Looking at buying my first Q!

[AusMat]

G'day from Australia Nico Club crew, I have recently found a Q45 for sale in my local car sales directory, I have always been interested in VIP style Japanese sedans, so I went and had a look, these Q45s being quite rare in Australia, and not previously knowing much about them myself, even the owner couldn't tell me much about it! It's in really good condition and only has 80,000km's on the odometer! My main questions are,

Are lifter ticking noises common? Are they an easy fix?

The seal on the rear drivers side strut is leaking hydraulic oil and therefore doesn't function correctly, would this be an expensive fix usually? If so, whar coils or other suspension options are there?

If you could put me in any contact with any fellow Australian q45 enthusiasts please do!

One last question, what is fuel economy on the vh45de engine like?

Please post any info asap as this beauty won't last long!

Thanks all, look forward to the best help the internet can offer!

Cheers.

[...and beyond]

Welcome. Could we get a little more info on the year and trim level?

[AusMat]

It's a 1989 build , pretty sure they didn't have a trim level? There's no badge for a trim level at least.

It's all leather, all electric, sun roof, has the rear console controls for air and radio etc, and has the rear air thing (not exactly sure what it is)

The only other badge besides the q45 badge is a "Tokyo Nissan" badge

[...and beyond]

I never experienced lifter ticking with any of my four early Qs. Timing chain guides can be an issue on the 90-93s.

Gas mileage is around 12-20 mpg.

OEM struts are quite expensive and choices are very limited.

Hope that helps a little.

Steve

[Q451990]

to NICO!

That's the first year of the Q, at least in the G50 style. Lifter tick can be as simple as an oil change. I've had it before on both of my Qs, but usually a few ounces of marvel mystery oil and an oil change clears it up. That said, it could also be that the engine has been badly abused and full of sludge and varnish, and you'll have to replace hard parts to fix it.

[AusMat]

Cheers all, well I'm going today to do a compression test on it, that should help diagnose some problems, it seemed to have had a minor oil leak, which means it could be a little low on oil, taking a mechnic friend to have a look with me today, he pretty much builds engines and will give me a good idea with what I'm looking at, thanks all!

[AusMat]

And he has had the timing chain guides changed to metal ones, so it can't be them thankfully

[...and beyond]

Here is a thread on lifter ticking.

q45-makes-click-sound-off-and-on-t102790.html