1 own a 1996 s14 auto model and would readily agree with all the other review comments about value for money and bang for your buck! it certainly is a very fast 2000cc motor! i have only done about 10k mls since i bought with 39k on the clock and have had one component failure to date---the central locking/immobiliser module failed which took a while to replace as the main dealer had to get one from japan! ---odd ?? as they are made by lucas!! it did suffer from the wet road skaters waltz until i ditched the new set of 205/55 avon zz1's it came with and fitted 195/55 dunlop sp3000's---absolutely brilliant handling dry or wet now---at a price of course!! gripes! only one really and that's the suspension is a bit on the hard side ---but then again it adds to the fun factor!! would i buy another one?---yes if it was new! [Log in to view email]
I bought a 4 year old 99/t reg standard s14 for £5500 with 70000 miles. alot of miles but also alot of car. it has blistering performance for the cash but is so comfortable and good to drive that you dont want to drive it fast. And when 3litre bmw's and focus st170's overtake you, you simply dont care because you know that if you wanted to you could whoop there asses.
the service bills look to be cheaper than expected and fuel economy is really good for a car like this. i have driven it really nicely for a whole week and i got 350 miles from a full tank (and it costs less than £35 to fill it up)
i am paying for this car for the next five years and when i have fininshed paying for it i really dont know what i will buy instead. nothing else for so little money could be so quick, comfortable and well built.
another great thing is that everbody wants to race you and when a t**t in a big bmw tries to race you you can see there face drop as you speed away from them. brilliant.
would recommend this car to anyone, apart form if you live somewhere where it rains alot. which i suppose is england so dont buy one cause you will crash it in the wet.
Superb value for money. I bought a 4 year old, 98 R plate (facelift) w/ FSH etc etc 48k miles - £7k to you sir.
The other key word here is torque. 200lb/ft at 4000 rpm gives blinding in-gear acceleration. You can stick your foot down in 5th at say 85mph (not that I ever have, of course) and it'll just take off again - brilliant. The handling is great in the dry once you get used to the idea of giving it some power around the corners (RWD, you see...) but care needs to be taken in the wet. Traction control wasn't even an option with these - and they could really benefit from it when there's rain about. Still, it makes you concentrate on what you're doing.
Drawbacks? None really but insurance isn't cheap and you won't really top more than 30 mpg. Change the oil and filters every 4-5k miles and you'll keep the turbo happy. Which reminds me: the main outlay on these is a new turbo. These will typically need replacing anytime from 80k miles and will cost you £1500. So you should always have some cash in your back pocket just in case. Servicing is cheap (~£80 for a standard, £130 for a major), as are most parts. The only major cost I have had is anything to do with the brakes, which are those off the 300zx and R33 Skyline and aren't cheap to mess with.
Buying? FSH is a must (main dealer for most of it). A history check and inspection is also a good idea to make sure it hasn't been stuffed or the turbo's knackered. Also have a glance through the receipts to ensure that it's always had the right oil on a regular basis - a nice semi-synth is required. If not, you could be looking at turbo trouble sooner rather than later. I also made a point of speaking to the previous owner just to check that he wasn't a pratt who had thrashed it every day.
Do these and you can't really go wrong - these are very reliable cars unless abused.
When thinking of the 200SX one word springs to mind - value. I paid £4500 a couple of years ago for my 2 litre 1996 model (S14). For that measley sum I got a full service history, air con, leather, electric windows and mirrors, but more importantly a highly capable sports car that can pull 0-60 in under 7 secs and top out at about 150 miles per hour. I took it to France and was able to cruise for an hour doing 120+. The difference between the Nissan and its more exotic, or perhaps poncy European counterparts, was that when I pulled into the sevices there was no overheating, no drama, no huge fuel bill, just a faint ticking from the sports exhaust and a front bumper plastered with squashed french insects. Talking of French insects, the GB sticker on the back of my dark green Nissan was like a red rag to a bull, and I had plenty of other road users trying to burn me up. All I did was simply to change down a gear, hear a faint whine from the turbo as the revs rose, and watch the face of the determined Frenchy dissapear in my rear view mirror. The only time anyone has got the better of me in this car was by a bloke in a heavily modified BMW M3, and I am sure that was more a battle of wills (or stupidity) as he was prepared to do speeds that I simply wasnt. No, for £4500, or alot less for the older pop-up light model, (S13), I really cant think of another car that gives so much for so little cash, and doesnt give you big bills and hassle. You cant lose. Well, apart from if you put your foot to the floor on a wet roundabout when the tyres are getting a bit bald. Just make sure you have got room for some serious tail-out antics!
Owned for 2 years.
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