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  1. Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Posts
    1,621
    #11
    the sentra FE is not going to win your heart in the noise department. it being sold as a fleet car and all, it has less insulation. but considering it's a first car and as you said, your biggest purchase, i'd steer away from the cefiro's and mazda 626's and what-not. practicality is paramount!

    you can also check autolink.ph and autoindustriya.com to get some idea of prices.

  2. Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    22,705
    #12
    Hmmm... dapat may cut and paste paragraph ako tungkol sa FE... Well, here goes:

    2000 Sentra FE: 1300cc carburated

    Pros:
    Decent space, hard-wearing gray interior, good seat support compared to Exalta... in other words, seats aren't overcushioned and unsupportive. Terrific AC.

    Light body, good suspension (not wallowy, like the Exalta, but not too stiff), body control relatively good. Power steering a definite plus.

    Tight-geared gearbox (for quicker acceleration), good fuel economy, mechanically very simple, being carburated, so maintenance is easy.

    Cons:
    Pawis windows (upside: no motors to short out or replace)

    No radio (but if we're talking secondhand, it probably has one already)

    Shifter action so-so. And you need to shift a lot in this car because of the close gearing.

    Fuel economy suffers when carb is dirty (clean every 3-5t km) or if you drive fast. Aircon also drags a lot on the small engine (turn it down if it's not too hot).

    No ABS or airbag. Drum brakes in the rear. BUT, those brakes are pretty strong, and as the car is very light, they're not overwhelmed. As a sidenote, the ABS on the Exaltas of that year was very sensitive and if the road was even slightly rough, braking distances with the ABS equipped Sentra could get very long... so the lack of ABS isn't exactly a minus... just watch yourself in the wet.

    Very little sound insulation. Upshot? Car feels faster than it is. hehehe... Additional downside? Exciting=more gas used.

    -----

    Maintenance:

    Nissan suspension parts outside don't cost very much, and since this is a light car, shocks don't wear down easily.

    Good tip: If you get this car, buy gas shocks for the B13 Sentra. This lowers the front of the car about 1" and makes the ride a bit better. Aftermarket shocks have shorter bodies because they're based on the older Sentra, which has a slightly different suspension geometry.

    Other spares are cheap at Banaue... worst you might need is an original carburator at 30,000 pesos from Nissan... but possibly 20-25 outside.

    -----

    I loved this car when we had it, because it was simple and easy to live with. It's not as fast as a 1.6 in a straight line, but it's fun to drive to Tagaytay and Baguio, being light and balanced.

    Of course, it's very spartan, but when you get the money, you can start optioning up... and an advantage of having a carburated car is the possible upgrade to an LPG system.

    Too bad you can't stretch your budget. At your price range, you can still get older EFi 1.6s, but if you value maintenance costs, a newer FE isn't a bad choice. Other similar cars to consider are the Lynx LSi (also lots of fun, better steering, but I don't know prices for this) and the 1.3 or 1.5 1st gen City (but they're expensive, have a similar lack of amenities and are much smaller).

    Ang pagbalik ng comeback...

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1st Car for P200K budget: 2000 Nissan FE - Is this Ok?