AllanB

I've got a mate looking for a new car and he's pretty keen on the early Nissan 200SX. Has anyone here owned one and can you comment on the reliability , durability and general ownership satisfaction .

Thanks


AllanB

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

I was considering buying one (whilst owning a Pug 405 Mi16 - one of my faves)and decided against it because of the poor 1.8 engine from the old Silvia, go for the next sx200 from M reg-up - still one car i would have next even though I now own an Impreza Turbo.
Get the 200 touring, there are some 5-6 granders out there, beltin' car.

simes

It's Nissan, course it's reliable!

I''ve had 3 to date and nothing (apart from normal, wear and tear) has gone wrong with any of them.

I even sold one of them to a friend, and it's still going strong 5 years later with no probs, and 150k on the clock.

Cheers

Simon

davidw

I owned a 1990 200SX for around 3 years prior to by getting my MY00 three months ago.

I never had a single problem with the car and found it very cheap to run, insure and service. It was well spec'ed too for a car of that age. A/C. ABS electrics etc.

I thought the engine was far from "poor". The initial kick of the turbo feels stronger than that of the Scooby although the speedo indicates otherwise

The handling was great too, although a little entertaining in the wet

You have to be carefull because there are a log of bad examples around. I know, I looked for 6 months to find the right one but when you do it's worth it.

Rcommended!



[This message has been edited by davidw (edited 13 September 2000).]

Mulder

Stuart Knight

iTrader: (2)

I had a "J" plater and it was brilliant. Tail end wags in the wet (and in the dry if you try). Turbo kick is excellent. Can be tuned easily too! Never had a problem with mine.

Branners

I bought DavidW's Nissan200sx and its in brilliant condition. Im using it as a daily car and use the Supra as a toy. The Nissan handles well, is reliable and nice to drive, but Im horrified at the fuel economy. It has a 60 litre tank and I get 300 miles out of it on my 6 miles to work 6 miles home and some distance driving. I get the same figures out of my 340bhp Supra doing the same trip.

Maybe it needs looking at but even Nissan admit they should only get about 24mpg on short runs.

Im sorry David, but Im looking at selling it...

Imran

Hi,

I had a 1992 on an 'H' plate (Series 1)

Had 27k on the clock and was 3 years old when I bought it. Full Nissan History.

At 29k, the manifold gasket went.
Easy job on a regular car, but not so easy on a Turbo, as you have to do Gasket and turbo seals. Nissan told me it needed a new Turbo. 1200 quid they said. I said I reckoned it was just the gasket (heard same noise on a previous car), they told me that THEY were the dealers and they knew what they were talking about.
I took it to a Turbo Technics agent who took it to bits and confirmed only the gasket needed replacing.

Nissan also said that the oil feed pipe to the turbo ran close to the hot part of the turbo, and was a very small bore pipe. Hence this got blocked, and the turbo blew appart as a result of oil starvation. I've seen the pipe and would agree it's pretty small. This was modified on the Series 2.

Also needed new disks, old ones warped and a few other bits and bobs.

When I first got it, it frightened the crap out of me it was so fast.

Before I got rid of it, I was blown away by a Merc 280 estate, that was 40mph to 80mph, he just pulled away and left me redlining in each gear.

Basically, it didn't stand up to 5k miles of spirited driving. I say spirited because I never ill-treat my cars. I always warm them up, and always change the oil regularly etc. And I don't bounce them off the rev limiter.

Handling was interesting, especially in the wet. Taught me a lot about oversteer, hence very educational.

Amazingly quiet on the motorway. Superb long distance tourer. At 130mph, no wind noise, just some tire roar. Very aerodynamic and mine was VERY economical, never got less than 30mpg. But the Series 2 were catalysed and thirstier.

Great, cheap, reliable FUN.

Get a good one though, there are SO many dogs out there.

Series 2 weren't very different, only better wheels, seats, new nose cone and catalyst.

After an 'M' reg, the shape changed, and the new turbo scheme was used, giving better response etc. But lot's more money, and looked crap! The Series I and II still look good in my opinion, a car that has aged very well.

Just out of interest, the standard radio is crap and looks like it will never come out, but it does and can be changed easily.

Good luck, have fun! I did for a while.

davidw

Branners,

Sorry to hear your thinking of selling. Make sure you find her a good home

I always used to get 28mpg+ out of a tank although my daily commute was a little longer at 17 miles each way which could make all the difference. I found I could get 35mpg+ on a nice steady cruise.

I get about 26-30mpg out of the Scooby so I probably don't drive hard enough!

Branners

Your old Nissan 200sx was just such a nice car I had to have it, but short tripping doesnt give decent fuel figures. Im going to swap to a Calibra, it has acceptable Cavalier underpinnings and a reasonable engine.

I should have thought about performance when I bought your Nissan. If I want all out speed then its the Supra (13.08 1/4mile and hit fuel cut twice) and day to day I need something I just get in and drive. The Nissan is too good to use that way so its time to move it on to a caring home.

I would recommend the Nissan 200sx if somebody wants a fast and enjoyable car. It handles the power very well, especially in the dry.

AWD

I had a 94 L plate 200 SX and found it great fun to drive. It was well specced (a/c, cd player etc.) but the leather was a nasty grey colour.

It drove great and I had loads of fun - right until I swerved (coming off a motorway) to avoid hitting a dog and wrote the car off.

I'm still suffering from the insurance fallout...

The 200SX (Called the 180SX in some countries and the Silvia in Japan) has a pretty strong following. There's a company called Silvia Engineering in Essex who do loads of mods on them.

Silvia Engineering Ltd., Unit 9, Wycke Business Park, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6UZ.
Tel. 44(0) 1621 858856
Fax: 44(0) 1621 841316