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Free pickup anywhere in the US

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Model file · NissanUpdated · 10 sources

Selling an old Nissan Van

For the 1987 through 1990 model years, Nissan sold a small cab-over van here under a plain name: the Nissan Van. It was the Japanese C22 Vanette, changed for the US to compete with the Toyota Van and the Mitsubishi Van. If you still have one and it no longer runs, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits; there's free pickup anywhere in the US.

A white Japanese-market Nissan Vanette C22, the van sold in the US as the Nissan Van, with a roof rack on a wet parking lot
Photo: dave_7 from Canada · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
US model years
1987-1990
Engine
2.4-liter four
Complaints to NHTSA
12
Recall campaigns
6
Engine-heat and fire recalls
5, from 1987 to 1994
Final remedy
1994 offer to buy the vans back

The van and its engine

The C22 was built at Nissan's Oppama plant in Japan. For the US, Nissan fitted its larger 2.4-liter Z24i four. Wikipedia notes the C22 was never designed for an engine that size, and the tight space later contributed to overheating and engine fires. The EPA rated a 1987 cargo van with the 5-speed manual at 18 mpg combined, and a 1990 passenger van with the 4-speed automatic at 16. Power went to the rear wheels.

Seven years of fire recalls

NHTSA lists six recalls on the Van. Five deal with heat and fire under the engine cover, and they read like a running story.

RecallFiledWhat Nissan reported and did
87V109July 1987The valve cover gasket can leak oil, which could start an engine compartment fire. Redesigned gaskets on 10,025 vans.
90V136August 1990Power steering hoses can leak fluid that spreads to the exhaust manifold. Heat-resistant hoses on 33,000 vans.
91V211December 1991Cooling hoses fail because they can't take the heat. Free loaner car during the work, and the powertrain warranty stretched to six years or 100,000 miles.
93V036March 1993Nissan made a preliminary finding of a defect in parts that can fail from engine compartment heat. A redesigned cooling system, an electric fan, a power steering cooler and a warning system.
94V031February 1994Fires and other heat incidents went on in vans that had every 1993 fix. Nissan offered to repurchase the vans, which would then be destroyed.

The sixth, 95V103 from May 1995, is unrelated: the red front seat belt release buttons marked "PRESS" can break. It covered 2,730,462 vehicles across many models.

Complaints and recalls by model year

When we pulled NHTSA's records on October 10, 2026, they held 12 complaints on the Van. Three report a fire, two injuries are listed, and none reports a crash. Seven name the engine and engine cooling.

Model yearComplaintsRecallsIn the EPA list
198776Yes
198855Yes
198901No
199005Yes

The 1989 row exists only because the seat belt recall names that year.

Selling one now

The newest of these vans is more than 35 years old. Whatever shape yours is in, start here:

  1. Find the VIN on the title or the van, and look it up at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls show as open.
  2. Ask for an offer online or call (877) 421-6008. Say cargo or passenger, manual or automatic, and whether the engine has had a fire.
  3. Describe where it sits and whether it rolls. A van parked for years often has flat tires; just say so.
  4. Sort the paperwork. If the title is lost, start with our no-title guide. If the van has been parked for years, read car sitting for years.
  5. At pickup, sign the title over and show ID. After you sell covers the plates.

Questions people ask

Did Nissan really buy these vans back?
It offered to. Recall 94V031, filed in February 1994, says engine compartment fires kept happening on vans that already had the 1993 fixes, and Nissan offered to repurchase them. Repurchased vans were to be destroyed. No source we found says how many owners took the offer.
Was there a 1989 Nissan Van?
The EPA's fuel economy list has the Van for 1987, 1988 and 1990, with no 1989. NHTSA's seat belt recall 95V103 lists 1989 among its years, and its fire recalls cover 1987, 1988 and 1990.
Will you buy a Nissan Van that has sat for years and won't start?
Yes. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. Tell us whether the tires hold air and whether the van can roll, so the right truck is sent.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 10, 2026.

  1. NHTSA recalls flat file, recalls before 2010 (downloaded October 10, 2026) static.nhtsa.gov
  2. NHTSA complaints flat file, FLAT_CMPL.zip (downloaded October 10, 2026) static.nhtsa.gov
  3. NHTSA recall 94V031: repurchase offer after continued engine compartment fires api.nhtsa.gov
  4. NHTSA recall 93V036: new cooling system and warning system api.nhtsa.gov
  5. NHTSA recall 91V211: cooling hoses, loaner car, powertrain warranty extended api.nhtsa.gov
  6. EPA fueleconomy.gov: 1987 Nissan Van (cargo), 2.4 L, 5-speed manual fueleconomy.gov
  7. EPA fueleconomy.gov: 1990 Nissan Van (passenger), 2.4 L, 4-speed automatic fueleconomy.gov
  8. Wikipedia: Nissan Vanette (C22, the US Nissan Van, the 2.4-liter engine) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia: Nissan Quest (successor to the Nissan Van) en.wikipedia.org
  10. NHTSA: Check for recalls by VIN nhtsa.gov