Nissens aluminium radiators

[NiceCupOfTea]

Need a new rad for the Saab - there's a seller on ebay doing Nissens alu ones for about the same price as a new replacement - worth a punt?

[wildoliver]

Nissens rads tend not to last that long compared to an original, I would weigh up the difference in life/price between new original, used original and aftermarket. Expect circa 2-3 years from a cheap aftermarket.

[Herman Toothrot]

If the MX5 ebay alloy ones are anything to go by, yes definately. 3 years ago I paid £320 for an alloy rad, now identical copies are on ebay and I mean identical except logo and country of manufacture, they are about £150.

[NiceCupOfTea]

wildoliver said:

Nissens rads tend not to last that long compared to an original, I would weigh up the difference in life/price between new original, used original and aftermarket. Expect circa 2-3 years from a cheap aftermarket.

I assumed that an alu one would be better quality than the usual copper one...

Can't be bothered with a used one, it will only fail 6 months down the line.

Who makes a good Aluminium rad then?

[DrTre]

This place was recommended to me but my mechanic sourced one for me instead (actually, entirely probably from there now that I think about it)

http://www.adrad.co.uk/car-radiator/

£100 delivered.

Edited by DrTre on Monday 6th July 15:51

[Ponk]

Just to clarify it will probably be alu core rather than a complete alu rad. In the Peugeot world the Nissens rad's are preferable to the OEM replacements, they will last just as long as a Saab replacement and probably for a fraction of the cost.

[wildoliver]

My only experience of Nissens is on Audis where the original rads last 10 yrs +, the Nissens struggle to hit 3 years. In those cases a used genuine rad in good condition is far superior.

I would always prefer a copper cored rad although you will struggle to find one these days, 20 years isn't unusual from a well looked after copper rad, on ally cored rads though even if the core doesn't rot the flanges that attach it to the tanks fall apart and it leaks at the seams.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Funny this topic gets refreshed today - I spent this afternoon replacing the radiator with a Nissens one.

Alu core, plastic end tanks. Must admit, it didn't feel like a quality product. The cooling/aircon fans are held on with self tappers but there wasn't enough space for the screws to fit and the metal stripped so threadlock was the order of the day!

Previous Saab copper core one lasted 11 years & 100k miles. Let's see how this one lasts!

[powerandtorque]

Never had any issues with Nissen's alloy radiators on any of the 205 GTi's that I've owned. Nissens radiator on my current one is 5+ years old now, and going strong - excellent for the £40 odd that I normally pay for them.

[Timberwolf]

My only experience so far is a Nissens heater core replacement for my S60, which died on such short order it got replaced under warranty. That said, we're not sure whether it was the core itself that went bad, or some other factor aggravating it. Still seeing how it goes with the new one!

[LeightonBuzzard]

I dont think nissens rads are all that, get an OEM