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ALSO CONSIDER: Toyota Previa.
$6000 $10,000
$5000$8000
$1000$5000(for used car dealers add around 30%, including
GST)
Not widely available.
SUB MODELS: Manufacturers code is E50, available in a number of
different versions, including Isuzu Fargo Filly, Isuzu Filly,
Nissan Caravan Elgrand & Nissan Homy Elgrand.
Quick SummaryThese vehicles offer a good ride at a comfortable
pace at a reasonable price. Petrol versions are viciously thirsty.
There are some safety issues.
How Reliable?Okay. See what goes wrong below
How Safe?Okay. See our safety summary below
IF ITS DONE LESS THAN 150,000KM
Nissan Elgrand Isuzu Filly & Fargo Filly
1997-02
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Some of this wording is shared with other reviews.
Forty years ago most vans had their engines between the two
front seats. This made them compact, but it also made them noisy
and hard to work on. Worse, there was little between the front
occupants and road in front, so in serious accidents the front
occupants knees became part of vans crumple zone.
Eventually these grim facts filtered through to the carmakers,
and they started to put the engine out the front, as they would
with cars. Aside from being safer and easier to work on, this also
meant that the vans could be made a lot quieter.
The Elgrand is a semi-luxury van with its bonnet out the front,
offering a high standard of seating for six passengers. Dont be
fooled by claims that these vehicles are designed to carry seven
and eight passen-gers; theyre not.
Still, theres lots to like about the El-grand; it drives more
like a car than a van (well, like a yuppie four-wheel drive,
actu-ally the Elgrand uses a lot of technology borrowed from the
Nissan Pathfinder).
The Elgrand has lots of geeky Japanese technology designed to
make the occupants feel like royalty. The front seats swivel like
captains chairs and all passengers have access to air conditioning.
The swoopy dashboard is both simple and practical.
Most of these vehicles are advertised as having seven or eight
seats, but this is basi-cally a crock.
In practice, the Elgrand is a luxury six-seater, with an
additional sort-of seat in the middle, between one or both of the
two rear outer seats (depending on the version). The middle
occupant gets neither a proper seatbelt nor a headrest, nor, for
that matter, much in the way of space (see below).
The front occupants sit in supreme luxury. Ditto the occupants
of the middle row of seats, when the centre seat is not in use. The
rear occupants get less space if the front two rows are in use by
adults. With all three rows of seats in use theres only a tiny
amount of luggage space left.
One of the Elgrands great features is versatility: the seats can
be moved back-
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wards and forwards on rails, and rotated to provide some
ultimate comfort arrange-ment. When not in use, the rear seats can
be folded flat for extra luggage storage.
The rear sliding doors are also very use-ful, especially in
tight parking spaces where a normal, swinging door would not be
able to open without banging into cars or other objects.
There are five engines but only one gearbox option; a four-speed
automatic. All the petrol engines are V6s: good engines all, but
rather large and thirsty.
No matter how you look at it, owning an Elgrand is going to be a
thirsty exersise; dont kid yourself about this. Around town (which,
realistically, is where most of these vehicles are going to be
driven) you can expect to use around 16-17.5 litres per 100
kilometres. Ouch.
On the open road your fuel economy will improve, but not by as
much as you would think; youre driving a heavy vehicle that slips
through the air with all the aero-dynamic grace of a brick. Add six
occupants and you have the perfect setup for high fuel consumption,
wherever you go.
If youre going to buy one of these ve-hicles youd better hope
that petrol prices dont substantially rise.
Many owners are attracted to the diesel-powered versions, due to
their improved fuel economy. However, in some cases buying a diesel
may be false economy. There are two diesel engines, and dont get
confused about which is which, because you may regret it if you
do.
The good diesel is the QD32 (3.2-litre). The bad diesel is the
ZD30 (3.0-litre), which is notorious for melting its pistons, at
great expense. The information about engine size should be on the
vehicle ownership papers. Otherwise, ask a mechanic which engine
is
fitted to the model you are looking at. Neither of the diesel
engines gives much
in the way of performance. While they have plenty of power, they
deliver it reasonably slowly. Life in a diesel Elgrand consists of
a series of slow bursts of acceleration, fol-lowed by another
gearchange.
The petrol engines have plenty of imme-diate power, and a thirst
to match. Driven hard, these engines would bankrupt an Arab.
On the road, the Elgrand gives a smooth and competent ride,
provided you remem-ber that its actually an offroad vehicle youre
driving, not a car. On smooth, straight roads, the Elgrands
passengers will feel comfortable and secure. On rougher roads and
roads with lots of tight bends, the Elgrand will feel less at home;
the ride becomes badly wallowy and bumps are transmitted up through
the vehicle. Driv-ing more slowly is your only option.
Because of the weight of the vehicle, the Elgrands brakes and
suspension dont last all that long. Repairing this suspen-sion many
not be cheap. Therefore, only a madman would buy one of these
vehicles without a really thorough mechanical in-spection. If you
live in an area where safety inspection certificates are required,
demand a new safety certificate with the vehicle.
If you live in a hot climate, be very careful that the Elgrands
air conditioning works. On a hot summers day, an Elgrand without
air con is like a furnace.
Safety-wise, the Elgrand did quite well in its Japanese
crashtest.
However, please note that the centre rear occupants get only a
lap seatbelt, known to virtually tear the wearer in half in a
serious collision, even if the other occupants walk away
unscathed.
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Click this link to see what may happen to children who are
wearing lap-only seatbelts during a collision.
Be aware also that its common for un-scrupulous car dealers to
wind the odom-eter back on these vehicles to hide the true mileage.
This means that your low mileage Elgrand could actually be mostly
worn out. Dont be fooled by a tidy interior: the Japanese are an
obsessively tidy culture; its common for vehicles to look clean and
tidy even when theyre old.
NEVER buy one of these vehicles with-out first getting a full
mechanical inspec-tion from your local automobile association or
other reputable mechanical inspection service.
The huge problem for families on a budget is: how to buy a
vehicle that is capable of carrying the whole crew afford-ably and
in safety. In reality, there are few vehicles that tick all the
boxes: theyre all compromised in some way. The biggest attraction
of the Elgrand is that its a lot of vehicle for the money. Dont
however, by fooled by claims that these vehicles can safely seat
more than six beings.
Whether or not one of these vans will suit you depends on your
budget and your expectations. Unless youre prepared to risk the
lives of the centre-rear occupants, the Elgrand is really a six,
not an eight-seater. Plus, the Elgrand is thirsty and its
relatively rare, so parts may be an issue.
Would we buy an Elgrand with our own money? Yes, but cautiously,
and wed sell it long before it got too old. See also our comments
on Nissan at the end of this review and our comments on Diesels
& Japanese Imports on the links page that follows this
review.
Engine problems There are two diesel engines fitted to the
El-grand: one good, one bad.The 3.2-litre (QD32) diesel engine is
among the last of Nissans old-fashioned, slow-but-reli-able
workhorses. The main problems with these engines aside from those
caused by abuse are age and fuel leaks. Heres what goes wrong with
these engines:1) The cylinder heads on these engines are solid and
well built, but if seriously overheated, they may blow head gaskets
and often crack, which will frequently require expensive
replacement of the head (and sometimes the entire engine). Many
experts are wary about any engine that has been overheated to the
point where the head cracks, because there may be hidden damage.
When the cylinder head is replaced, the injectors have to be
removed as part of the head replacement process. Because the
injec-tors are often pretty worn by the time the head fails, they
are often replaced at the same time, which means that the cylinder
head repair job may cost thousands once you add up the parts and
labour charges. Therefore, avoid any vehicle fitted with one of
these engines if the engine shows signs of having been overheated,
has coolant leaks or a radiator with lots of its fins missing. See
also our general head gasket warning at the end of this review.2)
The seals around the diesel pumps may leak due to a change in the
composition of the diesel on sale in many countries. Fixing these
seals can be expensive, which means some owners instead sell the
vehicle, leaving the problem for the next owner (e.g., you). Once
these seals
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have been fixed with more modern parts, the repair should last
for a long time. Obviously, you need to check the diesel pump for
leaks, but start by simply looking under the vehicle for drips
originating from the engine. Diesel is fairly thin, clear and has a
particular odour that is quite different to oil. Smelling the drips
may be useful in terms of working out where they came from. Another
symptom of a leaking die-sel pump may be difficulty starting the
vehicle from cold (although this may also be caused by other
things, including dodgy glowplugs).3) If the oil is not changed
regularly, the rocker shafts will wear out. They can, however, be
replaced without taking the cylinder head off. Rather more serious
is a problem that occurs occasionally on engines that have been
fitted with cheap aftermarket filters: the return flap in the oil
filter (which is designed to keep oil in the filter when the engine
is off ) may leak, allowing the engine oil to drain out overnight.
This means that the next time the engine is started, it will have
very little oil and no pres-sure for the first, critical few
seconds. If this problem happens once, thats okay, but if left
unfixed, this constant lack of oil pressure at startup can wreck an
otherwise perfectly good engine. The easy way to check for this
problem is to insist that you hear the engine starting from cold.
If theres a problem you may hear a nasty knocking from the bottom
of the engine that may cease after a few seconds. Walk away.4)
Turbochargers (on turbocharged versions) also wont forgive lack of
oil changes. Repair is expensive and secondhand turbochargers are
not recommended. Be wary also of turbocharg-ers that were
retrofitted by the owner onto engines that left the factory without
them. Lots of othcerwise good engines have been wrecked this way.
It takes a mechanic to tell if the tur-bocharger has been fitted
properly; dont buy a version with a retrofitted turbo unless your
mechanic says its okay.5) Even though these engines were a pretty
good design, many of them have done Star Trek mileages by now and
are simply worn out. Due to the age of these engines there arent
many good secondhand ones about and repairing a worn out engine may
cost you more than you
paid for the vehicle. The key, of course, is to not buy a
vehicle with an engine that is worn out, then repairing it wont be
your problem. The 3.0 (ZD30) turbo diesel engine is some-thing of a
disaster area. It has a shocking repu-tation for reliability and
typically suffers from total meltdown.It is sometimes (erroneously)
claimed that the only problem with this engine is the occasional
failure of the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF). The MAF is blamed for
the ZD30s biggest problem, which is over-fuelling. Over-fuelling
(which is essentially a diesel engineers term for running too
rich), means the excess fuel starts washing the lubricating oil
from the pistons, creating excessive heat and, quite soon, engine
meltdown together with cracked cylinder head.However, the ZD30s
problems go far beyond simple sensor failure: 1) These engines run
relatively high turbo-charger pressures and also have a major
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system in order to reduce
pollution. EGR systems cause problems on many modern diesels, but
especially the ZD30. On the ZD30, the high turbocharger boost
levels create equally high pressures in the crankcase. This
pressure eventually causes oil to seep past the crankcase baffle,
through the intercooler and eventually into the inlet mani-fold.
Inside the inlet manifold, the oil seepage mixes with exhaust gases
from the EGR unit to form a sludge that gradually restricts the
inlet manifold, especially at the rear. This problem is compounded
by the second:2) Over-boosting too much pressure from the
turbocharger is common. Some owners fit aftermarket boost gauges
for this reason. The ECU will notice if theres too much boost
pressure and lower the pressure in response, but its slow to react,
which can allow spikes of 25psi or more. The ZD30s boost sensor
does not control the fuel mixture, so over-fuelling can accompany
over-boost. One symptom of over-boosting is intercooler hoses
blowing off. Because many owners dont recognise whats causing the
problem, they simply reattach the hoses. Soon the whole system is
heavily over pressurised, which compounds the EGR prob-lem
described above, and may also cause the
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hoses and intercooler to rupture.The Engine Control Unit (ECU)
relies on the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF), Throttle Posi-tion Sensor
(TPS) and Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) when setting fuel levels. When
one of these sensors fails (especially the Mass Air Flow Sensor),
the ECU will often get the fuel levels badly wrong. Because of the
EGR sludge prob-lem described above, the rear cylinders often run
lean, while the fronts run very rich. The ZD30s ECU does not
monitor the mixture going into the individual cylinders, therefore
it remains blissfully unaware of the problem. On many diesel
engines theres an exhaust tempera-ture sensor, which would also
detect a problem. Because the ZD30 doesnt have one, the engine can
be melted by the time the driver of the vehicle notices theres
something wrong. See our general head gasket warning at the end of
this review. Timing belts (V6 petrol engines) are prone to
expensive failure and must be replaced ac-cording to the
manufacturers specifications or catastrophic engine damage may
occur. See our article A Question of Timing on the links page that
follows this review.We do not know whether the 2.0 (NA20G) en-gine
uses a timing belt or chain. The diesel en-gine uses a timing
chain, not a timing belt, and these chains fail also. The symptom
is a rattling from the engine. Not only does this rattle mean the
chain, guides and tensioners need replac-ing, but it also probably
means that the vehicle has done a high mileage and will probably
need serious work soon. On petrol engines, camshafts, camshaft
bearings & cam followers tend to wear out very quickly if the
oil hasnt been changed regularly. The problem is the oil squirter
on the rocker arms that blocks through lack of oil changes. Youre
in trouble once this happens. Overheating can destroy your engine!
See our
article Keeping it Cool on the links page that fol-lows this
review.
Elgrand models built between 21 April 1998 & 28 May 2003 The
engine rotary sensor can become deformed by engine heat, caus-ing a
short circuit. False signals from the sensor mean the engine wont
start, or will stall and not restart. If the problem has been fixed
in Japan there will be a silver sticker on the right of the vehicle
type plate in the engine bay. VIN numbers @ dogandlemon.comSearch
dogandlemon.com RJ-0995-0
Gearbox & drivetrain problems See our general automatic
transmission warning at the end of this review. Constant velocity
(CV) joints are prone to wear. Drive the car in a tight left, then
right-hand circle and listen for the telltale knock-knock-knock
sound.
Steering & suspension problems Power steering racks are
prone to failure at high mileages. Especially watch out for oil
leaks from the steering rack, because this not only signals that
the unit needs rebuilding, it may cause it to fail a safety check
(see recall below).
Brake & safety problems See our general airbag and ABS
warning at the end of this review.
Elgrand & Isuzu Filly models with turbocharger, built
between 20 August 1999 & 15 June 2001 Parking brake cable wears
out brake pipes and may cause them to leak. If the problem has been
fixed in Japan there will be a silver sticker on right side of
model number plate. VIN numbers @ dogandlemon.comSearch
dogandlemon.com RJ-1855-0
Elgrand, Homy Elgrand & Isuzu Filly models built between 13
July 1998 & 13 March 2001 The handbrake cable may break,
especially in cold conditions, causing handbrake failure. If the
problem has been fixed in Japan there will be yellow paint on the
side of the left lower suspension link. VIN numbers @
dogandlemon.comSearch dogandlemon.com RJ-0964-0 and RJ-0765-0
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This vehicle did well in a Japanese crash test. However, this
test was easier to pass than its Western counterpart, so we cant
give this car a useful rating. We believe, how-ever, that it would
probably protect you okay in a moderate collision. See our general
comments in the Safety section (see the links page that follows
this review). See also our comments on Vans & Safety in the
links page that follows this review.
This vehicle lacks proper seatbelts throughout. The centre-rear
seats have lapbelts only, which may rip you or your children in
half in a serious accident, even if the other occupants walk away
unscathed. Google dog and lemon guide restraint for more
information.
VIN PLATE LOCATION: Not known.ENGINE TYPE & SIZE: (petrol)
3.3 VG33E V6 3274cc DOHC EFI 3.4 VQ34DE V6 3498cc DOHC DOHC MPI 3.5
VQ35DE V6 3498cc DOHC MPI
(diesel) 3.0 ZD30 4cyl 2953cc DOHC Di turbo, 3.2 QD32 4cyl
3153cc OHV MPI
RECOMMENDED FUEL/S: (petrol) RegularHOW MUCH FUEL?: Realistic
urban averages:
(petrol) 3.3 16 litres/100km 6.4 km/litre 18 mpg 3.4 17.5
litres/100km 5.7 km/litre 16 mpg 3.5 17.5 litres/100km 5.7 km/litre
16 mpg
(diesel) 3.0 8.5litres/100km 11.7 km/litre 33 mpg 3.2 8.8
litres/100km 11.3 km/litre 32 mpg
SafetyPRETENSIONING SEATBELTS: All modelsWEBBING-GRABBER
SEATBELTS: Information not suppliedANTISKID BRAKING (ABS): All
modelsAIRBAGS: Dual front, all modelsSIDEINTRUSION BEAMS: Yes
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making senseof this review
Note: this PDF review is designed to be read on your computer.
Obviously, the online links within this review will only work if
youre viewing this PDF onscreen with your computer hooked up to the
internet.
1) We suggest you read this page carefully if youre having
trouble understanding the review. If youre frantic and need a quick
confirmation that youre making the right car-buying decision, go
straight to the Quick Summary section on the front page of your
review.
2) The rest of the review is there to explain why we make our
recommendation in the Quick Summary section. Dont be surprised if
we make a negative recommendation: we try and steer buyers away
from vehicle purchases that are likely to end in tears.
3) Buying a car is a complex and confusing process. For this
reason we recommend that you calm down and read our supporting
articles as well as the review itself, so that you can see where
were coming from.
4) We especially recommend you click on the blue link below to
read our article: How to Use These Reviews.
5) If youre buying secondhand, we recommend you watch our free
video: The Five Minute Car Check.
6) There are a number of really useful supporting articles
available free from our website. You can access these by simply
clicking on the name of the article on the links page that follows
the review.
7) If youre still horribly confused: contact us, but please have
some compassion for our overworked support staff: most of the
answers you need are already supplied within this review and the
free articles on our website.
Enjoy!
Heres the Quick Summary section on the front page of your
review.
-
Mr Y. Katayama, former president of Nissan USA, shares a joke
with his
sales manager
NISSANOfficial name: Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.
Owned by: Mostly Renault (44.3%).
Owns: 15% of Renault, Nissan Marine.
Current situation: Nissans finances have improved but its
quality has dropped since the Renault takeover. Nissan is now the
least reliable Japanese make sold in Britain. Except in China,
Nissans sales have fallen sharp-ly. Global profits will continue to
suffer in the near future.Nissans fortunes are now closely linked
to Renaults. Both Nissan and Renault have been aggressively
expanding into uncertain markets in developing countries. Both
companies now face declining market share and heavy losses.
Chances of survival: uncertain. In the longer term Nissan &
Renault could part company once more
Fo u n d e d i n 1911 with the catchy name of Kwaishinsha Co,
Nissans first car was called the DAT (Japa-nese for hare), which
was produced in vari-ous models for a dec-ade. In 1930, after being
absorbed by the Tobata Imono Co, a new small car was produced.
Being the conceptual child of the DAT, the new car was given the
English name of the Datson son of DAT.
However, in Japanese, the new name sounded too much like the
word for ruin, so the name was altered to Datsun. The trademark
Nissan was added in 1937 for a new range of Datsun cars.
Nissan started assembling Brit-ish Austin A40s in November 1953
and built Austin A50s from 1956 to 1959. The Bluebird, a Morris
Ox-ford clone produced in 1959, was the beginning of a boom for
Datsun that continued for years. The Nis-san trademark was
reintroduced in 1960 for the companys top models, and grew to take
over as the name for the company itself.
Nissan produced some of the finest budget cars of the 1970s.
Models like the Datsun 120Y and rear-wheel drive Sunny established
the brand in the West. However, even in the 1970s the motor in
Datsun Cherry was based on the one in the Mini.
As time went by, however, Nis-sans management grew old and
tired, and the cars followed suit. Nissan didnt really have any
central plan; it had too many models, too many factories and too
little grasp
Carlos Ghosn, the Renault man who turned Nissans for-tunes
around, has al-most godlike status in Japan. However, what Ghosn
did was on the page one of any economics textbook: close down
unprofit-able factories, reduce the number of models & tart-up
the exist-ing models so that they look a bit more appealing to
consum-ers. Its wasnt rocket science.
Modern Nissans share bits with Renaults. Renault quality has
therefore improved from appalling to merely dread-ful, while Nissan
quality has often dropped from reasonable to poor.
Some modern Nissans simply dont have the reliability that you
can usually take for granted with Japanese vehicles. For example,
in a recent reliability survey, 40% of Nissan X-Trails had an
engine problem.
A couple of decades ago, Nissan was one of the most reliable
Japa-nese makes, according to most Brit-ish reliability surveys.
Now Nissan is the least reliable Japanese make sold in Britain,
according to the consumer magazine Which
of what the customers wanted. By the late 1990s, Nissan was
facing bankruptcy. Renault brought much of the ailing Nissan
company in 1999.
-
Before You Buy Bargain Hunting How To Use These Reviews
The Five Minute Car Check Finance Buying New
Depreciation in Australia Depreciation in New Zealand Insurance
Types of Vehicles
Japanese Secondhand Imports
Cabriolets & Convertibles
Yuppie Four-wheel Drives
Hybrids
British Cars
European Cars
German Cars
Classic Cars
Luxury Cars
Ownership Issues Automatics & CVT Transmissions
A Question of Timing - timing belts
Keeping It Cool
Know Your Battery Tyresome Foolishness
Diesels
CNG & LPG
Turbochargers & Superchargers
Safety Playing it Safe - vehicle safety features
Making Sense of Crashtests
Dozens of useful additional articles for free! Just click on the
name of an article from the list below
(you need to be viewing this page on your computer and be
connected to the internet for this to work).
online links
Cars 1970-88
Vans & Safety Four-wheel Drives & Safety Classic Cars
& Safety A Tragic Lack of Restraint seatbelts
The Seven Deadly Sins - the causes
of road crashes
A Comedy of Errors road safety ads
dont work A Fine Mess why fines dont work Calming the Madness
good road design can save lives
That Sleep of Death driver fatigue Victims of Circumstance how
you
live affects how you die When a Phone Box Pulls Out In Front
of You
Cars & The World We Live In A Long Way From Paradise The
Dream Merchants
Women & Cars
Cars & Other Dysfunctional
Relationships - by Germaine Greer The Chinese Bubble Cars &
Nazis
Its Not Easy Being Green The Emperors New World The Emperors New
Car
The Meaning of Life Dictionary of Car Terms
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Both the ABS (anti-skid braking) and airbag warning lights
should go on and then off when you first start the vehicle. If this
does not happen, the vehicle may require a major, extremely
expensive repair immediately (if either the ABS or airbag warning
lights do not go on at all, someones probably disconnected them to
hide the fact that the ABS or airbag system is faulty). If either
warning light comes on while you are driving, this may mean a
serious malfunction in the vehicles safety systems, and the vehicle
should not be driven, let alone purchased.
Modern engines work hard. Because of this, they tend to get hot
and frequently blow their top, especially if the engine has been
overheated or run without fresh antifreeze. Head gaskets may be
very expensive to fix and if left unfixed youll probably end up
broken down at the side of the road. Worse, blown head gaskets
sometimes lead to total engine failure.
The symptoms of a blown head gasket are mysterious coolant loss,
sometimes accompanied by rough running and overheating, clouds of
white steam coming from the exhaust, oil in the water, water in the
oil, and/or white goo under the oil filler cap (see picture
opposite). You should also lift out the oil dipstick. If the oil is
the colour of the white goo in the middle of the oil filler cap in
the picture, you have a cracked cylinder head and/or blown head
gasket. You should also be suspicious about any vehicle with a
heater that leaks coolant into the interior of the car. A leaking
heater is sometimes a symptom of a head gasket problem. So is a
blown or leaking radiator or its hoses.
Blown head gasket warning
ABS & airbag warning
Automatic transmission warning Automatic transmissions that do
not shift smoothly during a test drive are probably not long of
this earth. Also, with the vehicle at normal operating temperature
(so that the engine is not idling too fast) put the handbrake on
and try switching the gear selector between forward and reverse
this should happen quickly and smoothly without any clunk if not,
suspect big repair bills in the near future.
Note: the advice below may not apply on some modern cars,
because there may be no dipstick to check. For further information,
see our articles on automatic transmis-sions and CVT transmissions
in the links page (one page back).
With the transmission in neutral and the engine running at
normal operating temperature, lift out the transmission dipstick,
wipe it clean, put it back in and then remove it again. The
automatic transmission fluid should be a happy cherry red colour
& should be within the marked area on the transmission dipstick
if its not, abuse and/or neglect is pretty likely and the vehicle
should be avoided!