ayala

Hi All:
Hope you won't mind a couple questions from a novice, non-mechanical type person.

I have a 1999 SE leased in March, '99. By July 2000 I needed brake pads (about 10,000 miles) and by 16,000 miles two of my Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires were bald. Finally, just last week the battery died and had to replace it (garage told me it couldn't be recharged, it was "fried"). On occasion, if I power-up all the windows at the same time, there is an audible "click" and all the windows, doors and sunroof lock up. It takes a few tries to get out. (I haven't brought it back to the dealer for that problem since my dealer doesn't give loaner cars and so far it isn't a huge issue.)

Is this typical? This is my first Nissan and I don't recall having much in the way of repair items for my Acura or Mazda. I literally only had to rotate tires and change oil on the Mazda. The Acura needed brakes after aout 8 years. Is it that Nissan's original equipment is (gasp!) cheap?

I'm told that the Eagle tires are "performance" and not "economy" and therefore don't last long, and that for that size the cheapest is a Continental tire for about $80. The mechanic told me that batteries don't last long because there are so many electrical systems running off it. The brake guy said the pads went bad because it's front-wheel drive.

Any of this sound logical?

Thanks for your input.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

99 SE Limited here, baught also in MArch 99 I have 36,000 miles on it, brake pads are fine, but I did have my rotors turned once because of vibrations. I have the original RS-As mounted on my factory 5 spokes with about 32,000 miles on them and there in ok condition. Do you drive your car very hard or what??

As for the window, sounds like your drawing lots of power when you put everything up at once and a breaker could be opening (safty feature) so you don't fry your electrical system or blow a fuse. I'd only put one or 2 windows up at a time.

Battery - well you probably just weren't lucky with that one. Unless you listen to the radio a lot without the car on, that deep cycling could kill a battery pretty quick.

brittb

I also have a 99SE Limited that had gone thru
two batteries by August 2000. Each battery lasted
about 8 months and both were the Nissan stock
battery. No, I do not have a huge stereo or listen
to the radio with the car not running. I do live
near Dallas, TX and both failures occurred during
the heat of summer. I have since replaced the
battery with the Red top Optima.

As for the brakes, I had one panic stop on a major
freeway and this caused the rotors to warp, thus
eating my pads too quickly and chattering when
braking. I have replaced rotors, pads, and lines
with the Stillen slotted replacements and have had
no trouble with them since.

I am NOT suprised to hear of battery or brake
problems! The engine has NEVER given me a days
problem though! The "front wheel drive" excuse
is a poor one for the brake failure. Most of the
rotors are so thin now and the pads are so hard
now that both lead to earlier brake system
problems. As for the tires, be happy. The
Yokohama AVS's I had only lasted 12K miles.
The batteries don't last that long because of
size, heat, and the number of electrical systems.

My struts are now wearing out though, so I need
the new KYB's to come out soon! My car now has
42K miles on it.

Just my thoughts...

BB