Is Buying a Nissan FB15 worth it in 2024?

[W. Uthpala]

hey guys,

As the question states, i want to know whether buying a Nissan FB15 (B15) is worth it in 2024.

And what kind of maintenance would i have to go through? What are the most common issues, as most of them have done more than 150,000 kms.

If you have other options apart from the Fb15, drop them too...

thanks.

[iRage]

5 hours ago, W. Uthpala said:

hey guys,

As the question states, i want to know whether buying a Nissan FB15 (B15) is worth it in 2024.

And what kind of maintenance would i have to go through? What are the most common issues, as most of them have done more than 150,000 kms.

If you have other options apart from the Fb15, drop them too...

thanks.

Welcome to the forum !

To answer your question....if you go through similar threads on the forum you would realize the following commonalities irrespective of what the car is:

1. Only you can determine if something is worth it or not. So think hard about how much money you are putting into buying the car, how much use you will get out of it and think hard if out of all the other options out there for the same budget if the B15 is the best option for you.

Other options within the budget range of a FB15 would be cars like the Lancer CS/CK, Axela and Corolla 110 from the same era. I would stay away from Corollas unless I find a really good car with a verifiable history. Most of the Corollas are going ot be utter garbage and going to be a lot pricier than the other models. The Sunny has the same issue as the Corolla. They were owned by cost-conscious owners at some point in their life and would have gone through cheap maintenance.

2. The kind of maintenance you would have to go through depends on the condition of the car. If you buy a condition with a bad and cheap maintenance history, it is going to be a maintenance nightmare.

Assuming the car has been taken care of as well as it could have been and is in pristine condition for its age you would have to look into things like below during your ownership:

• Timing belt (you should do this as soon as you buy any car irrespective of what car you buy)
• Engine....replace oil seals, spark plugs, spark plug cables, servicing throttle body, injectors, etc...things like replacing brake fluids, coolant should be done every 2 years or so.
• Ancillaries like the Alternator, AC and PS compressors: These would be reaching its end of life so you need to be open to replacing them if they go bad. This is natural...
• Transmission servicing/repair...can range from changing fluids (should do as soon as you buy it) to fixing actual issues with the gearbox
• Brake servicing: Depending on the condition, you may have to overhaul the calipers and brake drums (my guess is even if it has been done recently, you would have to do it again either way later in your time of ownership). Needless to say, you will have to replace brake pads as you use them
• Suspension/steering servicing: Depending on the condition and when it was done last, you may have to change shock absorbers, change the bushes of the control arms and strut bars, change rack-ends, tie rods, or even service the power steering rack.
• Electricals and other accessories: Depending on the condition, the electricals may need work. Don't be surprised if some maka baas has messed up the wiring by trying to "upgrade" the stereo system or fix some patta/ela fog lyts. Things like the AC also may need servicing.

Now here is the thing: the above service requirements are nothing new, and you will have to do them on whatever car you buy at this age. This is why cars (HAVE TO) depreciate.

The key is to buy the cleanest, near-stock car you can find at the best possible price. Some of the above items may not be required, while some would. Yes, doing things like the above would cost a lot of money to do properly. That is why you should use the car to its fullest and not buy it to just leave it parked in the garage.

You need to consider all this when determining if buying a car this old is actually worth it for you or if you need to go for something cheaper and save money for repairs or increase the budget and go for a newer car (even if it is a newer car there is no guarantee that the above won't be required).

3. Common issues with the B15 were not that significant. The biggest gripe people had the time was the suspension bushings. Because of the suspension setup, the front lower control arm bushings and the spring isolators in the back (and sometimes the bushing in the rear control arm) would wear out prematurely. When that happens there is a metal thud coming from the suspension. APart from that the issues were due to poor/cheap maintenance which were common to all cars (oil leaks because the car ran low on oil or on old oil, overheating because the radiator got rusted by someone putting nothing but dirty water in it, etc..fuel filters going bad because of dirty petrol, etc...)

4. Other models...I have mentioned a few above assuming you want a sedan. If you are open to other body types, then you have the early crossovers like the XTrail, RAV4, Vitara which would be towards the higher end of your budget and smaller hatchbacks like the Vitz, March, Swift, Demio

[matroska]

On 10/4/2024 at 1:12 AM, W. Uthpala said:

As the question states, i want to know whether buying a Nissan FB15 (B15) is worth it in 2024.

Short answer : No. But then again there's limited choice. Compared to other models, the Nissans (B15,N16) are relatively priced better (it does not mean reasonable - but it's marginally less overpriced) So yes - Nissan's are generally competitively priced. 

 

On 10/4/2024 at 7:44 AM, iRage said:

Other options within the budget range of a FB15 would be cars like the Lancer CS/CK, Axela and Corolla 110 from the same era.

Funnily enough , the trends are changing a bit - people are now falling out of favour with old school daddy-sedans and there seems to be a craze for Hatchbacks with auto transmission : You see hideous little tin-cans like 20 year old Suzuki Alto's (Japanese 650 cc ones), Suzuki Swifts etc go for crazy prices. Maybe the demographics are changing. The Kids who watched FnF growing up are now in the market - paying extra for the riced Civics and Lancers, ignoring the poli-mudalali 110's . Families now have lady drivers and for some reason they all believe ladies HAVE to drive a hatch hence paying ridiculous amounts for tiny claustrophobic hatchbacks. 

The Lancer CS/CK's are following the path of the Civics of the same vintage, overhyped, overpriced, and hideously riced. It would be tough to find a good Lancer CK/CS - for the same budget as a decent FB15. Lancer CK's with tons of plastic 'mods' go for like 4M now. 

As for your question on maintenance - @iRage's answer is comprehensive as it gets. 

On 10/4/2024 at 1:12 AM, W. Uthpala said:

If you have other options apart from the Fb15, drop them too...

 I'd still say the FB15 - is a decent choice for your budget . (There's a significant price difference between the EX and Super Saloon grades, so check out you're buying a proper Super Saloon if you're paying more)

You could get something a bit newer for the same price if you're ok with a Nissan Wingroad. 

Nissan N16 - personally feels slightly inferior to the B15. But an option worth exploring.

Mazda Familia/323 - again a reasonable choice. Nice car, no-frills but solid. 

Toyota Corona T21X series (Carina is overpriced) is another option - the Corona/Carina's have aged gracefully. 

If you want a good deal, and you intend to keep the car for a bit - buck the trend, people are chasing the 'little-car' dream - auto gears, newish plates, tiny cars - you could land and old school  sedan with a manual gear box for a decent price. 

(now if you want to really play Russian roulette - add 'diesel' to the above -  ) 

 

 

[iRage]

1 hour ago, matroska said:

There's a significant price difference between the EX and Super Saloon grades, so check out you're buying a proper Super Saloon if you're paying more

Yes...been noticing that there are a lot of EX Saloons with swapped seats and badges being sold as Super Saloons....including sticking various badges that say Annivessary and Limited

[Gummybr]

2 hours ago, matroska said:

 

Funnily enough , the trends are changing a bit - people are now falling out of favour with old school daddy-sedans and there seems to be a craze for Hatchbacks with auto transmission : You see hideous little tin-cans like 20 year old Suzuki Alto's (Japanese 650 cc ones), Suzuki Swifts etc go for crazy prices. Maybe the demographics are changing. The Kids who watched FnF growing up are now in the market - paying extra for the riced Civics and Lancers, ignoring the poli-mudalali 110's . Families now have lady drivers and for some reason they all believe ladies HAVE to drive a hatch hence paying ridiculous amounts for tiny claustrophobic hatchbacks. 

 

Thats discrimination, how dare you call them hatchbacks ladies cars?

This was true back in the day when I was selling Suzuki's and Citroen's. I hated the looks of the Liana sedan whilst the Hatch looked nice, Suzuki never did make nice sedans but their hatchbacks looked nice.

People preferred the sedan types over the hatchbacks which the Europeans loved. It was a perception at the time that hatchbacks were too girly and a guy would die being seen in one, much like the automatic vs manual discussions back in the day. It gradually changed overtime with the influx of the smaller Viva Elites, Wagon R's, Alto's, Vitz etc. Now people buy them for ease of use and convenience, nowadays you can see a lot of men driving hatchbacks.

Same with station wagons, people forget how practical they are and classify them as hearses, hence the reason you can pick up a nice station wagon for cheap prices. But I have seen the Toyota Fielders going up in price compared to the Wingroads.

 

 

[matroska]

18 minutes ago, Gummybr said:

Suzuki never did make nice sedans

unfortunately their sedans always looked like an afterthought - "we made some nice hatchbacks... we have some parts remaining and we have some time to kill... you know what? let's just put some of these parts together and make a sedan for fun? "

[Gummybr]

2 hours ago, matroska said:

unfortunately their sedans always looked like an afterthought - "we made some nice hatchbacks... we have some parts remaining and we have some time to kill... you know what? let's just put some of these parts together and make a sedan for fun? "

They used to always do the "kona kapana scene" the old Baleno station wagon looks so nice but the car seems like it was cut halfway because they wanted to have the same length on the station wagon and the car. Same with the Liana suddenly the stops. Those newer Dezire models are god aweful looking.

[iRage]

4 hours ago, Gummybr said:

People preferred the sedan types over the hatchbacks which the Europeans loved. It was a perception at the time that hatchbacks were too girly

Well the perception was because of its compact size. Ladies preferred the hatchback as they perceived it as easier to manipulate compared to the sedans that were there. Which to be fair, compared to the hatchbacks of the time were relatively larger and had designs that offered a bit less all-round visibility. Also, not many of the "hot" variants of the hatches actually came over here. Also, most cars did not have power steering at the time and the lighter hatchbacks were easier to steer at slow speeds, especially when parking. Most of the old cars you see with power steering actually have it retro fitted. Same with the transmission. 

The defacto vehicle type for families and those of some social standing was the sedan. Partly due to the sedan being more refined and affluent looking but mostly due to the technology. At the time suspension and chassis technology was relatively primitive so vehicles like 4x4s and even wagons did not offer the level of comfort and refinement in ride that a sedan did. The Euro wagons were better but those were quite expensive compared to the Japanese vehicles. 

[alpha17]

On 10/3/2024 at 11:42 PM, W. Uthpala said:

hey guys,

As the question states, i want to know whether buying a Nissan FB15 (B15) is worth it in 2024.

And what kind of maintenance would i have to go through? What are the most common issues, as most of them have done more than 150,000 kms.

If you have other options apart from the Fb15, drop them too...

thanks.

Simply I would say, keep a good amount of money aside for suspension components replacements, here and there minor part replacements, oil changes etc...but this applies only if the car has been well taken care of doing the routine maintenance. But if it had been hacked to death, it will be a money pit. For FB15 I haven't heard much complaints except for front suspension related issues.