USED Nissan Almera Saloon (00 - 06)

My car

The Nissan Almera Salon 1.8 SE, has been for two years a reliable pleasure to own and run. The boot is large for this type of car, we however camp in france and the car was less than fun with a top box.

It is comparitively fast from start and cruises well, but drinks fuel around town and at high speed. The interiour finish is basic and the seats conering leaves a lot to be desired. Servicing costs are comparitive to my wifes punto.

You could do a lot worse than to buy one of these nearly new as I did, indeed whilst not a funky car a family of four can have great holidays, and trips out. however if you do a lot of local miles or are a speed freak this is probably not the car for you.

Whatever it will not let you down at least mine did not, it is only being replaced for a bigger car (MPV).

My car

I had a Nissan Almera hired for a week while on holidays in Ireland recently. It was brand new when I got it, with only four miles on the clock.

The ride was OK but nothing special, I usually drive a Peugeot 206 SW and the Nissan came nowhere near in terms of comfort or performance.

The car felt like a ballerina at times, bouncing and leaping all over the road, going everywhere except in a straight line. I had the feeling that if I took my eye of the road for a split second I would either end up in the ditch or in the bonnet of an oncoming car

The instrument console is quite complicated to figure out in the first instance, and then requires too much attention from the driver to change simple things like the speed of the fan.

On a positive note, we did in excess of 600 miles on a tank of fuel, with both motorway and city driving. The car also comes with a very smooth-sounding, and responsive engine. The gearbox is also very user friendly.

Would I buy one? No. If I had that much money to spend, I would be looking at a Peugeot 407!

My car

The car belongs to my son, I have driven to Birmingham and Back, and more recently drove to Paris then Nantes and back.

I found the car quite comfortable to drive, I can compare it with a few cars that I have owned. The old-time Mini, the A40, the Fiat 128, the Nissan Sunny 1984, the Toyota Corolla, the Volvo 340 1989, the Micra 13SLX 1993, the Primera 16 SLX 1995 and the Almera 1996.

We still own the Micra, Primera and Almera they are reliable and cheap to own insurance and serviced by an independent garage.

I found the Almera 52 plate quite reliable, quite economical at 70mph, but it drains the juice at 80mph.

It seems OK for two adults and two children or four adults. The boot can be small for suitcases.

It is steady on motorway driving and a bit jerky in traffic. (It's a manual.)

My son was happy with the deal he made, I am thinking of changing my car soon I am thinking of the Almera 16 SVE or a Corolla 16 manual as recommended by What Car?.