Item: Used Nissan Micra Hatchback 2010 - 2016
Rating: 2
Author: Steve Huntingford

Those in the market for a small car like the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/nissan">Nissan</a> Micra have no shortage of options, with the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/fiesta/hatchback/used-review/n952">Ford Fiesta</a> acting as the obvious candidate thanks to its fine ride and handling balance, strong engines and wide range of trims.

The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/rio/hatchback/used-review/n17562">Kia Rio</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/i20/hatchback/used-review/n957">Hyundai i20</a>, meanwhile, both offer the kind of long-term durability the Micra was once famed for but with superior ride and handling and more upmarket interiors.

If you just want a cheap small car and don’t care for niceties such as soft-touch plastics in the interior, it’s also worth considering the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/dacia">Dacia</a> Sandero, which has the added bonus of being roomier than the Micra.

<a href="http://www.whatcar.com/classifieds/used-cars/nissan/micra">Find a used Nissan Micra in the What Car? Classifieds here</a>

<a href="https://pages.haymarket.com/whatcar/wcar-form.html">For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? Newsletter here</a>

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Clutches on cars with a manual gearbox can be vulnerable. Look for a clear biting point and try accelerating from a low speed in a high gear to see if there’s any clutch slip (when engine revs increase faster than road speed).

The CVT automatic gearbox has also caused issues for some owners, but this tends to be when a car hasn’t been serviced to schedule (this gearbox requires a fluid change at three years old). As such, try to find a car with a full service history and, if in doubt, get the gearbox checked by a Nissan specialist.

The cheap interior assembly can also cause rattles and squeaks to develop over time, so listen out for these on a test drive. The same keen ear should be applied to any knocks coming from the suspension, as lower wishbones and their bushes have been known to fail prematurely.

For a model with such an esteemed reputation for unfailing reliability, the fourth-generation Micra is somewhat disappointing. For while not catastrophic as far as reliability is concerned, nor does it live up to the high standards of its predecessors. This is reflected in the Micra finishing with a distinctly average score of 54% in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey.

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Hatchback

Nissan turned up early to the SUV party, with its Qashqai paving the way for the countless models we see today. The Qashqai continues to sell in big numbers in the UK, too, and was also our overall Car of the Year in 2014.

Don’t think Nissan is just about SUVs, though. As well as the Qashqai, the smaller Juke and the larger X-Trail, the Japanese brand has the Micra hatchback, GT-R sports car and Navara pick-up truck.

Nissan was also one of the first big car makers to launch a fully electric car, with its latest Leaf being one of the best on the market.

Despite being based in Japan, Nissan has long committed to building cars in the UK, making several of its best-selling models at a huge factory in Sunderland.

NISSAN

MICRA

The Nissan Micra used to be a sure-fire used purchase, but does this fourth-generation model live up to expectations?

Used Nissan Micra Hatchback 2010 - 2016

Regardless of whether you choose the basic engine or the supercharged version, you can expect about 50mpg from the Micra if fitted with a manual gearbox, or about 40mpg with the CVT automatic installed.

The lower-powered engine costs £30 per year to tax, whereas the supercharged unit qualifies for tax exemption thanks to the sub-100g/km CO2 output that results from having stop-start fitted. Again, though, opting for the CVT will cost you in the long run because it pushes up CO2 emissions. For the supercharged engine, this means you’ll pay £30 per year, while for the more basic engine you’ll face a tax bill of £110 per year.

Nissan charges from £189 for a service on a Micra at its dealers. That’s quite a bit more than you’ll pay for a Ford Fiesta but it does at least include one year of European breakdown assistance.

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The Nissan Micra used to be a sure-fire used purchase, but does this fourth-generation model live up to expectations?

You can pick up a fourth-generation <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/nissan">Nissan</a> Micra from about £2000 with about 80,000 miles on the clock. Add another £1,000 to your budget and there’s a healthy selection of sub-70,000-mile cars to choose from, although these will mostly be in basic Visia specification.

For a car equipped with the more powerful supercharged engine, expect to pay from £4000, while automatic Micras cost from about £3800.

For a post-2013 facelift car, you’ll need at least £5000, while a last-of-the-line Micra with less than 5000 miles on the clock might still attract £10,000 from a main dealer.

The cheapest <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/nissan">Nissan</a> Micras are in base-level Visia trim but make do without air-conditioning or alloy wheels. As such, it’s worth seeking out at least an Acenta specification car, which adds these items along with cruise control and electric door mirrors. Top-spec Tekna versions also include parking sensors and keyless go. You’ll need to choose a post-2013 facelift car if you want satellite navigation, with the N-Tec looking particularly well specified.

There are also a couple of special editions to be aware of: the Kuro and Shiro are based on Acenta specification but also include parking sensors, metallic paint and heated seats, while Elle models have a panoramic glass roof and a new rear spoiler.

Whatever Micra you choose, it’s worth paying extra for the supercharged engine, badged DIG-S, and sticking with a manual gearbox to benefit from the free road tax.

Our favourite Nissan Micra: 1.2 DIG-S Acenta

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Spacious enough for four adults to sit comfortably</li> <li>Logically laid-out interior that doesn’t</li> <li>feel too cheap</li> <li>Mature driving manners </li> <li>Decent-sized boot</li> <li>Competitive buying and running costs</li></ul>

Small cars, or superminis as they’re also known, used to be bought almost exclusively as first cars or by people with no children – but the likes of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/fiesta/hatchback/review/n106">Ford Fiesta</a>, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/seat/ibiza/hatchback/review/n17359">Seat Ibiza</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/polo/hatchback/review/n83">Volkswagen Polo</a> have grown to the point where they can be considered all-round family transport, albeit with the odd compromise.

The Fiesta remains a star of the class, thanks to its strong Ecoboost petrol engines and suspension settings that are beautifully judged for British roads. However, the latest Volkswagen offers even more practicality, decent performance and a classy interior that has the edge on the Ford’s for quality.

Any of these models will be a competent commuter car – especially if fitted with one of the increasingly popular small turbocharged petrol engines – but just remember that while you’ll be able to carry two adults and two children, it might still be a struggle to get all of their luggage into the boot.

Small

Most likely due to its low values, there are a lot of <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/nissan">Nissan</a> Micras that have been classed as Category C or D write-offs. There are pros and cons to buying such cars but, at the very least, if you’re considering one make sure repairs have been carried out by a reputable company and to a high standard.

Also look for the kind of scrapes and small dents that are typical of small cars that have spent a lot of time in towns and cities – the same goes for kerbed alloy wheels.

The Micra has been recalled six times. Cars built in 2011 might have suffered a fuel leak; cars built between June 2012 and March 2013 required a modification to their brakes to ensure consistent feel through the pedal; between May 2010 and March 2012, Nissan identified a possible fault with the driver’s airbag; cars built between June 2013 and March 2015 that were fitted with an engine start button might need a fix if the button sticks; and in those built between July 2015 and January 2016, an incorrectly specified engine coil could cause the car to stall and not restart.

Additionally, all Micras built between 2010 and 2015 were recalled by Nissan to address a potential fault with the engine management system that could cause the car to briefly accelerate even when the driver isn’t pressing the pedal.

You can find out if the car you are interested in buying has been affected by a recall – and whether the work has been carried out – by contacting a Nissan dealer with the registration number.

There was a time when the Nissan Micra vied for top honours in the small car class, thanks to its increasingly quirky styling and seemingly unburstable reliability.

By the time this version arrived in 2010, however, Nissan employed a safer design, but in doing so lost much of what had made the Micra’s predecessors so distinctive. The fourth-generation model is, however, a larger car than the one it replaces, although even then it’s a squeeze to get a folded baby buggy in the boot. Also, if you opt for the entry-level model, you only get a single-piece folding rear seat rather than the split-folding layout on higher trim levels.

The five-door layout does at least mean access is easy. There’s also generous headroom for all passengers and a useful number of in-car storage areas, but a steering wheel that only adjusts for height and not reach doesn’t help when it comes to finding a comfortable driving position.

This generation of Micra is also unusual for the fact that interior quality appeared to take a backward step compared with what rivals offered. The plastics feel hard and cheap, the digital displays are basic, and the design of the silver circular heater controls might bring to mind that old Walkman you owned a couple of decades ago.

However, one Micra trait did at least remain, which is that this car is incredibly easy to drive. For that you can thank the light controls, a very tight turning circle and excellent all-round visibility.

The engine range is limited to just a 1.2-litre petrol, which is available in standard form with 79bhp or with a supercharger to boost the power output to 97bhp. If you plan on regularly venturing out of town, it’s worth spending extra on the supercharged unit which, although far from fast, does at least give the Micra respectable get up and go. Mind you, once up to speed, you’ll discover the Micra’s crashy, noisy ride and lifeless handling, which represents something of a problem with rivals as talented as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/fiesta/hatchback/used-review/n952">Ford Fiesta</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/polo/hatchback/used-review/n17425">Volkswagen Polo</a>.

For those who don’t want a manual gearbox, the Micra is also available with a CVT automatic but this makes for a noisy companion under anything more demanding than moderate acceleration.

A facelift in 2013 resulted in revised styling and improved equipment levels, but even then the Micra struggled to gain much attention against increasingly impressive rivals

<a href="http://www.whatcar.com/classifieds/used-cars/nissan/micra">Find a used Nissan Micra in the What Car? Classifieds here</a>

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Used Nissan Micra Hatchback 2010 - 2016 review

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Looking for alternatives to the used Nissan Micra 2010 - 2016? The expert What Car? review team guide you through some great options.

Those in the market for a small car like the Nissan Micra have no shortage of options, with the Ford Fiesta acting as the obvious candidate thanks to its fine ride and handling balance, strong engines and wide range of trims.,The Kia Rio and Hyundai i20, meanwhile, both offer the kind of long-term durability the Micra was once famed for but with superior ride and handling and more upmarket interiors.,If you just want a cheap small car and don’t care for niceties such as soft-touch plastics in the interior, it’s also worth considering the Dacia Sandero, which has the added bonus of being roomier than the Micra.Find a used Nissan Micra in the What Car? Classifieds hereFor all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? Newsletter here 

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Used Nissan Micra Hatchback 2010 - 2016 review

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