After being lambasted in our December 1998 Long-Term Test / Review, the Nissan Cefiro seems to have turned into a very different vehicle completely. The first 22,000 kms. has been nothing but headaches for us, but the next 10,000 kms. went on smoothly. Too smoothly in fact, that in no time, we found the odometer registering 33,000 kms!
The initial problems with the air conditioning unit and wood panelling seem to have been fixed by Nissan Gallery in Ortigas. However, even when the ECU was replaced with a new one, the fuel knocking problem still persisted.
It was only when we contacted Shell Pilipinas that we found out that unleaded gasoline was only 91 octane. Since the Nissan Cefiro needed at least 95 octane, we switched to Shell Velocity (97 octane), and this seems to have solved the problem.
After clocking more than 30,000 kms., the car’s construction came into some criticism. First of all, the doorlocks and trunk lid became very difficult to open with the key. A spray of WD-40 didn’t seem to help (good thing this car had keyless entry). Also, the car experienced a weird incident of leaking via the passenger door. The leak was so bad that it soaked the padded A-pillars and the front speaker as well. We’ve been trying to trace the cause, and we found that the door’s rubber panelling came loose, and the metal sandwiched in the rubber already had signs of rust! (so much for the so-called triple sealed doors)
The biggest problem we’ve encountered is the car’s alarm system. It errored no less than three times, sounding off even if the Cefiro’s computerized key is used to open the doors and start the engine. So far it has only caused embarrassment for us, but nothing more serious than that.
Overall, the Nissan Cefiro has transformed itself during the past 10,000 kms. It has become more mature and refined.
By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Jason K. Ang and Ulysses Ang
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