I've got a '93 Mercury Villager. This is mechanically IDENTICAL to the Quest... only minor sheetmetal and trim package differences. And I seem to recall that the Villager sells used for a lower price just because of the Nissan versus Mercury name. (I like the looks of the Villager more... I think that little "nose" over the rear license plate of the Quest is really odd... And I like the Mercury lightbar... though they've dropped it on the newer model years.)
I've got about 72K miles, all either really tough low speed suburban toodling or high speed interstate vacation trips.
The main mechanicals have been rock solid. No engine or tranny problems at all. I've replaced the plugs once. The old ones seemed to have lost metal off the electrodes... had a big gap. But other than that they seemed really clean. I also had to replace the rotor/cap/wires on my California vacation trip. I was getting a bad low speed miss on throttle tip-in. Oddly, it ran fine at highway speeds.
I've done brakes all around once. I bought Nissan brakes mail-order from Brown and Brown Nissan in Tempe (which I recommend highly. Great service. 1-800-237-0003) Spend the bucks on factory rotors and pads. I tried "auto parts store" pads and had MUCH longer stopping distances and fade. It felt dangerous. I could not get into the antilocks on dry pavement.
I have the factory shop manual and have done all maintenance and repairs myself. The van has never been to a mechanic except for mounting tires and front end toe-in adjustment. My problems to date:
Not a bad list at all! NO major mechanical problems.
I changed the timing belt at 70K miles in December. When you get the timing belt replaced (or the accessory belts, BE SURE to have the belt tensions set correctly. Overtightened belts have caused the end of the crankshaft to fail, requiring a new crankshaft; which for most folks means a new small block.
I love the rear seat configuration. I have the center captain's chairs. The sliding/folding rear seat is very convenient.
The van handles very well. I bought the towing package, which comes with a rear anti-roll bar and 70-series tires. I put the best tires on it I can find (Pirelli P4000 SuperTouring).
It's not as bulky to drive as some of the competition... Windstar for example.
I still like the looks...
I like the fact that I can open the rear glass separately from the rear liftgate. Makes adding those last few items of a vacation load much easier.
I wish it had more power. In hilly country with a vacation load, it's nice if you can run 70 and up, which keeps the 3rd generation Maxima VG30E engine up on the cams. It has more midrange torque than low end, and running 55-60 will cause the tranny to kick down. With a full vacation load, I use the OD off switch on uphill pulls to keep the tranny from hunting, and I run the tranny in E-AT mode. But I'd probably wish for more power, even if it had the sweet DOHC alloy VQ30DE engine from my '96 Maxima...
I wish the A/C LEDs were easier to see in bright daylight.
I wish the drivers seat bottom cushion tilted too, rather than just went up and down. One member of the Villare/Quest mailing list actually bushed the front of his seat up with washers and new bolts to get a bit more thigh support and legroom.
I wish my 93 had the now ubiquitous dual sliding doors.