My first J30......

[DAAMANNN]

Well im sure all you people already have one, but i dont. I was recently looking at buying a 94 J30. I took it for a test drive, its amazing. So i really would love to buy it, but i need to know EXACTLY how the car is! Liike what sort of problems occur. or if theres anything i should look out for when b uying this vehicle. I basically need to know if anything is gonna go, what would be the first to go???? Are they really an amazing car as everyone says they are???

Anybody????

-DAN-

[elwesso]

Welcome to NICO.....

First order of business is to know when the timing belt was done. I think the 93 and 94s had 60k service intervals, and the 95+ had 100k service intervals.. regardless, if the car has over 100k on the clock, it should have had the timing belt replaced at least once, maybe twice...

The timing belt job usually costs about 1000 out the door at the dealer, they replace the water pump, cam seals and a bunch of other crap....

http://www.fuzzycats.com/j30.htm - Check out this website for starters, one of our members, Carlos, made this little resource for the J.. pretty good resource..

Other than that, youll want ot add an external transmission cooler.. Fortunately they use the same transmission as the Z32, so the Z guys are always wiling to give those things away for barely anything!

One final thing... You need to make sure there are some service records... Im very spoiled in that I can call up the previous owner of my Q and ask him when he did certain things... The more complete the better, however if they are kinda patchy, a LOT can be told by the condition of the fluids... The tranyn fluid and PS fluid should both be kind of like the color of blood, except more pink... If you look under the oil filler cap and down into the hole, it should be fairly clean (you should see metal), may have a slight little film on it but it shoudl wipe clean to reveal fresh metal.. Anything caked on, brown or black, and run as fast as you can away from it!

If, and ONLY if all that stuff from above checks out, id take it to a decent mechanic to have it inspected, or maybe you can get one of our NICO guys to come look at it. Some shops will let you use their lift for a few dollars if theyre not busy...

$100 paid in an inspection could save you THOUSANDS later!!!!

[MattB]

$100 paid in an inspection could save you THOUSANDS later!!!!

This can't be overemphasized. Even an extremely reliable car like any of the Infiniti models can be trouble if it hasn't been taken care of.

[driverdriver]

Since your a fellow Canuck, be sure to get the UVIP package from the Ministry of Transport for any vehicle your thinking of buying. Buy only a local vehicle, nothing out of province and look for a J with service records.

Up here the common problems with J's are:

-Common to have the instrument clusters fail on the '93 and '94 models. Many where replaced up here under a Nissan Canadian secret warranty with no cost to owner. Look for the paper work in the service history.

-Transmission cooler isn't necessary up here. Since its cold for all of 7-8 weeks. Transmission failures are uncommon, unless the vehicle has been abused or modified-check the transmission fluid and check to see if transmission service has been done. It is common up here for the revolution sensor to go, especially when its gets cold.

-Sunroof failure is common. Its time consuming and expensive to fix.

-If its a vehicle that was registered or driven a lot in downtown Toronto, check the wheel bearings. They go because of all the speed bumps in the city.

ABS sensor failure is common, but its an easy DIY.

BOSE stereo goes, you can pick up a remanned unit in the Toronto area from Infiniti Yorkville or Agincourt for $300 or go totally aftermarket. I believe there is a Pioneer unit the fits the J.

Fuel Pump failure is common especially if the last owner didn't run it on premium. Its seems our Canadian low and mid grade octane with all its anti-freezing and low emissions additives kills the J's fuel pumps. Fuel up with only the recommended premium gas.

Check for rust, especially on the underside of the body.

some things to note:

Parts are expensive and dealer only since the car shares very little with any other Nissan product. You have to go to the dealer to buy parts.

There are no body kits available for the J.

There aren't a whiole lot of aftermarket "tuner" parts available for the J.

Overall the J is a very reliable car as long as you maintain it. Its also one of the best driving cars I have ever driven.

If you found one that you like, have it inspected by a trusted mechanic(especially some one who knows a lot about Nissans) or an APA garage.
Modified by driverdriver at 9:30 AM 7/11/2005

[metaverse3]

Huh..Don't do it..lol

All kidding aside, there are some very good postings here with advice..

It has electrical issues like door locks, sunroof, radio etc etc. Nothing you cannot fix. Especially if you are on this site.

It is a heavy car. Do not expect a cheetah. Think of garfield after OD'ing on lasagna. However, she will cruise interstates @70mph all day with no complaints. Almost 3500+ pounds of fat or muscle. You make the call.

They drink a lot of gas.. Premium is recommended. You will notice a difference if you put anything other than premium. I have even seen transmissions shift funny without premium gas. If you get 300+ on a tank, you hit paydirt.

If you have hicas (4-wheel steering), it is poor in snow. Bewarned. Fishtails aplenty. Being as heavy as it is and rear wheel drive. it is poor in snow even without hicas.. Hicas just gives it that extra failure edge..

Transmissions are not smooth at all. Jerky shifts are normal..especially first to second. You can replace everything including the transmission itself. Learn to live with it. The identical Jatco transmission exists on the mazda MPV van and it is smooth as silk. Go figure.

The car shares the same engine as the 300zx. Thus, a bit of the parts will work cross-cars.. Lot of common sense stuff was omitted. Great leather seats with no lumbar, even on touring edition. No heated mirrors. No seat memory function. They forgot to bring over the japanese V8 engine and the electronic parking brake function.

Overall, it is a great car with its quirks like any other car. Make sure the timing belt records are there along with the tensioner and waterpump being changed at the same time, and all the seals that go with it. The car is very unique and it still turn heads after all these years.. Good luck..

[driverdriver]

Transmissions are not smooth at all. Jerky shifts are normal..especially first to second. You can replace everything including the transmission itself. Learn to live with it. The identical Jatco transmission exists on the mazda MPV van and it is smooth as silk. Go figure.

You can get the dealer to reset or "flash" the transmission. I'm not sure how they do it. When they replaced my transmission rev sensor it was done at the dealer. The transmission is adaptive and it learns your driving style over a bit of time. Mine shifts flawlessly through all the gears, but than again I have tendency to cruise in the car rather than race.

I agree, the car still turns heads. I have people come up to me to ask me if I'm driving a new Jag.

[DominickJ30]

You can get the dealer to reset or "flash" the transmission. I'm not sure how they do it. When they replaced my transmission rev sensor it was done at the dealer. The transmission is adaptive and it learns your driving style over a bit of time. Mine shifts flawlessly through all the gears, but than again I have tendency to cruise in the car rather than race.

I agree, the car still turns heads. I have people come up to me to ask me if I'm driving a new Jag.

I need this done. Was it on particular years? I have seen a recall about it. My trans only shifts rough in 1-2 especially when its cold. Plus my torque converter is not operating properly.

[driverdriver]

I need this done. Was it on particular years? I have seen a recall about it. My trans only shifts rough in 1-2 especially when its cold. Plus my torque converter is not operating properly.

Hard transmission shifting in near zero or sub zero temps are normal, if you don;t let the car properly warm up. In warmer temps, the transmission should shift smoothly.

[Elisha]

No heated mirrors.

The Canadian models come with heated mirrors and seats. I have a 93.i get about 400 - 450km on a full tank in the city and about 700 - 750km on the highway

[metaverse3]

The canadians get everything better..Even the basic honda/acura's seem better..bah.

[elwesso]

The canadians get everything better..Even the basic honda/acura's seem better..bah.

That woudlnt want to makeme move there