190K budget. Honda City vs Nissan Series 3

**nor_man_ski** · February 12th, 2006 08:14 AM

hi im a newbie here.

im planning to get a 2nd hand car soon. My budget is in the range of 170k-190k can anyone Please help me decide which car to get? Im choosing between a 97-98 honda City EXI or LXI or a Nissan Series 3 car.

What car do you think is the best bet? Im more of a practical user and these are the features that matters to me in a car.

1. fuel economy
2. durability
3.aesthetics

Can anyone share their expertise to me? thanks a lot.

**OTEP** · February 12th, 2006 07:12 PM

No experience with the City but good experience with the Sentra III (aka B14 series).

Just choose a unit in good condition.

**alwayz_yummy** · February 12th, 2006 07:25 PM

1.3L pgm-fi in mt/at ang city
1.3/1.4L carb mt, 1.6L mt/ateccs ang sentra 3..

depends nalang sayo ang fuel efficiency nyan..

basta, i suggest ko manual transmisiion(mt) ang kunin mo....and importantly, the best condition as posible...

**lancer** · February 12th, 2006 11:30 PM

My officemate's honda city exi 96 has proven its durability. He uses the car in all road condition considering that his place is quite far from the working area. Had not encountered any major problem with the car. Ang na replaced na parts ay ung suspension pa lang ata considering the natural wear and tear. Its more than 9yrs already. Its 1.3L M/T PGM-FI.

**ozcity** · February 13th, 2006 08:03 AM

my previous city 96' Exi 1.3l (almost 10yrs old) ..only some of the wear and tear suspension parts lang ang napalitan ...like tierods,shocks,rackend..other than that no major problems..engine is still running in good conditon..more than 98,000kms odo 2yrs ago before ko binenta sa tita ko...

**zman** · February 13th, 2006 08:41 AM

fuel economy = city
durability = dependent on how an owner takes care of his car
aesthetics = too subjective

It's not exactly fair to compare a subcompact car to a regular sized car in terms of fuel consumption. Subcompact cars are great fuel misers. Regular sized cars like the sentra, will give you a more comfy and better ride than a subcompact car. Since fuel economy is top on your list, go for the city.

**dyerbz** · February 13th, 2006 08:49 AM

Just wondering, why are you limiting yourself to the city and sentra? Why not consider a corolla xl? Maybe I'm just biased, but value for money, I think the xl is still the best choice if you're working with a 190k budget. Speaking from casual observation with my friends' cars, in terms of fuel economy, durability, and ease of maintainance, no comparison yung honda at nissan sa toyota. Ok, so it's a bit slow on the highway, but unless madalas ka mag long roadtrip, it's really practical car.

**niky** · February 13th, 2006 01:02 PM

I don't like the old City, mainly because of the rust problem Honda has with that body style (since it was carried over/adapted from older Civics). But unless the previous owner has badly repaired collision damage, this is likely a non-issue.

Sound insulation is also non-existent, but this can supposedly be remedied with good tires.

My biggest beef is the price... too much!

But otherwise, it's a decent little car. Kinda fun for a single guy. And it'll still fit four people comfortably... comfortably if you're used to 70's and 80's car sizes... but aren't we all?

**vinj** · February 13th, 2006 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by dyerbz

Just wondering, why are you limiting yourself to the city and sentra? Why not consider a corolla xl? Maybe I'm just biased, but value for money, I think the xl is still the best choice if you're working with a 190k budget. Speaking from casual observation with my friends' cars, in terms of fuel economy, durability, and ease of maintainance, no comparison yung honda at nissan sa toyota. Ok, so it's a bit slow on the highway, but unless madalas ka mag long roadtrip, it's really practical car.

Value for money is relative and it's pretty hard to put that term with a Corolla XL since the thing doesnt even have power windows, power mirrors, power steering, and alloy rims as compared to the Sentra/City. We've had two Corolla 1.3's in the past (LE and XE) and they are pretty practical runabouts. Our main gripes was it was slow (and consumed more fuel when we drive on the highway as you had to push harder to keep up) and the piston rings on one gave way pretty early despite the steady driving habits.

On service and maintenance, the big factor is the previous owner. The City will have the fuel economy advantage over the 1.6L Sentra but i do think the Sentra has more service parts available (CMIIW). The Sentra 1.4 EX m/t can do around 10-11km/L in the city. On the highway, i find the Sentra more stable due to the heftier size. I also prefer the interior of the Sentra more (less plastics as compared with the City).

**nor_man_ski** · February 13th, 2006 04:57 PM

Thanks to all that replied, i think that the Series3 Nissan wins in the luxury features over the old Honda City, (power windows, mirror,antenna etc.).

Just a follw up question:

HOnda city = pgm-fi
Series 3 = carb

is pgm-fi better than carburator type?that is in terms of maintenance. I used to have a Mazda Astina and its a carb type, and i had very bad experience with it in terms of maintenace of the carburator.