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Almeras, corollas, jap imports

JohnBoy26

thread split from bangeromics

unkel wrote: »

Check your insurance first before buying a Civic!

Anyway, if all you care about is cheap, very reliable, motoring, would you not buy a (old model) Micra? That's about as reliable as any car has ever been. Also has a timing chain, so no belt changes to worry about and pay for.

There are plenty of cars more reliable than those old micras, even it's bigger brother the 95-00 Almera is a more reliable car than them.

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166man

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Not a whole lot to look out for in these as they are one of the most reliable cars out there. Just do all the usual checks really, Look for signs of accident damage, service history etc also make sure there is plenty of oil in the engine and that it's a golden colour.

Chances are though it probably doesn't have a service history at that age but look for service stickers in the door jams, in the engine bay, and on the windscreen etc. Edit: I just noticed that that car is a uk import so a service history is a must really and a history check would be a good idea also.

Bear in mind also that the Nct is nearly up. Id be pushing the seller to get it nct'd as part of the deal as it's now within the three month time frame so there is no excuse for them not to have it done.

I'm half thinking of making a thread out of this but we'll see where it goes, I think it's an interesting topic, what is it that makes those Corolla's reliable anyway?

unkel

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

There are plenty of cars more reliable than those old micras, even it's bigger brother the 95-00 Almera is a more reliable car than them.

Aye the last generation of the reliable Nissans. Primera included!

Can't see how you think the Almera was more reliable or could be run for less money than the Micra. Base Micra has nothing electric, no frills, nothing can break.

If I only had less than a grand to spend buying a car (which would keep its value), €170 for tax and the least possible on insurance, zero budget for maintenance, apart from the yearly €55 NCT and needed 40MPG, the only car I would consider is the Micra 1l

JohnBoy26

unkel wrote: »

Aye the last generation of the reliable Nissans. Primera included!

Can't see how you think the Almera was more reliable or could be run for less money than the Micra. Base Micra has nothing electric, no frills, nothing can break.

If I only had less than a grand to spend buying a car (which would keep its value), €170 for tax and the least possible on insurance, zero budget for maintenance, apart from the yearly €55 NCT and needed 40MPG, the only car I would consider is the Micra 1l

The Almera was built in Japan and had better higher quality components compared to a micra/primera. Things like distributers and rear breaks were problematic on the micra. These items gave far less problems in the Almera.

porsche boy

JohnBisy26 wrote: »

The Almera was built in Japan and had better higher quality components compared to a micra/primera. Things like distributers and rear breaks were problematic on the micra. These items gave far less problems in the Almera.

Only the first batch of Almera's were built in Japan. This was because tooling for the production line in Sunderland was delayed. These Almera's can be distinguished by rear brake disc's instead of drums and a different starter (sounds different).
Nissans view is to have europe produce the european cars and Japan to look after the JDM. Makes sense when you consider shipping from Japan.

JohnBoy26

porsche boy wrote: »

Only the first batch of Almera's were built in Japan. This was because tooling for the production line in Sunderland was delayed. These Almera's can be distinguished by rear brake disc's instead of drums and a different starter (sounds different).
Nissans view is to have europe produce the european cars and Japan to look after the JDM. Makes sense when you consider shipping from Japan.

It's the Mk1 1996-2000 Almera I was talking about and not the newer inferior mk2 model.

Also what you say about Sunderland looking after the eu market and Nissan Japan looking after the jdm market is not entirely true. Sunderland for example supplies the jdm market with qashqais and convertible micras.

colm_mcm

porsche boy wrote: »

Only the first batch of Almera's were built in Japan. This was because tooling for the production line in Sunderland was delayed. These Almera's can be distinguished by rear brake disc's instead of drums and a different starter (sounds different).
Nissans view is to have europe produce the european cars and Japan to look after the JDM. Makes sense when you consider shipping from Japan.

Also exchange rates, duty etc. toyota produce the urban cruiser and iQ in Japan and both have even flops because they cost so much to produce and get here.

derry

colm_mcm wrote: »

Also exchange rates, duty etc. toyota produce the urban cruiser and iQ in Japan and both have even flops because they cost so much to produce and get here.

I bought my 1993 Toyota Carina Jap import for €250 from taxi driver 3 years ago and its been great car . It had 120k on the clock and now its more than 250k and its still going strong except last week the radiator sprung a small leak which the rad fix wont block

Online can get the radiator less than €100 second hand delivered to me but not sure i want to spend the money on car for other reasons to due with automatic gear box kills the MPG
recently tempted to get a Merc estate 1996 2.8 liter petrol car with LPG conversion (LPG fuel at €0.90cent is costing like a car with ~45MPG on motor ways versus diesel 2 liter with automatic doing only ~35MPG on motor ways )
.I can fix myself the petrol cars but the diesels there is very little i can fix and time for new injectors (also timing belt and water pump and pump injector kit €100) for the diesel car and i don't want to try that myself without good back up car in case it goes wrong . I ant a diesel mechanic so the risk to go wrong is high and too cheap skate to hire a mechanic

They say the Jap imports will run forever if you look after them and best I can figure three years later for sod all money spent they are correct .

So for now it looks like the Carina will be retired done up and used occasionally when it gets done up over the the year

If it had been the normal 5 speed gear box Carina import I would get mechanic stick with it get the new radiator and new injectors T/B Pumps etc whatever as they get closer to ~50 MPG on the motor ways .

The Dublin taxi drivers told me those jap imports had been known to do over 1,000,000 kilometers as the mid 1990 they would hot seat the cars with three shifts and do the mileage so they knew what lasted .

The English made Toyota's did not have the same reputation best as I could see

Also the Japanese versions had all the fancy bells electric windows air con cats (1993 that was new stuff )all sorts of extras as standard that were extras on the British version and often did not have them especially aircon

Always best the expert i deal with say to get Japanese cars that were built in japan or get jap imports every time to get the best built cars

Derry

faral

derry wrote: »

I bought my 1993 Toyota Carina Jap import for €250 from taxi driver 3 years ago and its been great car . It had 120k on the clock and now its more than 250k and its still going strong except last week the radiator sprung a small leak which the rad fix wont block

Online can get the radiator less than €100 second hand delivered to me but not sure i want to spend the money on car for other reasons to due with automatic gear box kills the MPG
recently tempted to get a Merc estate 1996 2.8 liter petrol car with LPG conversion (LPG fuel at €0.90cent is costing like a car with ~45MPG on motor ways versus diesel 2 liter with automatic doing only ~35MPG on motor ways )
.I can fix myself the petrol cars but the diesels there is very little i can fix and time for new injectors (also timing belt and water pump and pump injector kit €100) for the diesel car and i don't want to try that myself without good back up car in case it goes wrong . I ant a diesel mechanic so the risk to go wrong is high and too cheap skate to hire a mechanic

They say the Jap imports will run forever if you look after them and best I can figure three years later for sod all money spent they are correct .

So for now it looks like the Carina will be retired done up and used occasionally when it gets done up over the the year

If it had been the normal 5 speed gear box Carina import I would get mechanic stick with it get the new radiator and new injectors T/B Pumps etc whatever as they get closer to ~50 MPG on the motor ways .

The Dublin taxi drivers told me those jap imports had been known to do over 1,000,000 kilometers as the mid 1990 they would hot seat the cars with three shifts and do the mileage so they knew what lasted .

The English made Toyota's did not have the same reputation best as I could see

Also the Japanese versions had all the fancy bells electric windows air con cats (1993 that was new stuff )all sorts of extras as standard that were extras on the British version and often did not have them especially aircon

Always best the expert i deal with say to get Japanese cars that were built in japan or get jap imports every time to get the best built cars

Derry

mate I totally agree with what you have said, cars have to be built in Japan to be as reliable as you wish.

Old diesel

faral wrote: »

mate I totally agree with what you have said, cars have to be built in Japan to be as reliable as you wish.

To be honest I don't think reliability issues with Japanese manufacturers cars when said cars are built in say the Uk - is neccessarly down simply to being built outside Japan.

From memory - I believe that the Nissan Bluebirds built in the Uk were considered to be as good if not better then the same cars built over in Japan.

I also don't think there was a lot wrong with the Mk 1 and 2 Primeras which were also built in the UK. In fact I believe Nissan imported Mk 1 Primeras built in the Uk back into the Japanese market.

And Gen 5 and 6 Accords - also built in the Uk - had a very good reputation for reliability from what I could see.

No I think that sometimes theres cost cutting on parts etc - and that's where the issue lies. I believe that the reason that K12 Micras, N16 Almeras and Mk 3 Primeras plus Quasquis aren't as reliable as the old Nissan reputation would suggest - is more down to jumping into bed with Daddy Frenchman Renault then anything to do with them being made in the UK.

Forgot to mention that the Mk 2 Micra (K11) which has a great reputation for reliability was also Uk built.

Also while ive heard of Uk built Carina Es not being as good as Jap built ones before (think it might have been on here actually) - I still don't think the Uk built ones were bad cars - just not as good as jap built ones.

Seem to recall that on Carina Es it was specific parts that had issues - steering racks ring a bell - on UK built cars - so more down to parts issues rather then standard of assembly and how well the car was put together.

All in my opinion - and I know that there are guys on here who know a lot more then I do - so am happy to be corrected

JohnBoy26

Old diesel wrote: »

To be honest I don't think reliability issues with Japanese manufacturers cars when said cars are built in say the Uk - is neccessarly down simply to being built outside Japan.

From memory - I believe that the Nissan Bluebirds built in the Uk were considered to be as good if not better then the same cars built over in Japan.

I also don't think there was a lot wrong with the Mk 1 and 2 Primeras which were also built in the UK. In fact I believe Nissan imported Mk 1 Primeras built in the Uk back into the Japanese market.

And Gen 5 and 6 Accords - also built in the Uk - had a very good reputation for reliability from what I could see.

No I think that sometimes theres cost cutting on parts etc - and that's where the issue lies. I believe that the reason that K12 Micras, N16 Almeras and Mk 3 Primeras plus Quasquis aren't as reliable as the old Nissan reputation would suggest - is more down to jumping into bed with Daddy Frenchman Renault then anything to do with them being made in the UK.

Forgot to mention that the Mk 2 Micra (K11) which has a great reputation for reliability was also Uk built.

Also while ive heard of Uk built Carina Es not being as good as Jap built ones before (think it might have been on here actually) - I still don't think the Uk built ones were bad cars - just not as good as jap built ones.

Seem to recall that on Carina Es it was specific parts that had issues - steering racks ring a bell - on UK built cars - so more down to parts issues rather then standard of assembly and how well the car was put together.

All in my opinion - and I know that there are guys on here who know a lot more then I do - so am happy to be corrected

The reliability issues are usually down to the components used in the cars that are supplied by outside manufacturers.

The components sourced from Japanese companies seem to be of higher quality,better designed and more durable than that of the components manufactured by eu companies.

The reason why the bluebird was as reliable as their Japanese built counterparts is because both were built alongside each other in Japan. Bluebirds came in kit form from Japan and were only assembled in Sunderland rather than built there.