Ask an expert

Hi Jack - I recently purchased one of these to help me find a car in the under $10k range. I was dismayed to find out that they gave 3/5 stars for the Pulsar Euro and the Corolla 2001-2007. In general, they gave poor scores for Nissan all round focusing on issues around reliability. I queried my mechanic about this and he said Nissan, especially Pulsars were one of the most reliable cars that he had seen and they practically survive on mistreatment as well as being low maintenenance due to having a chain driven engine as opposed to belt,

What do you reckon about this? Is the Dog and Lemon reliable in this aspect? They tend to recommend Mazdas, Toyotas and even Hondas over the Nissan product. I had always heard that Hondas (especially autos) tend to be unreliable, eg Honda HRV standing for High risk vehicle etc. Has Nissan fallen so far behind now after merging with Renault?

At the end of the day comments made by individuals and independent organisations about the car industry are simply opinions based on a host of criteria such as, but not exclusive to; industry experience, product knowledge, reliable sources of information, in-depth research and comments posted on web sites such as Google.

In the price range and age of vehicle you are looking at, star ratings are often based around occupant safety especially with the Japanese cars, rather than reliability. This is where the older European cars do have an advantage however buyers in the lower end of the market are often faced with compromises and end up going for reliability and the best safety features available.

We base our opinions on the Pulsar and the Corolla more around reliability which in the main are as good if not better than most.

If you were to ask us about a used import Nissan Primera we would warn against potential transmission issues just as much (if not more) as some Honda’s or European cars.

Nissan have certainly not fallen behind since their merger with Renault, in fact the exact opposite could be said.

The Dog and Lemon Guide is a lemon - a total misinformed and ignorant rag disguising itself as some sort of authority on cars. Better and more authoritative information can be had almost anywhere on the internet. The author seems to have little or no automotive or engineering background but just likes to rag on cars he doesn't like. The website looks like it was built by a child that just got their first computer. Why Carjam would align themselves with such a collection of poorly researched misinformation is beyond me.