Excellent Car, Ready for the Long Haul

Nissan has been applauded for their well enginered cars that outlive many other brands. My 1993 Nissan Altima GXE is a car that I'm proud to have sit in my driveway. Despite a few mechanical issues that it has incured during its 12 year lifespan, it still runs strong.

The car offers both spacious drive and side passenger seats. Both fronts seats have a wide range of movement forward and back, which sometimes can make the backseat and bit cramped for a passenger over 5 feet. The seats are comfortable both in the front and the back of the car. The choice of fabric on Altima is both comfortable and fairly stain resistant, but a few black and brown spots have show up around the footing area.

The trunk of the altima offers ample space for storing most things. The layer which seperates the items in the trunk and the spare tire is strong and has not broken yet. There is a padded "door" in the back seats that allow you to quickly store items from inside the car into the trunk.

Currently, my altima is outfitted with tires that perform best in Sunny/Dry areas. When I moved to the East Coast, I had to worry about snow and higher amounts of rain. Fortunately, the tires have held up well and the car is fairly nimble in the snow ( if you accelerate slowly since this car is quick ). The Car has taken some wear on its suspension during its life, which cause the car to subside quite a bit when entering the car.

The Altima comes equiped with a 150 horsepower engine which you can feel the second you accelerate the car. Overall the car performs very well in most speed conditions, but turn at higher speeds with this car is where the car shows lackluster performace. To remedy this, I would recommend installing new struts and a suspension kit to improve the stability while driving.

If you are planning on buying this car there are a few things that you should look for. You should check if there is either leaking oil or there is oil on the engine, since it is common for a gasket to break and start leaking oil on the engine. Also check to see if the air conditioner is working since it is also common to have gasket break on the air conditioner causing it to leak the working gas/fluid. Check to see how well the breaks work and if possible check if there is any damage to the brake line. Another think to check for is to see whether the power locks work and how well they work since they have a get jamed after so many years of wear and tear. The first Altima generation series also had some transmission issues, so it would be a good idea to see if the shifting is hard both on manual and automatic.

The Nissan Altima is a very well equiped compact car that has enough power to go anywhere. Though, like any car the 1993 model has some problems that should be looked at before buying the car, but generally Nissan offers some of the longest lasting compact cars anyone can own.