7th gen Galant 2.0V6 vs. 97-02 Cefiro

[basti08]

Btw, just to answer you GTi, the 6A12 has 2.0L V6 and produces 165ps. The 6A13 has 2.5L V6 and manages 163ps. The 8th gen has more torque though.

I've driven a 7th gen VR and i can't say that i felt like a driving a midsizer. My previous 626 acts more maturely and handles just as fine. I feels like a big Lancer, also in ways that it lacks refinement. 8th gen is a lot better car though. Although in having Mitsu sedans, I'll only have manuals. Nissan Cefiro's AT is better, smooth and pulls rather adequately compared with the AT of it's stablemate Sentra of same era. Plus the interior of the Cefiro still looks good even up to now. The 7th gen looks dated in comparison.

[voltscastillo]

i would also suggest the "brougham" versions of the cefiro. maganda sila. same engines as the other cefiros.

the 3.0 VQ was on ward's 10 best engines of the world for 10 years. structural differences between the garden variety 2.0 found here are probably not that much, because after 12 years, my 2.0 still purrs like a kitten on idle and accelerates like a locomotive. very quiet.

if your friend chooses a cefiro, make sure it's in good shape. dapat pino tumakbo, hindi nagooverheat, malamig ang aircon at walang kalampag.

feed it good oil and petrol (95 oct min, better if more) and you wont have problems. officemate of mine runs 93 oct and pulling out the parking lot rinig mo agad yung tope and knock ng makina. pero that poor car still runs well (maingay lang) after years of consuming 93 oct fuel.

expect fc to be around 6-7 heavy traffic, 8 pag no traffic, 10 sa highway. this is what i get on 97 oct fuel with a normal right foot.

[vinj]

Btw, just to answer you GTi, the 6A12 has 2.0L V6 and produces 165ps. The 6A13 has 2.5L V6 and manages 163ps. The 8th gen has more torque though.

I've driven a 7th gen VR and i can't say that i felt like a driving a midsizer. My previous 626 acts more maturely and handles just as fine. I feels like a big Lancer, also in ways that it lacks refinement. 8th gen is a lot better car though. Although in having Mitsu sedans, I'll only have manuals. Nissan Cefiro's AT is better, smooth and pulls rather adequately compared with the AT of it's stablemate Sentra of same era. Plus the interior of the Cefiro still looks good even up to now. The 7th gen looks dated in comparison.

I agree, the Galant suspension in terms of refinement isn't good; ramdam mo nalang yung pagiging midsizer niya when you hit highway speeds over 120kph... still very stable all the way to 200kph.

Strange thing is the 6A12 was advertised at around 165hp when it was first released then i remember seeing an ad or brochure later on in it's life cycle and it was down to 155hp.

To answer the Q on the 7h Gen a/t, yes its said to be unreliable. Used to read this on some discussions before andd already had two friends who had to replace theirs with surplus units. Mang Mario also had a Galant a/t and he said his tranny gave way before; he now changes the atf every 5,000kms or 10,000kms to avoid any problems he said.

[GTi]

My relative found that he wasn't able to find a Galant of the same year as a comparable Cefiro at the same price. So he's now hunting for a fresh pre-facelift Cefiro Elite which is the best he can find for his budget.

[joaquim]

My mom still rides her cefiro brougham. Always maintained and wax by the driver kaya pag nakita mo parang bagong labas parin sa casa very classy ang dating at parang hindi kumukupas ang design nya at ang ride nya sobra ganda even the newer cars tingin ko hindi kaya pantayan ang comfort nya

[GTi]

My mom still rides her cefiro brougham. Always maintained and wax by the driver kaya pag nakita mo parang bagong labas parin sa casa very classy ang dating at parang hindi kumukupas ang design nya at ang ride nya sobra ganda even the newer cars tingin ko hindi kaya pantayan ang comfort nya

Tama ka jan! Saludo talaga ako sa Cefiro, hanggang ngayon modern parin ang dating at mas luxurious parin ang interior compared to even the current offerings. Kapag pinalitan yan ng VQ25/VQ30/VQ35 engine, at nirefresh ng konti ang interior makakacompete parin ng head to head with the current offerings in the market.

[GTi]

So far me and my relative have been able to find three units, a '97 Galant and two '01 Cefiros (an Elite and a Brougham) although we have yet to see the Cefiros personally. The Galant is an A/T selling for 150k and has just 45tkms (quite odd, don't you think?) on the clock. The Cefiro Elite is selling for 255k (neg) has 77tkms on the clock, as seen on the pics is quite well maintained (yung mukhang makinis at makintab pa inside and out, although hindi pa nakita in person). Same thing with the Brougham which is selling for 258k (neg) at hindi nilagay ang mileage. Sa tingin niyo, which one would be a better buy? At onga pala, do any of these cars have any technical quirks to look for? Like preference for only one type of motor oil (a la 4JX1 Trooper) and any possible others?

[voltscastillo]

the cefiro's VQ will take any type of oil short of olive oil (joke! hehe)... seriously, you can put 20w-50 in it. i put 10w-40 in mine though. previous owner put 20w-50 DAW. probably true.

pick the brougham over the elite... mas marami gadgets ang brougham. medyo fishy nga ang 45K mileage, but if it runs well naman, it's immaterial. timing chain kasi mga VQ so you probably won't need to service the timing chain assembly for 120,000 kms. sa pagtitingin ko pinaka mataas ko na nakita na milyahe sa a32, 100,000 kms (mga bihira gamitin hehe). i got mine with 71,000... engine still runs well. other north americans with cefiros reportedly break 200,000 MILES with no problems apart from broken alternators, a/c and starters.

some recurring problems i observed over at some of the forums:

1. walang redondo pag start (switch sa ilalim ng console ng tranny)
2. hard starting (may problema sa ignition coils, spark plugs, or fuel system)
3. maingay na makina parang tractora (catastrophic oil pump failure... very rare pero it happens)
4. partial loss of ride quality (pag pinalitan ng replacement yung orig na shocks)
5. yung starter (kelangan i-service sometime in the 6th or 9th year of ownership)
6. torn axle boots (sa sobrang tibay ng pang-ilalim di na na napapansin mga to, hehe)

which is why you should very very carefully check the condition of your candidate cefiros. compared to your typical 4 cyl 1.6 car, mas malakas sa gas ang cefiro. the trade is lots of power, torque and comfort, not to mention angas. it's a fair trade in my opinion, but it makes sense to just pay for maintenance, fuel, BUT NOT extra, major repairs to keep it running. sa taas ng gas ngayon dapat talaga sakay na lang sakay.

na-experience ko pa lang yung 1 and 6.

hth

[vinj]

Another common problem on the Cefiro is oil leaks after around 75,000kms onwards. Its a simple take down the engine job to replace the seals/gaskets and at the same time, have the water pump replaced just as well. We never experienced this on our Elite before but its was a common problem based on my feedback of co-owners and when i go to the CASA, they always had one Cefiro in for that particular job.

We just used 20W-50 oil on ours. No problem whatsoever in over 80,000kms of use before we sold it. Only parts replaced were the a/c evaporator, shocks, tie-rods, rack ends and ball joints (whole control arm) along with the usual tires, service and batteries. Car had an idling problem as well which was fixed by cleaning the MAF and intake manifold.

I prefer the pre-brougham units as these used mainly Jap market components (glass headlights with auto adjust, stiffer but still comfy suspension). The brougham models already were manufactured using the Taiwan/Yulon ownership of NMPI.

[GTi]

But would you recommend the '97 Galant A/T with 45k kms on the clock? My relative said that he knows the owner and is sure the mileage isn't rigged. Sabi niya kasi 150k lang kaya pinag-iisipan niya ng maigi. So what do you guys say?