Looking at a Nissan Almera, Opinions please?

bongi69

Hi,

Am in the line for a good 2nd hand car, and have been looking at various 1.5L Nissan Almera's between 2001 and 2003, all between 50-60K miles. Prices between 3000 & 4000.

Having never had a Nissan, I'd like to get opinions on this car, and the make in general. Is there any issues that can present themselves such as dodgy interior bits, any problems that I should be wary about, and what its like to live with in general, in terms of servicing, reliability etc.

Views much appreciated.

colm_mcm

lets see.

Dodgy headlights on the 03 facelift models
dodgy camshaft position sensor
dodgy timing chains that stretch prematurely
dodgy radios


also awful seating position, gearchange, interior finish and steering.

bongi69

colm_mcm wrote: »

lets see.

Dodgy headlights on the 03 facelift models
dodgy camshaft position sensor
dodgy timing chains that stretch prematurely
dodgy radios


also awful seating position, gearchange, interior finish and steering.

Sounds like my current Seat Ibiza

fonecrusher1

The 1995 to 2000 almera's are solid machines. I owned one.
Pity the later version has a few inherent problems from what i hear.

bazz26

I would be looking at something like this instead:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200945195775010

colm_mcm

Good call Bazz.

bazz26

Might not be such a good idea buying from that garage though as they made the news before.

balcan

Gearbox issues,Mothers just gone on 04 model.Was looking for almera van myself and checked out net and this seems to be a common fault even at low mileage.Recomment Mazda 323f,wife had one for 4 years and never gave any problems with it.Sold it to her brother and he still has it to this day and never cost him a penny bar servicing.

colm_mcm

yeah, the 323 is a good option. I always bang on about how underrated they are.

I always add that the 1.6 is the one to go for.

ianobrien

I've a 05 Almera, and I've put over 100K km on it in the two years I've had it.

The problems I've had include
2x heater motor resistors (80euro fitted at dealers)
1x Heater control unit (IIRC 350ish fitted)

Basically if there is a pollon filter, take it out and these wont happen again.

The headlights deteriate with age and I'll be replacing mine soon (reflectors corrode in them). The car has an appetite for brake pads (I've only got 80K km out of them - I normally get almost 80K miles from a set) and is quite heavy on front tyres, but that maybe more with the way I drive. There isn't a rattle or sweak from the trim, there is very little wear on the bushes in the suspension and I've no other issues.

Other than that, it's fine as transport. Allways started first time (even if I've a blanket wrapped around the 5 year old battery at night to protect it from the cold). It's serviced every 15K km or six months at home, only with Nissan consumeables and Castrol Oils. Next weekend I'm planning a coolant, gearbox oil and brake fluid change.

However, if there is a rattle from the engine on start-up, run, very fast very far. It's more than likely the timing chain and is probably on the way out, even though we put 50K on a Micra with a rattling timing chain.

Gurgle

The '01 to 'whenever' 1.5 petrol model is absolutely gutless.
Really, horribly slow.
2nd gear to over-take at 45mph slow.

Needed a timing chain and lambda sensor at ~80k miles, which was pretty costly.

Otherwise, found it comfy and handled well.

ianobrien

ianobrien wrote: »

The headlights deteriate with age and I'll be replacing mine soon (reflectors corrode in them). The car has an appetite for brake pads (I've only got 80K km out of them - I normally get almost 80K miles from a set) quote]

80K km from a set of pads is not out of the way at all to be honest.

The Recliner

I have driven a friends one a few times and I found it to be a decent car

He hasn't had anything out of the ordinary go wrong with his and is very happy with it

I found it more fun to drive than I thought it would be (it is the hatchback model) if as pointed out a bit slow on the overtake

emcc

The Recliner wrote: »

I have driven a friends one a few times and I found it to be a decent car

He hasn't had anything out of the ordinary go wrong with his and is very happy with it

I found it more fun to drive than I thought it would be (it is the hatchback model) if as pointed out a bit slow on the overtake

Worst gearbox in the known universe.
Dull to look at, dull to drive

kojack

I had a brand new one a few years ago and it was the biggest motoring mistake of my life. The gearbox wouldnt find second gear, then when that was fixed the seal went in the gearbox all after 8500km. Car is fairly heavy on petrol too for a 1.5 engine.

megapixel

worst car i ever drove. Had it for a week while my car was being repaired.
Uncomfortable and controls drove mr nuts.

Cookie_Monster

Just traded in my 03 Almera saloon.

Only problem was with the headlight bracket melting, fixed under recall.

It'll never be the best car in the world but I quite liked it, found it decent to drive, can chuck it about a fair bit. ok size in the back too.

Radio and heating combined display if good, I liked the combined neatness of it all.
Lot of travel on the gear shift compared to many other cars i've driven

EPM

New Almera in 2003 at home. 11 times back to the garage in first 12 months. Could never fully sort it. Not what you'd expect.

In fairness, a few things would have made them a decent car. A couple of inches onto the wheelbase so an adult could actually sit in the back, sort the overlight steering and sh1t gearchange, smoothen out the ride and a few of the dodge interior fittings and it would have been grand.

antodeco

I have a 2006 model, done over 80K Kms on it. Gets me from A to B. I used to get it serviced every 6 months, but after a reputable garage screwed over my car, I havent brought it back. Ive had to replace all the brake discs and clutch after around 50 - 65K Kms. I drive it like a whore so thats probably why.

Pros:
Has never really let me down.
If never travelling with more than 3 people in it, space is sufficient.
I find it comfortable enough on long drives (I have replaced the wheels and exhaust)
Nippy enough if you know where the maz torque ranges are
Handles fairly well around corners (although again, Ive fitted struts to stiffen the chassis)

Cons:
Seems to use alot of petrol (again I do drive it fairly hard)
When cold can sometimes act up
The fact the radio cant play MP3s! (Built in radio to dash)
Alot of brake pad usage (again, I use teh brakes a fair amount)

Reliability wise, no issues. It is Renault electronics, but I havent had any issues.

Tootle

I'm hoping not to jinx myself here but I have had an '02 model since 2004 and 'touch wood' I've had no problems with it. I've done quite a bit of driving in it too. The local garage I take it too also rave about what a reliable car it is and actually recommended the '04 model as an even better version.
If I had to up-grade, I'd get another...mind you after reading some of these reports I'm not convinced that I would.
My only gripe with it is its acceleration is crap but it holds the road really well. I would say 'go-for-it'!

Blazer

bongi69 wrote: »

Hi,

Am in the line for a good 2nd hand car, and have been looking at various 1.5L Nissan Almera's between 2001 and 2003, all between 50-60K miles. Prices between 3000 & 4000.

Having never had a Nissan, I'd like to get opinions on this car, and the make in general. Is there any issues that can present themselves such as dodgy interior bits, any problems that I should be wary about, and what its like to live with in general, in terms of servicing, reliability etc.

Views much appreciated.

buy my car;)
thinking of flogging my 2005 Nissan Primera SVE...
approx 110K on the clock but she's in perfect nick

plasmaguy

Provided you service it regularly, you cannot much go wrong with an Almera, reliable, comfy, quiet, nippy enough.

Ok for a runaround. If you buy an older one and the chain goes, probably should dump the car and get a new one, hardly worth replacing the chain on an older car.

Cookie_Monster

antodeco wrote: »

When cold can sometimes act up
.

I've noticed that too, it's certainly a lot rougher in the cold, particularly clutch and gearbox

murph226

slightly off topic, anyone know what gear oil a 05 model takes?

EP90?

Cheers Murph

jock101

OK cars for everyday A to B driving, but they are tinny as hell and have a very low and uncomfortable suspension. But they are cheap and reliable! Would buy one over any French cars!

Lupo_solitario

Tootle wrote: »

I'm hoping not to jinx myself here but I have had an '02 model since 2004 and 'touch wood' I've had no problems with it. I've done quite a bit of driving in it too. The local garage I take it too also rave about what a reliable car it is and actually recommended the '04 model as an even better version.
If I had to up-grade, I'd get another...mind you after reading some of these reports I'm not convinced that I would.
My only gripe with it is its acceleration is crap but it holds the road really well. I would say 'go-for-it'!

Stick with the 02 model as for the 04 ,First thing to check is
the Headlights dipped projector beam if they have the plastic moulded fitting will need to be changed as they melt and deform ,
Timing chain sub standard , stretch causing camshaft sensor problems ,they had a recall in england for this problem , dont think (might be wrong) they did in Ireland
Which is not suprising and I have had great fun with Nissan Ireland and their brillant customer care :mad: Gearbox hit and miss , Had a 99 almera was a brillant car , before that 2 sunny's never had a bother from any of them ,got a 2005 almera its a F**KING nightmare thankfully will be getting rid of it soon
will never buy or recommend nissan to anybody again especially after dealing with their wonderful Customer Care
Morons , Excuse my rant:) its a long story!!!!!!

um7y1h83ge06nx

I have a '99 Almera and I've had mechanics and salesmen tell me it's a great car but not to bother with the newer models, they seem to have went rapidly downhill unfortunately.

EPM

jock101 wrote: »

OK cars for everyday A to B driving, but they are tinny as hell and have a very low and uncomfortable suspension. But they are cheap and reliable! Would buy one over any French cars!

Eh reliable? You're having a laugh. I reckon its about on par with the worst of the French cars and not a patch on many:rolleyes:

Mr.David

My missus has an 01 Almera 1.5 for the past two years. Granted its dull, slow and a bit nasty inside. But, for cheap motoring it has been great. She has put 40k miles on it and it hasnt missed a beat. Not a single issue

Also, she averages 48 - 50 mpg which is very good really.

Not an exciting car to drive, but not as bad as some make out. Steering is bland and imprecise, but it handles tidily enough. It does lack power though.

I service the car, and I (hope) think that as long as you change the oil regularly you wont have problems with the chain.