Owners have filed 11 complaints on the Nissan PULSAR, covering 1984–1989. The system named most often is Fuel System (4 reports). Worst years by volume: 1988, 1987, 1985; cleanest: 1984, 1986, 1989. 0 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 9.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Nissan PULSAR
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 11 PULSAR complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Fuel System 4 Read
Fuel injectors leak similarly to 300zx,200sx,and maxima that were voluntarily repaired by nissan. There is a great fire danger and mileage and drivability problem. Nissan refuses to repair the problem, stating that there is no evidence of a defect in the injectors of the '88 pulsar with multi-port injection eventhough…
Experiencing fuel leak in engine compartment, recall that relates, but not inlcuded (87V-191)
When pumping gas in tank gas leaks out from under car when almost full. Gas burns fast
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
While driving down the highway the thermostat needle hand went completely up. Then stated the vehicle began smoking and they pulled over. Consumer opened the hood and a fire broke out, causing injuries to her back and hair, consumer stated that the car was totally damaged
When we were waiting before a red light or a stop sign, it became dead suddenly. This situation happened five times within one week. For these five times,we restarted it after a while for three times, jumped it one time and the other time we could not restart it at the accident scene(without trying to jump it) but…
Suspension 2 Read
Cracked head gasket, causing oil leak
Rear end suspension rusts out; shock towers rusted out. Tt
Latches/locks/linkages 1 Read
While driving, the vehicle's hood flew open, the secondary latch failed. Tt failure caused damage to vehicle
Power Train 1 Read
Defect in 5 speed transmission, causing it to jump out of gear
Steering 1 Read
Steering jerks to left when in middle off on left curve or hitting a bump
PULSAR 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Latches/locks/linkages | — | — | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1986 | Suspension | — | — | |
| 1985 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1984 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — |
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 | 11 |
| Average complaints per series | 1 |
| Worst single series | 1 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 9.6 years |
A model average of 1 hides a worst series at 1. 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
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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 PULSAR?
By complaint volume, 1988, 1987, 1985 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 PULSAR years are the cleanest?
1984, 1986, 1989 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Nissan PULSAR have?
11 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1984–1989. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 1 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.