just wanted some input on American made and Japanese made nissans

[nosuchthingasafreeAltima]

My last two Nissans were parental hand me downs. My first was an amazingly resiliant '92 Sentra (1.6L 5sp). It survived 3 head on collisions with deer and despite a little disfigurement, never showed any internal signs of weakness. It also had the unusual ability to glide through snow like it was butter passing several much more seemingly capable vehicles such as SUVs in ditches. When it became mine at 149,000 miles, absolutely everything was original save routine matinence like tires, brakes, etc. I replaced the clutch at 210,000 and the alternator and water pump at 267,000. I sold it to a friend for $200 and she had it until the fuel lines had literally rotted out at 299,000. The final assembly location of this vehicle in Dec. '91 was Osaka Japan. My current '96 Altima(2.4L Auto) has been a nightmare as far as maintence. A 5mile an hour collision on ice with a curb cost $1000 damage to the A-arm, CV joint, tie rods etc. I've replaced 3 pulleys, have broken engine mounts and sway bars, sensors are a constant annoyance, the air bag light is on permanantly unless I pay another $1000 to have it replaced and the nusiances go on and on. Right now it's at 190,000 miles and the location of final assembly in October '95 was Smyrna Tennessee... My father says it's all about education, training, and tolerences in measurement. The average japanese auto worker has an engineering degree and measures tolerances and specifications to 1000th of a mm where as American auto workers have a high school diploma and measure to the 1000th of an inch. Is there any truth to this and could the problems and distinct differences between these two vehicles be a simple matter of where they were actually made?

[wonS14aero]

It propably has more to do with quality control proceedures than where it's made. The 2 Nissans I've owned 280ZX(my first car) 240SX(my current car) both of which were built in Japan have very few issues maintance wise. However the 2 Hondas I've owned both built in Marysville, Ohio also where quite reliable. My sister had a B12 Sentra built in Smyrna, TN it always had problems. I have a buddy with a U12 Altima it's pretty reliable, however another friend of mine has L31 Altima 2.5S and has problem after problem. Maybe it's a problem with that plant.

[Hellngo15]

I've worked in that plant for the last 2.5 years building Altima there's nothing wrong with plant and people working on the line plus everything built now is pretty much made to crash when impact for safety reason I know I put a lot of blood and sweat in to building these cars as far Japanese worker they seem to be more advance when it comes to building cars they do thing differently their technology is better and their equipment too
Modified by Hellngo15 at 6:31 AM 8/13/2006

[spike228]

I've worked in that plant for the last 2.5 years building Altima there's nothing wrong with plant and people working on the line plus everything built now is pretty much made to crash when impact for safety reason I know I put a lot of blood and sweat in to building these cars as far Japanese worker they seem to be more advance when it comes to building cars they do thing differently their technology is better and their equipment too

Modified by Hellngo15 at 6:31 AM 8/13/2006

I doubt that everyone is as dedicated as you make them out to be. You have no idea how many parts of my altima have been victim to laziness in the assembly line. If anyone has every wondered why interior rattle is so horrible in the altimas, its because the damn workers leave out certain screws for the interior panels. I only discovered this when I stripped out more than half of my interior doing my audio install and repainting certain things.

[prlwhitecoupe]

FINALLY someone realizes this!!! I've been ranting and raving and realizing this unfortunate reality more and more everytime I've been having problems with my BRAND NEW car!

If any of you have followed my posts about the problems I've suffered with my Altima Coupe, you will know what I'm talking about....along with people who took offence to me saying that American workmanship is nowhere near the quality coming out of Japan. Unfortunately I learned a harsh lesson and I wish I knew this stuff before I bought the car.....I saw the pics of the Altima Coupe in 2006 and I instantly fell in love....and I pre-ordered it in March, and in June I picked up the car from the first shipment to the dealership!....I just went along with the fact that it was a Nissan....anyways, even though I'm now glad to have known my service manager so well, he personally takes care of my car every time I take it in for some new stupid problem..

By contrast, my cousin bought a G37 from Queens, NY and we drove it back to Toronto together....and other than the fact that it is an Infiniti, alot of the interior parts are common amongst the Nissans just like Honda and Acura, but his fit and finish is SUPERIOR compared to mine....it angers me profusely,and I feel really ripped off because of sub-standards and poor quality of workmanship...

List:

New Headliner - repaired 3 times!New transmission fluid linesNew RadiatorNew brake pedalNew brake light switchesNew driver's seatAir Deflector and Heat shield recallsNew cover for seatbelt tension boltAnother new Heatshield - due to a broken tack weld! (F-U-C-K Smyrna!)

Who knows wtf else is gonna fall apart and its not even a year yet! Never been snow driven, stored in garage, always cleaned, baby it like no tmorrow, and about 20,000km...oh and paid extra $285 for the fkin pearl white color and it god damn chips so easily!

I turned down VW GTI MkV, Mazda 3 GT, Accord Coupe, Acura CSX over this POS when I was searching for a new car....this is more than the expected problems with a new model of a car....it's really hard to believe that they didn't test the car for atleast a few months before starting production!?.....absolutely HORRIBLE experience.

I have no choice but to keep going back to the dealership and just keep getting **** fixed. I'm just glad my service manager is a nice guy. As soon as I am able to, I'm gonna get rid of this car and get something worth spending my money on like a 350 or a GT-R, the true Japanese BUILT, QUALITY Nissans; not something injected with the American "I don't give a ****" attitude. Nissan needs to step up it's North American quality control big time!

[spike228]

Another new Heatshield - due to a broken tack weld! (F-U-C-K Smyrna!)

Be happy that yours wasn't made in Canton. There are 3rd gens that literally fell apart coming from that plant.

[SHIFT_CR]

My 08 Altima Coupe is already falling apart... bad workmenship in america

[SHIFT_CR]

Yes, i agree with you. I will never buy an american made import again. I should have just went for the used 350z i was eyeing for, instead, i got this horrible piece...

[alphapig]

Yes, i agree with you. I will never buy an american made import again. I should have just went for the used 350z i was eyeing for, instead, i got this horrible piece...

People who complain about noise annoy me.

Drown that **** out. Get a subwoofer, exhausts, rev higher, and stop being lame.

[prlwhitecoupe]

Buddy, the only lame thing in any of this is the quality of workmanship, I guess it's easy for you to ignore that since your loud exhausts and subs are also gonna prevent you from hearing any of the potential problems with your car.

[alphapig]

Well, as previously mentioned, these aren't problems, or even potential problems. People only seem to complain about noises. Whether it's from the door panels, seats, firewall, etc... These are just noises, not something I would call problems.

Regardless of which, you have a warranty...

And don't throw that ricer thing at me, it hurts my feelings Seriously though, instead of focusing on a noise, just try to enjoy the car man.

[prlwhitecoupe]

Hmm ok lets see....

Squeaky brake pedal - had to replace it.

Squeaky brake light switches - also replaced.

Noise from heat shield - BAD TACK WELD ; I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to drive around in a nice looking car while people on the outside hear my heat shield rattling like some old country pickup truck!! - thats just plain embarrassing!

Squeaky seat - had to replace the driver's seat

Vibration noises from headliner - DUE TO sagging headliner! Replaced and fixed 3 times over!

Vibration noises from seat belt - Bolt cap is broken!

My brakes have to get serviced because they are already squeaking!

The things that had to be replaced are identified PROBLEMS by the mechanic or else the dealership wouldn't have replaced them just for fun.

True, there is a warranty and true they are fixing whatever they can but there is a huge inconvenience factor, waste of time and not to mention the LACK of enjoyment out of the car! How the EFF am I supposed to enjoy this POS when there's a new problem every god damn week? Like I've said, American workmanship is GARBAGE.

[LongBeachCoupe]

I got my 2.5 alti coupe in august.. since then put over 11k miles on it... no problems whatsoever!

[principito]

i'm glad to know that the cars we get here come from japan hehe