Peter writes:
Hi Sajeev,
I drive a 97 Nissan Altima GLE with a leather interior and 180,000 miles on it. I’m wondering:
1. How much longer will this car be a reliable daily driver? It is immaculate. I am the 2nd owner, and I have the receipts going back to the window sticker.
2. What car is most similar to my Altima that will be five years old at the time I need to replace it? I drive 15,000 miles a year. A new car is not an option, because I can’t take the new car stench.
The best trait about my car is that it has a muted interior with no brightwork. This makes it good for Southern California and great for my trips across the desert. With my next car, I am willing to forget the leather interior and the sunroof. I am also not averse to replacing it with a manual. A muted interior, however, is a must. If I’m stuck with brightwork and chromed plastic, I will black it out myself.
Sajeev answers:
While I admire your attention to detail with this vehicle and your appreciation for anti-bling vehicles, I can only do so much when presented with generic questions. Yeah, they are pretty generic. But let me get my crystal ball and see what it says:
1. Eventually something labor intensive will fail and you’ll tire of this beast. Maybe it’ll be the motor or transmission, or the A/C evaporator or heater core blows: these cost a fair chunk of change, involve days of downtime, and will cost more than the Altima’s trade-in value. Which is totally not fair to such a seemingly nice car.
I say this because I spent plenty of money on my Lincoln Mark VIII in the same manner. A grand on air suspension one year. A new tranny (high performance) at $1500. And other crap that I don’t even bat an eye at when it fails. That’s because I can’t imagine not having this in my garage as a daily driver, if needed. That’s a higher automotive love. Or stupidity…either way!
2. Oh man, another wicked crystal ball moment! I think the most “Altimistic” vehicle is a 2008-ish Mazda 6. When I think of a timeless–yet mainstream–family sedan, that’s always my go-to vehicle. Sit in one and I am sure you will agree. Plus, you won’t need to black out much of anything, its design harkens back to a time when BMWs were mostly made of high grade black plastic inside.
Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.
I love the new car stench. If anyone has any they’re not using, please contact me at …
I’ll put a vote in for my whip, NF (2006-2009) Sonata. I’ve put 144k miles on it since I bought second hand with 14k miles – hasn’t put a foot wrong outside of replacing the head unit.
Plus the visibility out is fantastic in all directions.
Peter, drive the Altima until there’s nothing left but a stub, which shouldn’t be before 250,000. That thing has plenty of life left in it.
Sajeev is not insane for making major repairs on a car he loves. Add it up, and the couple grand you spend here and there still won’t add up to the expense of a new car. Think of how much he’d have to spend on something new that’s even remotely comparable to the Mark VIII.
I let a nurburgring instructor drive my car, asking him for his impressions of my Mark’s handling and steering feel. He said it wasn’t as good as a BMW or Porsche, but the Ford engineers definitely made a shockingly good feeling car.
My point? I haven’t found a new car nearly as good as my Mark. So I gave up and bought a Ranger instead.
My mom had a 97 Altima GXE – it was great. Myself, I’ve had two 240sx (both with the same KA engine). Completely unstoppable. Moved on to a G35x now, and hoping for (mostly) the same level of reliability.
Nissan doesn’t get the credit they deserve… I buy Nissans because the resale is terrible. My advice to the OP is to buy another when this one dies.
I’d say the 6 or Fusion would be good options.
Good choice in the Mazda 6. The UAW workers do a great job putting this vehicle together.
Go ahead and price that 5 yo Mazda6 out – you’re better off smelling that new car smell if you can swing the purchase price, which should be only a few grand above what you’d pay for used. You need an Impala or a Malibu.
Agreed with noxious (above): drive it as long as you can. Sounds like a great car.
I’m out of touch with used-car prices, so I can’t compare the value of the new-or-used choice. But if I did long drives and were hunting for a used passenger car to keep for many years, I’d check out a low-miles, one-owner, always-garaged Avalon or Lexus for sale privately by someone like my dad.
No German uber-junk.
Drive as long as possible and replace with one of the last manual transmission 4 cyl or V6 Altimas. I know it will be Maxima sized compared to what you’re driving now but it will likely fit your other requirements.
I hope your Altima lasts at least another 10 years, maybe more. It’ll take that long for auto styling to get back to featuring the visibility, simple controls, interior space efficiency, compact exterior and light weight combination that your Altima has.
New cars have not had that ‘new car smell’ for quite some time now. I think people are more concerned with outgassing nowadays, and they no longer used that old fabric glue that gave off the characteistic new car smell.
Gonna have to question that. I got a headache at a 2011 auto show from sitting in a bunch of new cars for moments at a time. The wafting chemicals remain.
I vote for the Epsilon (in any flavor). The 2009 and later versions with the 2.4 Ecotec and 6 speed trans have good power and economy.
I have to admit to greatly liking my daughter’s 3.6/6-speed Saturn Aura XR. It has all of the toys, probably more than the OP really wants. But it’s a very nice ride.
I had a 1999 Altima that I sometimes regret getting rid of since it was such an all around solid car. I got mine to 213k and I have a feeling it would easily make it to 300k. The Mazda6 or Fusion would be a good choice as a newer replacement. If you get the 2.3 motor it will also have the timing chain like the Altima’s which doesn’t require replacement. I would have picked up a Mazda6 to replace mine, but with a growing family I needed to be able to seat 6.
180K miles on newer vehicles is nothing today. I have owned several with more miles than that including a 2000 Impala and a 2002 Olds Intrigue that gave me no major issues and had there original motors and trannys and were still running strong when I got rid of them. Just keep the Nissan a while longer and keep up your maintenance and it should give you many more miles of service. Trying to find a sedan that you can see out of, that doesn’t use chrome and fake silver on the dash that is simple and reliable that has reasonable interesting styling and a moderate price is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack now.
The KA24 was a strong motor but at 180k the weak link is the timing chain. Any top-end rattling sounds are your six-month warning bell.
My last car was a ’97 Altima! It’s still in the family.
What I did like was the *excellent* visibility. When it came time to getting my own car, instead of borrowing the Altima from my family, I found driving with other cars a harrowing experience. Renting a 2009 or so Hyundai Elantra was especially frightening. The higher beltline and terrible rear visibility common to nearly all post-2000 cars was exasperating. And somehow, the higher seating position of all the newer options made me the ride feel turgid, inflated, and disconnected from the road.
I hated the car’s ride though. Not pleasant. And the car audio was terrible.
I got a low mileage ’99 LS400 in the Altima’s stead. The visibility is slightly worse, due to the thick C-pillars, but the visibility is still very good compared to most anything of recent vintage. And the trunk and driver seat is not placed offensively high. The ride is incredible. Maintenance is not cheap – I had to get the 6 and 9 year maintenance done, though the car only had 52,000 miles at purchase, a fan belt replaced, and the fuel injectors cleaned after the car stopped working in middle of the street – ($900 +$365 + $370 = $1635 total, if I remember correctly).
If I were in the market again, I might consider an early 2000’s Acura RL, 2001 Lexus ES, or even an Infiniti G35 sedan. Never test-drove them though.
Quick question – my mechanic recommended a $500 job to fix my LS400’s “broken motor mounts” – but the car feels fine. Is this a worthy fix?
I have a ’93 Altima with 275,000 miles that I’ve owned since 1998 and it’s still my daily driver. It’s on the original engine (still very strong), transmission and clutch. It’s the best car I’ve ever owned and I would strongly consider keeping your car and paying for whatever repairs do come your way– as krhodes said elsewhere, it’s amazing how people think nothing of spending several thousand a year on car payments but complain about a $1200 repair.
What’s wrong with repairing a car you still love? I have a Jeep with 130k on it and I’m willing to fix major things when they go wrong.
A new one is $34k. I could replace the entire drivetrain in my Jeep many times over for that kind of coin.
The question is, do you still love the car? If so, fix it. If you hate driving the thing, get rid of it before the big expenses pile up.
I got a 97 Alty used in Jan ’04 with only 48K miles on it. But low miles meant dry rot. Had oil leaking in the spark plug holes a year later and I racked up to 72K.
I really didnt know what it would cost to fix, so got a Sentra, and mpg was somewhat higher. 21 mpg city for a four cylinder is unacceptable today, but I do still see many 93-97’s still running.