my daughter wants to buy a cheap car to learn to drive in.I was wondering if anybody knows which nissans have chains instead of belts .under 3.0 litres.Or any other makes. thanks
NZTools,
May 31, 5:51am
Why are people si fixated with cambelts! Whatever car you buy, it will need tyres more often than it needs a cambelt, which will normaly be a lot more expensive. Do you look around for a car that doesnt have tyres!
vtecintegra,
May 31, 5:52am
Also cam chains aren't necessarily maintenance free for the life of the car.
aliru,
May 31, 5:53am
no i dont look for one that dosnt have tyres, but for the price off changing a cambelt on a car you could put 4 tyres on one
morrisman1,
May 31, 5:54am
Why are you scared of timing belts! Chains can stretch and wear if the maintenance hasn't been good enough and when they do have issues they are more expensive to replace. As long as you dont buy a car which is a prick of a thing to change the cambelt on then you will be right. Ideally if you do get a belt one, get an example that has had the belt done lately.
What some forget that although chain vehicles you dont have scheduled maintenance, things like water pumps and tensioners still wear. On a chain driven engine it is likely that the water pump will be driven to destruction while on a belt car, it will (well should) get changed every time the belt gets changed.
aliru,
May 31, 5:57am
thanks morrisman ,that is a point i diddnt consideer about the water pump.Its a hard road to find a goodish car for under 2k, but theres no hurry.( but until then shes driving mine)
foxdonut,
May 31, 5:59am
Cars with chains require more regular maintenance and upkeep to make sure they're running right. not even factoring in the cost of replacing the chain (which is quite normal in chain drive engines).
A couple of hundred bucks spent on a cambelt change for a cheap Toyota are quickly matched by more expensive oil changes more regularly and the extra amount of gas the less efficient chain drive engine will use over the course of the average 100 thousand k belts need to be changed.
mugenb20b,
May 31, 6:02am
Hyundai Accent is good value for money. Cambelt driven, but very easy and simple to work on. Cheap to run and cheap to service.
aliru,
May 31, 6:14am
thanks. will look into the hyundai. i had a cambelt done on a caldina and cost over $600 .was a little off putting
morrisman1,
May 31, 6:16am
I wouldn't go as far as saying maintenance on a chain driven engine is more expensive. Sure, if the other option is to neglect the belt driven engine by too long service intervals but if you maintain both to the book then there will be no difference.
The thing is that chain driven engines tend to be less tolerant of neglect purely because chains need lube, but belts dont so the belt doesnt care whats going on inside the engine.
thunderbolt,
May 31, 6:20am
.6 of one cent per kilometere over 100,000km. Yep, thats an obscene cost for cambelt replacement.
bwg11,
May 31, 6:31am
Chain drive engines less efficient .need more frequent oil changes !
unbeatabull,
May 31, 6:57am
Chain engines are only a problem if they aren't regularly maintained. Never seen one cost more for servicing or any nonsense like that. Every car has a service schedule - for most cars that aren't new every 6 months - and any car if not serviced to that schedule can fail.
$600 isn't much really. Can't even get a decent set of tyres for that.
male_timaru,
May 31, 7:03am
what a load of tripe - I can get a a VERY GOOD BRAND NEW quality set of 14" tyres for that fitted and balanced (maybe even a wheel alignment thrown in to take it UP TO $600) lol
strobo,
May 31, 7:16am
No point offeringmy advice oplol , Go for a Nissan & back comesa Toyota Is a Red car better than a Blue! shall i buy Red& they will come back showing off a shinnyGreen car ! so I give up. Chain /Belt or Gears all do the same job."Cheap car " well that's a profound satement for starters lol good luck with that new car :)
jmma,
May 31, 7:25am
Should have stopped right there (o:
foxdonut,
May 31, 7:28am
That's because you either drive a three wheel car, or don't know what the word 'decent' means.
sw20,
May 31, 7:32am
Well actually he can. He did state 14" tyres. $150 a piece gets him a very good selection.
a.woodrow,
May 31, 7:33am
Hmm I put a set of pirelli p6000's on my commodore for $600,
strobo,
May 31, 7:42am
lol maybe butshould've said more butI won't! I liked your link to the the Land Crab btw
male_timaru,
May 31, 8:06am
Would that be the 3 wheeler kind!
Must be according to some on here hahahahaha
I can get a FULL set of 6-7mm 2nd hand tyres directly off Japanese imports that are under 2 yrs old and a good brand and safe as houses for $49 per tyre (14") and an extra $10 per tyre to fit and balance them - that is what i call good value - you just need to find someone like i have that can do such deals for you . THAT'S $200 for a good DECENT brand 2nd hand as new set of tyres and if i go FLASHY FLASH it's $79 per tyre lol
I believe Sava and Direzza etc are quite safe enough brands and tyres - they have never let me down in 4-5 years that I have been buying them from this supplier too!
male_timaru,
May 31, 8:10am
Hey Pete - not knocking your theory but my wee cheapy has now become a NOT SO CHEAPY as i found out today it DOES need cambelt, water pump , etc replaced so a great bargain $600 vehicle has quickly become a $1200 vehicle - now when you look at the other bluebird i was looking at $1200 (camchain and same kms) the bluebird would probably have been a better buy in the end BUT i preferred the economy my wee lancer offers over the bluebird
We shall see in the end - I can opt to DO NOTHING and hope like crazy that the cambelt doesn't go for 6 -8 months and then if it does get its value for scrap (usually $250-$350 in Chch) and then buy another vehicle OR spend $400-$600 now and get it all sorted knowing it will be safe from scrap heap for another few years so long as head gasket etc doesn't go . BUT what happens if cambelt goes and i am on way to Hanmer - how do i get it back to Chch - how do I get back to Chch etc etc . the costs can mount pretty quick when a cambelt pops!
This is why i ALWAYS ask about the cambelt - sometimes i even ignore my own advice hahahahahhahaa
unbeatabull,
May 31, 8:55am
I never said anything about buying second hand tyres!
14" tyres will always be cheap. Direzza's are a good tyre but in there cheapest size (Other then 14") they are at COST $113 from Dunlop - I know cause I recently got Direzza's on my ZX! - and our work deals with Dunlop, Bridgestone and most other Major Tyre manufacturer's direct.
Tyres are a bit off topic though anyway! Cambelt/Timing chain shouldn't be a selling point on a car. Servicing/recent maintenance etc are the main priorities. There is a lot of other things that can go wrong that will cost a lot more then just a cambelt replacement on cars.
kazbanz,
May 31, 9:26pm
HEY MON--you need to read the bit where the op says its a 2k car In the price bracket the OP is talkingANY car will need an oil/filter change every 10000k. Chain drive engines of that era do not require any fancy oil--unless you choose to Where do you get your information regarding fuel economy! Are you saying a corolla is noticeably more fuel efficient than a sunny or lucino! In fairness there were nissan models that weren't super economicalbut that was the CPI -once injected the car suddenly got cheap to run. I do agree though that over the lifetime of a car the (up to) $800 for a cambelt/tensioner/waterpump/oi- l seals is a tiny cost. But then again so is the cost of a top fed cam chain/tensioner/waterpump should at 200000k the nissan chain show sighns of abuse
kazbanz,
May 31, 9:32pm
MM--sorry matey but do what! -think it through a bit matey. It is NOT the chain/belt thats the real concideration. -the reason the chain drive engines in the OP's budget give issues is that the cam oil feeds get clogged up.I'd argue that chain or belt driven those would clog
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