymore Pontiac's anymore.

[RiceRocketGal]

I see a lot of commercials for Ford, GM, and Chrysler trying to get people to buy their products... using things like "we will buy it back if you lose your job... we will make your payments for up to a year... blah blah blah..."

What I don't see the commercials saying is "We have improved the quality and MPG of our products so that they meet or exceed that of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan".

People shopping for a new car are looking for the best value they can get for their money... not a promise to rescue you from paying for the lemon they sold you.

[ProudNissanFreak]

Nicely put

[ABNRML4U]

Well lets see: Pontiac = Discounted Saturn = Looking for a Buyer.Hummer = Looking for a buyer Chrysler + Fiat = O.K. GM + Chrysler are all full of Blah blah blah to try to get you to buy there cars and trucks. GM - Chrysler = Greed

NISSAN + INFINITI =

[nametakennow]

It's a misconception that American cars are not as efficient or of as high quality as Japanese. They (mostly) are now, it's just that the perception from years of building poor vehicles is holding through.

Toyota just posted the largest loss of any of the automakers.

American automakers have tried to highlight MPG, for instance. Have you seen the GM car commercials lately? Some of them are the "make your payments" thing (which Hyundai started) and others are about how their vehicles have better MPG than Honda.

ABNRML:

Pontiac = dead and never was a discounted Saturn, just "edgier" versions of the same set of vehicles sold as Chevy's and Saturns

Hummer = dead

Chrysler = bought by a combination of the UAW, US Gov't, and Fiat and to be run by Fiat

Chrysler's lineup is almost without exception absolute crap, no doubt. My prior statements about American automakers apply mostly to Ford and somewhat to GM. None of the 3 are really using any particularly BS marketing platforms.

[VMPhil]

It's a misconception that American cars are not as efficient or of as high quality as Japanese. They (mostly) are now, it's just that the perception from years of building poor vehicles is holding through.

Toyota just posted the largest loss of any of the automakers.

American automakers have tried to highlight MPG, for instance. Have you seen the GM car commercials lately? Some of them are the "make your payments" thing (which Hyundai started) and others are about how their vehicles have better MPG than Honda.

ABNRML:

Pontiac = dead and never was a discounted Saturn, just "edgier" versions of the same set of vehicles sold as Chevy's and Saturns

Hummer = dead

Chrysler = bought by a combination of the UAW, US Gov't, and Fiat and to be run by Fiat

Chrysler's lineup is almost without exception absolute crap, no doubt. My prior statements about American automakers apply mostly to Ford and somewhat to GM. None of the 3 are really using any particularly BS marketing platforms.

It's a misconception that American cars are not as efficient or of as high quality as Japanese. They (mostly) are now, it's just that the perception from years of building poor vehicles is holding through.

Toyota just posted the largest loss of any of the automakers.

American automakers have tried to highlight MPG, for instance. Have you seen the GM car commercials lately? Some of them are the "make your payments" thing (which Hyundai started) and others are about how their vehicles have better MPG than Honda.

ABNRML:

Pontiac = dead and never was a discounted Saturn, just "edgier" versions of the same set of vehicles sold as Chevy's and Saturns

Hummer = dead

Chrysler = bought by a combination of the UAW, US Gov't, and Fiat and to be run by Fiat

Chrysler's lineup is almost without exception absolute crap, no doubt. My prior statements about American automakers apply mostly to Ford and somewhat to GM. None of the 3 are really using any particularly BS marketing platforms.

WOW i am like 1000% agreement with what you said.Ford and GM make pretty good stuff. The reliability argument is purely old hat with those 2 for the most part. Chrysler is crap. They need to take a lot of their products back to the drawing board imo.

[Buzzman]

It's a misconception that American cars are not as efficient or of as high quality as Japanese. They (mostly) are now, it's just that the perception from years of building poor vehicles is holding through.

Toyota just posted the largest loss of any of the automakers.

Chrysler's lineup is almost without exception absolute crap, no doubt.

We've kinda hijacked this thread into a discussion on current affairs, but that's OK. My 2 cents worth then:Agree with you on all statements. Maybe the quality has improved at the Big 3, but unfortunately, my past experiences with their poor products ultimately prevent me from ever buying a Ford, GM or Chrysler ever again.My last American car was a Ford Windstar, and a total piece of crap. Traded it in on my Pathfinder. I would have given it away.On my last 3 trips south, I rented an Impala, a Chevy HHR (PT Cruiser clone), and a Dodge Caliber. OMG no wonder Chrysler is bankrupt. That Caliber was the WORST car I have ever driven. Period. I almost returned it and asked for something else. The other two were not much better.I'll stick with my Nissans, thankyou very much.

[Buzzman]

You got to love those Ford and GM owners. And there the one's that keep close attention if Ford, Crysler or GM automakers are going Bankrupt. If one goes down that's not good on there warranties on there cars. I am a NEW member here started posting a week ago. There are some good people to chat with nice and frendly. The first car that I had was a Chevy nothing but problems turned into a money pit. Then my Dad bought a 1990 Nissan Maxima and later sold the car to me and ever since I steped into a NISSAN I never bought anything else. You have a nice Sentra It will last you a long time and it will keep it's VALUE for sure more than a {GM or FORD}

Just here to say that GM announced It will discontinue there Pontiac CarsThey will not make anymore Pontiac's anymore.

Good comments. Now, if you don't mind me making a small comment of my own, (and please don't shoot me or flame me for this), but you may want to take a few moments and review the various forms and uses of the words: there, they're, their and there's, among others. I know it's a small point, and no-one here is grading our grammar, but it worth noting, IMO. Thanks

[Rand0m0sityxX]

Thats a nice sentra. I never was huge on the new gen, but after looking at them at the lot when i bought my V a year ago (I kinda miss her =[) i really want one! I loved my moms (2001) and i didnt think id grow on the new body, but i did.

as for the car talk.

its good for GM to drop the Pontiac, all they were, were identicals to Chevy and Saturn, just re badged. look at the g4 and the cobalt. The only difference in the coupe are the tails. and the sedans, nothing! They failed at the remake of the GTO as well. Worst updated version of a classic ever.

Hummer being dropped is good too. They shouldnt have ever f***ed with that thing, totally took away what it was ment to be just to give us gas guzzlers and people who think they're oh so cool cuz they own a hummer. -.-

I drive a gm, went to it from a nissan (didnt want to really but it was the only car i could get when my versa was stolen from me =/) but its turned out to be a great car, they fail at interior design, but other then that with 90k+ miles on it ive had no major problems, just regular maintenance that comes with every car.

[RiceRocketGal]

It's a misconception that American cars are not as efficient or of as high quality as Japanese. They (mostly) are now, it's just that the perception from years of building poor vehicles is holding through.

To the contrary... If you look at consumer reports used car buying guide you will see that Japanese based automakers routinely produce a more consistently reliable product than that of their American counterparts.

(this could get lengthy)

For example... CR buying guide for 1989 - 2007

Nissan - 350z, Altima, Armada, Frontier, Maxima, Murano, Pathfinder, Quest, Sentra, Titan, and Xterra were all included in the buying guide.

Of those, Xterra, Sentra, Murano, Maxima, Frontier, and Altima ALL rated as having MUCH better than average used car verdicts AND new car predictions.

350z, and Pathfinder, and Armada were rated as Average used verdicts and new predictions.

Only the Titan and Quest were rated as below average.

Lets look at Chrysler...

Chrysler was rated for the Voyager, 300m, Concorde, Crossfire, PT Cruiser, Pacifica, Sebring, and Town and Country.

Of those... ONLY the Crossfire was rated better than average

The 300m and PT cruiser were rated average,

and the Pacifica, Sebring, and Town and Country were rated much worse than average... and all the rest were discontinued after several years of POOR ratings.

Next...

OK Ford was rated for the Contour (AKA Mercury Mistique), Crown Vic, Escape, Excursion, Expedition, Explorer, Explorer Sport Trac, F-150, Ford 500, Focus, Freestyle, Fusion, Mustang, Ranger, Tarus, and Windstar (AKA Freestar)

Of those 16 Models... only the Sport Trac, Crown Vic, and Fusion (which was only rated for the 2 years it had been around at the time) rated Above average.

The Windstar / Freestar, Ranger, Mustang, Freestyle, 500, F150, Explorer, Escape, and Contour all rated Average. The rest were discontinued after several years of poor ratings.

GMC was rated for the Jimmy / Envoy, Safari, SierraC / K1500, Sonoma / Canyon, Suburban / YukonXL, and Yukon

Of those... NOTHING rated above average.

The Sonomo / Canyon, SierraC / K1500 and the Jimmy / Envoy rated average.

The Yukon and Suburban/Yukon XL, rated Much worse than average,

The Safari was discontinued after... in CR's words... "On the road, the Safari's clumsy handling and truck-like ride (it's a minivan) reveal it's outdated underpinnings. Front seat occupants have too little foot room. Sub-par reliability and crash test results are also concerns."

I could go at this all day. You wouldn't truly "get it" unless you saw the book I am looking at right now.

I will use the Safari as an example but this is par for the course for what I see from American manufacturers. Year after year... in this book alone it shows from 1998 through 2004 when it was discontinued... the same problems were reported.

Crap.. I'll just take a pic for you.

OK this is a crappy cell phone pic...



The black dots are "much worse than average". Half black is "Worse than average" Empty is "Average" Half red is "Better than average" and all red is "Much better than average"

As you can see... There were consistent problems... year after year... with the drive system, Engine, Transmission, Electrical, Climate system, Brakes, Body integrity, Body hardware, and Power equipment... and year after year nothing done to remedy the problems until finally in 2004 they just discontinued it.

A vehicle has those kinds of issues... MAJOR issues... year after year... and they continued to sell it... for 14 years that thing was on the road. They were pimping it to Americans as a FAMILY vehicle.. seating up to 8 people on the road with SEMI trucks, etc... in a vehicle with those kinds of issues year after year and no attempts to remedy the problems?? There is NO excuse for that other than greed + lack of concern for the lives of the very people they are now looking to for rescue from what their greed has reaped for them.

You don't see that with the foreign car companies. With their ratings... if a vehicle got bad marks on breaks for a couple years... by the third year the problem was fixed or the vehicle was discontinued. You don't see year after year of apathy toward the consumer for the sake of the all mighty dollar.


Modified by RiceRocketGal at 1:36 PM 5/13/2009

[RiceRocketGal]

The Hummer was fine before Chevy got their hands on it. Once they took what was a reliable, tough military vehicle and "pimped it out" with cheap Chevy parts it became one of their worst rated vehicles. Imagine that... one the most expensive vehicles Chevy sold is also among the least reliable vehicles they made.

The H2 and H3 are both rated "Much Worse Than Average"

[ABNRML4U]

^^^^^^^^^^ +++++ 1!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Very, Very, well put in words

Like I say: NISSAN <

[ABNRML4U]

[QUOTE=Buzzman]

Good comments. Now, if you don't mind me making a small comment of my own, (and please don't shoot me or flame me for this), but you may want to take a few moments and review the various forms and uses of the words: there, they're, their and there's, among others. I know it's a small point, and no-one here is grading our grammar, but it worth noting, IMO. Thanks [/QUOTEThank you Thank you!! You made my day it's hard to find somone becides Nicoclub. that likes my Comments Yeh. I know I have to work on my Grammer etc. Thank You! Well here is some Auto news: Chrysler LCC to Eliminate roughly about 789 workers of it's 3200 U.S. dealerships by the end of next month, Saying in a Bankruptcy court filing Thusday that the network is antiquated and has too many stores competing with each other.