i have issues with nissan my altima had a lot of problems in the 4 year span both big and small and it was new. it literally had a big issue right off the lot that we didn't catch before signing papers unless they did something to the car idk.The Northstars are actually really great motors once you fix the head gasket issue. Gm spent A TON of money engineering them to compete against the euro luxury engines. Even with a head gasket failure they keep on running because of the fail safe mode which only fires every other cylinder, pulling only air through the other cylinders, which is enough to keep it cool enough to run.
A quick search of Oahu Craigslist shows a ton of 2010+ cars for $5K or under. Lots of Nissan and Toyotas, I'd be looking at something like this
https://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/cto/d/honolulu-2010-nissan-altima-25s/6927149153.html
i just wanted something different already drove nissans for years i dont mind um but it's meh. i like nissans atm only for one thing which is cause the dealership is close to my house i can get it fixed without driving far. other dealerships are further away and individual mechanics idk might charge more for a sloppier job idk.