[fushlash]

Just recently I was in an accident where someone cut me off and my car was totalled in a head on collision. I got around 7.5k or so from insurence and plan to finance the rest of the car. I was wondering if anyone could supply a nice comparison between the two cars. Obviously the Spec V has more power and a six speed

; but quite honestly some of the reviews online have scared me a little away from the Spec. I've heard there have been many problems with the car such as grinding from first to second while cold.. etc etc.. Was just wondering how the tC performs and if anyone knows, or perhaps has seen an indication of how the car will perform around the 100k milage. Plain and simple, the car needs to last me awhile, and the Spec V (even though I'd be buying an 05, most of the problems occured in 02/03s) has put some questions in the back of my mind. Thanks for any information, and hopefully I'll be able to buy the most afordable/reliable car =)

 

[iGod]

as far as your 100000 mile range question, that would be a better question for the countless people who drive the camry SE. same engine in the tC. i dont know of any of the camry customers ever saying they have had a problem with the 2.4 regardless of mileage. as for that motor in a tC, no one i know has approached 100K in the 6 months since its been out. not even Alpman drives that much, though i know he is over 20K.

 

[iGod]

oh, sorry. the sentra comparison. nissan has made pretty good design and idea advances in the last few years, which they desperately needed. as far as reliability, i dont believe they are bad cars at all. a japanese 4-cyl is about as indestructable as they come. the only thing i question is the rest of the vehicle's longevity. i just dont think you can beat the quality of a toyota product, in relation to price, anywhere on the market.

 

[zoltiz]

I'd say it's about the number of doors that you need and if you care about the overall appeal of the car. Spec V is just a sentra - it's quick, but still a sentra - been too long since any major redesign. But it is quicker than tC and you can probably find a good deal on it with some rebates or whatever promotion Nissan might be running. Nothing like that will happen to tC any time soon.

I did not want a 4-door, and tC's 5-speed is geared very close to the Spec V's 6-speed, plus I am a toyota fan and like to drive the car that turns heads / puzzles people.

 

[joshmoney]

I've got a tc and my wife has an 04 se-r(basically a spec-v with an automatic). I like them both, but I think the tc is a little more refined by my tastes. Also, believe it or not, my tc feels more roomy in the cabin than the se-r.

Oh, and one thing I don't like about the se-r is that there is no "mist" feature on the wipers. I have to turn the wipers on and off real quick.

late

 

[moriarty]

Originally posted by Vehix.com
2005-SCION TC
Number of Advantages over the NISSAN SENTRA  14
$1,750.00 lower price
$1,770.00 lower price (including delivery charges)
1.3 gal larger fuel tank
2.3 in smaller curb to curb turning circle
1.8 in wider
6.5 in longer wheelbase
1.1 in more hip room in front
1.8 in more shoulder room in front
5 l larger fuel tank
701 mm smaller curb to curb turning circle
46 mm wider
165 mm longer wheelbase
28 mm more hip room in front
45 mm more shoulder room in front

2005-NISSAN SENTRA
    SER SPEC V
Number of Advantages over the SCION TC    23

0.1 l larger engine
15 more horsepower
0.2 in lower
3.5 in longer
2.3 in greater headroom in front
0.4 in greater headroom in rear
5.0 in more hip room in rear
0.1 in greater leg room in rear
2.6 in more shoulder room in rear
11 more kW
0.5 l/100km better fuel economy on EPA city cycle
195 lb lower curb weight
17 lb ft more torque
5 mm lower
89 mm longer
58 mm greater headroom in front
10 mm greater headroom in rear
127 mm more hip room in rear
3 mm greater leg room in rear
66 mm more shoulder room in rear
1.0 mpg better fuel economy on EPA city cycle
23 Nm more torque
89kg lower curb weight

Vehix is good for this kind of thing. I wouldn't consider some of these things as "ADVANTAGES" it is just nice to see the specs side by side.

you can view the full comparison here.

 

[basilisk4]

So...the only advantage the SE-R Spec V has over the tC is 15 more HP?

 

[Kyle]

we've had a maxima and currently still have an altima. nothing ever went wrong with the engin but it's the power window that really ticked me off

. the mechanical parts for both cars broke after 3 years. according to the guys at nissan service I'll have to get taht fixed every 3 years. we got rid of the maxima after 5 years. my 01 altima is going to go soon. maybe i'll trade it in for the tC.

a buddy of mine has a 03 sentra...no complaints from him, but it hasn't been 3 year yet

 

[<jC>]

Originally posted by joshmoney@Jan 5 2005, 03:39 PM
I've got a tc and my wife has an 04 se-r(basically a spec-v with an automatic). I like them both, but I think the tc is a little more refined by my tastes.  Also, believe it or not, my tc feels more roomy in the cabin than the se-r. 

Oh, and one thing I don't like about the se-r is that there is no "mist" feature on the wipers. I have to turn the wipers on and off real quick.

late

I have an '03 SE-R Spec V right now with 39,000 miles and the TC is definitely more refined. I have had some problems with mine, but as far as I know, all of them have been addressed with the '05. Even the interior is of better quality now. Also, the Sentra has a lot of power. It doesn't just top the TC in horsepower, but also torque. It has a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder (which is shared with the bigger and heavier Altima) with 180 crank torque and when I got mine dyno'd I had 150 lb ft. of torque at the wheels. Basically, if you want a refined but quick car with the sporty profile of a coupe, get the TC. If you want a 4 door sporty car thats got a lot of power, and less refinement get the Sentra. I like to call the SE-R's the muscle car of the imports. Nissan took a little econobox, shoved a huge engine under the hood and let it loose. Also, if you get a Spec V you are getting a 6 speed manual and a limited slip differential, two things which the TC does not have.

As for the wipers, its not hard to flick the stalk down and up again.

 

[cad455]

my friend got fed up with his Spec V and traded it for a 350Z.

he had to take it in for warranty work more times than he would admit. he never talked about it while he owned the car out of shame.

 

[Ryan'stc]

One of my father n laws friends works at magusen dodge and Nissan in auburn. He tells me that the new nissan engines that have varible cam timing need to be tund every 30,000 miles witch cost around $1,250. and if its the 350z it's more like 3,000 bucks.

 

[moriarty]

ouch! that is a little pricey.

 

[joshmoney]

Originally posted by Ryan'sTc@Jan 29 2005, 11:42 AM
One of my father n laws friends works at magusen dodge and Nissan in auburn. He tells me that the new nissan engines that have varible cam timing need to be tund every 30,000 miles witch cost around $1,250. and if its the 350z it's more like 3,000 bucks.

I've hadn't heard about that before. What a rip off. That's like the $300 BMW oil changes I've heard about...

late

 

[FrostbytetC]

Yeah, I know two people who own spec Vs and they've said that however quick, they are very very bad on gas (no matter what the sticker says) and a very bumpy ride. Also, they've been complaining about the clutch feeling "spongy" lately and they've taken it to the dealer at least twice and they say its normal. One thing I know from driving their cars and my tC is the spec V does handle better and defeinitely has more spunk especially off the line. I like the tC better, but its really comes down to preference. They're too close to make an obvious judgement as to which one is better. My suggestion to you would be to go out and test drive them both in one day and really think about how it feels... how the clutch grabs... the little things. Not that extra 1.3" of head room or whatever.

 

[wai_ki_ki]

Im impressed. Where do you get this stuff moriarty?