Owners have filed 118 complaints on the Nissan 200SX, covering 1983–1998. The system named most often is Air Bags (27 reports). Worst years by volume: 1995, 1996, 1998; cleanest: 1983, 1984, 1985. 14 reports describe a crash, 7 a fire. On average the car was 6.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Nissan 200SX
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 118 200SX complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 27 Read
Driving down road and both airbags deployed causing driver to steer into curb. Only damage to the vehicle was deep scrapes on front passenger side rim and minor scrapes on rear passenger side rim. No other body or sheet metal damage. Under no circumstances did anything happen which would have or should have cause the…
Rearend collision with 2000 dodge p/u. Injuries include concussion, facial and chest bruises, three broken bones on right foot. Air bags did not deploy
While at a stop vehicle was hit in the rear by a dodge van. This caused vehicle to crash into the rear of vehicle in front, which was also stopped. There was no deployment of air bags. The vehicle was totalled. *ak consumer also struck a deer resulting in $3900 in damage yet neither frontal air bag deployed
Fuel System 19 Read
The vehicle was taken to the dealer because a fuel odor was present which was coming from the fuel injectors, the consumer made an appointment to have vehicle repaired but prior to repair the vehicle caught fire while parked, the consumer was never notified of the voluntary service campaign concerning the fuel…
Recall 95i00600; consumer found out about a recall. Called nissan dealer, and was told that his vehicle was affected. Consumer wanted to get this done as soon as possible, but dealer said could not do it until 3 days later. Before dealer would perform recall vehicle was parked in garage and caught on fire. Totalled…
Consumer was driving the vehicle and due to the fuel injector leaking, the vehicle caught on fire in the engine
Visibility 14 Read
While driving in inclement weather the windshield wipers would come on and go off on their own. The dealer was aware the problem. The mechanic informed the driver that the windshield wiper motor needed replacement. Please provide additional information
Recently my wiper failed due to linkage issues, upon investigation my make model and year of car had a recall for this issue. When trying to get it repaired I was told my VIN number was not among those eligible for repair due to recall. I have a problem with this considering I am actually having the specific failure…
The driver's side windshield wipers in my 1997 nissan 200sx just stopped working while in use. I was driving the car going to my mother's home from work and the wiper just stopped. It was very scary and I could hardly see because it was raining so hard. I could have easily been in a terrible wreck. I quickly put on my…
Engine And Engine Cooling 10 Read
Small engine fire occured on the side were the distributor is located. Please describe. Tt
Vehicle fire
The consumer stated that the vehicle would not start
Service Brakes 8 Read
When brake pedal is fully depressed, it goes lower than the gas pedal. If the right foot/shoe is not fully on the brake pedal, the right side of the foot/shoe will also push down on the gas pedal causing the vehicle to accelerate while you are trying to brake. Seems to be a design flaw. I've checked out 1 other 200sx…
Had an accident, brake pedal fluttered, air bag deployed late, lap belt locked shoulder belt did not. Tt
When you hit the brakes you will hit the gas pedal at the same time if your foot is not square on the brake pedal
Electrical System 6 Read
Vehicle was parked for 4 or 5 hours. Owner heard a loud pop but ignored it because he resided close to the interstate. Minutes later, the owner heard another pop sound and went to investigate. Owner found the vehicle engulfed in flames . The fire department said that the fire started under the driver's side underneath…
Car wont crank, replaced the starter, battery, ignition switch and no one knows how to fix the problem even the dealership wont help unless you have over $1,000. Its sitting in the driveway. The dash lights comes one but nothing else. I replaced everything. When you shut the engine off you have to wait sometimes for 3…
The contact owns a 1997 nissan 200sx. While driving 25 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle failed to start without having the battery recharged. The vehicle was not formally diagnosed. The dealer and the manufacturer were made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage…
Power Train 5 Read
Axle seal assembly failed
A/c pressure hose connector broke. Yh
Manual transmission clutch cable failed, unable to change gears while driving. This condition was intermittent and happened three times before dealer was able to diagnose and repair. As a result of failure, car was unable to downshift which LED to vehicular lack of control. Local nissan dealer finally was able to…
Seat Belts 5 Read
Seat belt failure, belt buckle broken, cannot latch seat belts, dealer is charging for repair. Tt
Received recall notice on seat belts, took vehicle to dealer and they tested the seat belts and said there was no problem. Called manufacturer and they indicated that the seat belts should have been replaced and there should not have been a test done on the seat belts
Exhaust system has failed causing leaks on three occasions
200SX years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 9 | — | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 3 | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 2 | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1985 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1984 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | 1 | |
| 1983 | Seat Belts | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 81 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.5 |
| Worst single series | 5 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.7 years |
A model average of 1.5 hides a worst series at 5. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 200SX?
By complaint volume, 1995, 1996, 1998 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 200SX years are the cleanest?
1983, 1984, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Nissan 200SX have?
118 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1983–1998. Of those, 14 describe a crash and 7 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.