How reliable is the N15 1998 Nissan Pulsar LX 1.6-litre five-speed manual?
Asked by Roelof
How reliable is the N15 1998 Nissan Pulsar LX 1.6-litre five-speed manual?
Answered by CarsGuide
18 May 2022In a nutshell, these were pretty reliable cars mechanically speaking. Simple and fairly rugged, they were not known to have any major, endemic problems.
The caveat is that they’re now nearly 25 years old, so the reliability of one today has a lot more to do with how it’s been serviced and maintained than its reputation back in the day. And because they were always a pretty cheap car, they were also a very cheap second-hand car and were bought by a lot of people who couldn’t afford to maintain them properly. So a lot of them are totally worn out now.
But if you can find one with some kind of service history and one that hasn’t had too many previous owners or has operated as a company fleet car, then you might be looking at a reliable little car that will cost peanuts to own and run.
Keep in mind, though, that the one area that budget cars of this era consistently fall down is in safety. This car lacks every modern driver aid we’ve come to rely upon, including ABS brakes and ESP. Even the driver’s air-bag was optional back in 1998. So if the car being bought for a young or inexperienced driver, you might want to think again.
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