Thread: Nissan Terrano any good??

Hey im looking at a 1992 Nissan Terrano 2.7td 180000k Manual. 1 Nz owner, never been used as a 4wd apparently, and recorded service history.

What should I look out for when i'm checking it out. I understand they are notorious for rust under the back seats.

Can anyone give me opinions based on personal experience with these trucks?

Will mainly be used as a round towner but also for camping and hunting, wont be putting a snorkle or anything like that on it.

Cheers

Strider

look under the back seats for rust is the big one. its common for them to rust out there before anywhere else

Yeap back seats for rust, front bottom ball joints go in them. Make sure it's clean inside the radiator. Pretty robust trucks really

Yea, they're OK. Had a couple now. The tail door hinges don't tend to last in them. As four wheel drives, well, I changed to a swb safari as I was going to break the terrano sooner or later climbing mountains etc. They won't get you thru rough stuff too well, but are not too bad overall as a weekender if treated ok.There are far worse vehicles out there anyway.

Cheers

Yeah wont be doing anything too wild in them, just over the odd creek and along the beach from time to time. Putting a roof tent on it for camping.

Love my Nissans, had a 1989 ute jap import took it from 200,000 to 450,000 and now own a 1997 regularas / terrano ..problems ..alternators about 200,000 in both vehicles , universals ..rust in tray/ doors.. ..but I'm a diver so wet dive gear and salt spray will not have helped.

They are a smooth riding truck basic but reliable. No way would I use them for serious off road , if towing I would look at up grading the shocks ..they like weight in the arse end of the truck if towing and Use your gears when climbing / decending hills .. me I recommended them for their price, they aren't flash but they don't come with a hi lux price but they bloody great things, they go and go and smoke and go and go

Had mine 11 years, great wagon.
I'd buy another

There's a few on the island, neighbour has one and uses it for his boat, manual and had a few problems getting clutch parts

love ours...just make sure to check for fuel leak around the pump...there is a gasket thingymabobby that craps out on them,did it to ours after out of dealers warrantee of course and local garage had been asked to check it 3 plurry times!!!!! costly wee hickup but she goes great now.

front radius rod bushes wear out , rust under seat, manuals break gearbox shafts and the odd layshaft bearing goes,door hinges go
usual brakes /ball joints
not speed demons but get you there

if you can get a tidy one consider the isuzu mu. that thing went anywhere. i had to borrow it off the mrs a few times to get to telecom repeater sights and exchanges.

Terrano gearboxes don't run enough oil in them from factory, the filler bung was cast too low. As a result they can run bearings if used/abused a bit. easy to pull a gear lever and top them up.
If the gearbox is whiny in any you look at, factor in a replace or rebuild for the gearbox.
Rust in the rear under the seat is a common issue, but by now they are likely to have been repaired already, or rusted out completely. Suspension can be considered weak if used as an off road/4x4 wagon.
Good wagons otherwise. The motor is essentially a TD42 with 2 cylinders cut off the end.

+1

Good TD27 motor, weaker gearbox, and soft front end for off-roading. Nice on road driver.

I've got one, it works for what I need it to do, it's good for hauling all my work and diving gear. As others have said it's not an amazing off-roader but would work well enough for what you want it to do. Check for rust in the back door and under the seats. I have a 3.2L Diesel, 310K on it (I've had it for 30 of those) and the engine hasn't skipped a beat, at 180K it shouldn't have anything drastically wrong with the undercarriage unless it's been treated like a red headed step child but it pays to check those things, that's whats been the vast majority of the work I've had to do on mine.

TLDR: I have one, would buy again.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

if you can get a tidy one consider the isuzu mu. that thing went anywhere. i had to borrow it off the mrs a few times to get to telecom repeater sights and exchanges.

+1 for a mu, first truck and I thrashed it. Held up well