2002 sentra 1.8

>2002 sentra 1.8
>single owner according to carfax, i bought it with about 148k miles
>159,711 miles
>stick shift
>driven 16,800 miles per year, 80% on highway
>synthetic oil, changed every 7500 like clockwork
>mechanic said he could detect no obvious problems other than a slow oil leak as he relearned the idle

realistically, how many miles can i expect this car to last if i drive it like a grandma? how much can i expect to pay a year in repairs, maintenance? thanks Veeky Forums

Im honestly surprised it lasted that long

please explain

If there is no rust the car can last a long long time. If the engine or transmission breaks you can just get another one cheap from a junkyard. Cars never die familia.

this
dont ignore your car and it'll do fine. Keep an eye out to see if the oil leak comes back in any other circumstances, and just do your routine maintenance. if all goes well shouldn't be hard to get it over 200k.

>oil changed every 7500
thats too long on a car that only holds 3.6 quarts of oil. change it sooner

shit so

is it bad if the level of coolant in my engine is below the minimum line? I've never once seen the temperature gauge go over half

its gotta go somewhere, check for leaks

it's been like that for a while now. should i be worried?

if the thermostat hasnt been climbing while you drive, and the engine isn't dead, you should be fine. add coolant, and keep checking for leaks. pay attention to the gauge after you finish driving and are sitting in idle

Top off all fluids, be on top of maintenance, enjoy 5-10 years before something major breaks

should i take it to a mechanic? scary things on the internet are saying old coolant damages gaskets and i have no idea when it was last replaces. i've had the car for 8 months/10k miles and it's been like that for a few months, possibly since i bought the car. i just assumed it was fine if the temp gauge wasn't going high.

coolant generally lasts a few years, give or take, depending what was put in it. what did the mechanic check? Did the previous owner mention changing it? its a hit or miss thing. Your gaskets could be perfectly fine, or they could be ready to disintegrate. I dunno. If its not a hassle for you and you have a mechanic you can trust, go for it, cant hurt, worst that will happen is you need new gaskets

mechanic didn't check, he offered to top it off for 5 dollars extra but i said no because i figured i'd just buy some at walmart and put it in.

service manual says i need to flush the cooling system if i see rust or discoloration in the drained coolant.

how bad would it be from a "damage that reduces the life of my engine" perspective if i see: (1) discolored or rusty drained coolant (2)damaged head gaskets?

is there any other kind of damage that can result from neglecting the coolant?

would it be obvious to my mechanic upon replacing coolant if the gaskets are damaged?

>rusty drained coolants ... damaged head gaskets
the latter probably means that coolant leaked into your oil, thats usually not good. You can check this easily though, if the oil is milky, youve got coolant in there.
there is damage that can come from neglecting coolant, it has properties that keep it from rusting parts and destroying rubber or other things, i.e., gaskets. These qualities diminish over time, so its something you should monitor
>would it be obvious to my mechanic upon replacing coolant?
Likely no. There are certainly ways to check, and since its just an i4, it shouldnt be a huge hassle. I'd ask and see if he'd charge you to check

no milky oil, so that means gaskets are *probably* fine?

lets say i got get coolant replaced, but some damage was done to the gaskets? should i even worry about replacing them if there's no evidence that coolant leaked into the engine and i have brand new coolant in and i change the coolant at the prescribed intervals from this point onward?

>should i even worry about replacing them...onward?
its is definitely something to remember, they do fail, without coolant issues. Ask your mechanic, and sees what he says

ok thanks for all the help

np, best of luck!

QG18 will blow it's headgasket. With that mileage if it hasnt happened yet, it should soon