Piston Slap: Crystal Ballin' the Bling-Free Altima!

by Sajeev Mehta

Updated: May 16th, 2014 Published: April 30th, 2012

piston slap crystal ballin the bling free altima

Peter writes:

Hi Sajeev,

I drive a 97 Nissan Altima GLE with a leather interior and 180,000 miles on it. I’m wondering:

1. How much longer will this car be a reliable daily driver? It is immaculate. I am the 2nd owner, and I have the receipts going back to the window sticker.

2. What car is most similar to my Altima that will be five years old at the time I need to replace it? I drive 15,000 miles a year. A new car is not an option, because I can’t take the new car stench.

The best trait about my car is that it has a muted interior with no brightwork. This makes it good for Southern California and great for my trips across the desert. With my next car, I am willing to forget the leather interior and the sunroof. I am also not averse to replacing it with a manual. A muted interior, however, is a must. If I’m stuck with brightwork and chromed plastic, I will black it out myself.

Sajeev answers:

While I admire your attention to detail with this vehicle and your appreciation for anti-bling vehicles, I can only do so much when presented with generic questions. Yeah, they are pretty generic. But let me get my crystal ball and see what it says:

1. Eventually something labor intensive will fail and you’ll tire of this beast. Maybe it’ll be the motor or transmission, or the A/C evaporator or heater core blows: these cost a fair chunk of change, involve days of downtime, and will cost more than the Altima’s trade-in value. Which is totally not fair to such a seemingly nice car.

I say this because I spent plenty of money on my Lincoln Mark VIII in the same manner. A grand on air suspension one year. A new tranny (high performance) at $1500. And other crap that I don’t even bat an eye at when it fails. That’s because I can’t imagine not having this in my garage as a daily driver, if needed. That’s a higher automotive love. Or stupidity…either way!

2. Oh man, another wicked crystal ball moment! I think the most “Altimistic” vehicle is a 2008-ish Mazda 6. When I think of a timeless–yet mainstream–family sedan, that’s always my go-to vehicle. Sit in one and I am sure you will agree. Plus, you won’t need to black out much of anything, its design harkens back to a time when BMWs were mostly made of high grade black plastic inside.

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.

Sajeev Mehta

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2 of 21 comments

Zerofoo on May 01, 2012

What's wrong with repairing a car you still love? I have a Jeep with 130k on it and I'm willing to fix major things when they go wrong. A new one is $34k. I could replace the entire drivetrain in my Jeep many times over for that kind of coin. The question is, do you still love the car? If so, fix it. If you hate driving the thing, get rid of it before the big expenses pile up.

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Chicagoland on May 07, 2012

I got a 97 Alty used in Jan '04 with only 48K miles on it. But low miles meant dry rot. Had oil leaking in the spark plug holes a year later and I racked up to 72K. I really didnt know what it would cost to fix, so got a Sentra, and mpg was somewhat higher. 21 mpg city for a four cylinder is unacceptable today, but I do still see many 93-97's still running.

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