Hi there,
I've got my mind set on the Nissan Almera, as it seems to be a good first car buy (95-98 range) :
- Cheap insurance (£860 from endsleigh with 0 ncd)
- Cheap
- Late 80's styling but practical , so theft chance low
- Reliable from all reports read
- Comfortable
- On paper , 40MPG for petrol 1.4
My main curiosity is how the car runs on the motorway. Since these cars really are as rare as hens teeth where I am (Newcastle), I was wondering if anyone on here has much experience with them on the motorways.
How is the noise levels, and ride quality? Also, if you know this, what sort of MPG can I expect at 70~ ?
Thanks,
td
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It's a fabulous car unless you have ridiculous expectations.
I used a '98 one for regular, repeated motorway driving and it was perfectly capable of reaching the legal limit (and a fair bit more), then sitting there, purring away.
No, it isn't a Jaguar or a Mercedes, so it isn't ultra-quiet, but I doubt anything else in its class is. The ride quality on a motorway is fine, but I'm unable to remember the MPG I used to get - only that it didn't distress me. Comfort? I'm a bit on the large size and I'd drive mine for hours, with no discomfort.
Above all (and I can't say how much this matters to you - though it mattered a lot to me) was that sense of bomb-proof Nissan reliability. You knew that you would get where you were going and wouldn't end-up on the hard shoulder, waiting for recovery.
Nor did I. My Almera never once let me down. Not at all. Not in any respect - and I put a lot of mileage on it. I think (assuming the one you buy hasn't been abused) that you'd find it very hard indeed to find a better, more faithful, workhorse for the money.
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Thanks for your useful post :)
I dont have unrealistic expectations of it at all.
Reliability and ride comfort are my main concerns, as I will be regularly travelling back to Coventry (220miles+) every other weekend.
Fuel economy has been quoted around 40MPG at 70mph, which I think is fair.
I've looked at diesels, but the one's in my price range for my first car (~£2k max) just dont have the reliability I'd want, which lead me back to this.
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My wife has had a 97R reg 1.4 GX for six years. Apart from a dead battery and sticky locks (solved with WD40), the car has been fine.
As for motorway, we have done Bath to Luton and Bath to Preston in it and OK it's no Merc, but it does the job. So no worries there. On a run, you should get high 30's mpg no problem. Plus of course there's no cam belt.
If you can, get a post 98 facelft model, with the smoked rear lights, i believe that these had air con as standard. The standard Sony radio can have a 6 disc stacker added to, ours cost £150 from Halfords with free fitting, no adaptor needed.
HTH
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Mare,
Thanks for that bit of info on the car. Do you happen to know whether it supports MP3 playback?
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Hi
Pass on the MP3, it does play CD-R though.
The head unit is a Sony XR-C5100R, the CD changer a Sony CDX-T69. Like i said the radio came with the car, so it is 1997 vintage.
Mare
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Hi smokescreen,
No Almeras in Newcastle - sorry if this is a bit obvious, but have you tried hunting around Sunderland?
There used to be a whole lot more Nissans down there as a result of the factory (& therefore discounts/loyalty for/from its workers)
hth
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time.
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Hi Citroënian,
I did set my search on Autotrader to at least 60 miles, which should easily cover Sunderland from here.
Also magazines are not showing much either.
I will bare that in mind, and ask a friend in Sunderland to maybe bring back the local paper, might be a better chance there.
For anyone else reading, do Nissan Almera's show up in auctions regularly?
Thanks,
smokescreen (aka td)
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"For anyone else reading, do Nissan Almera's show up in auctions regularly?"
None available in the NE? I wish I'd known when I sold my immaculate one 18 months ago! I got peanuts for it darn sarf as a trade-in. It would have been worth the drive!
And, on reflection, I think I recall getting a steady 38mpg from my 1.4 version (no aircon) more or less whatver it was asked to do.
Good hunting!
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"For anyone else reading, do Nissan Almera's show up in auctions regularly?" None available in the NE? I wish I'd known when I sold my immaculate one 18 months ago! I got peanuts for it darn sarf as a trade-in. It would have been worth the drive! And, on reflection, I think I recall getting a steady 38mpg from my 1.4 version (no aircon) more or less whatver it was asked to do. Good hunting!
Hmmmm that could explain why I dont see many on the private market.
Owners may think because its a Nissan Almera that no one would offer a decent price for its 'bomb proof' reliability and other qualities.
So they end up trading them in... where I am in Newcastle, with a 60mile radius on Autotrader, for under £2k, theres only 9 of them! Either people are very happy with them or they're visiting some black hole after Sunderland...
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My experience-just over 16 months with this car.
Bought a 1.6 GX,and now have covered just over 21000 miles in the last 16 months,mostly journeys of a maximum of approx 250 miles one way(Essex-North Wales).
Apart from oil changes,have done nothing else by way of maintenence.Not surprising as its untouchable reliability record was the main reason I chose it.
I have driven the 1.4 as well,and would strongly recommend the 1.6 if you are doing a fair amount of driving on motorways.More engine noise on the 1.4 and the difference in acceleration is much more than what you would expect it to be for only a
0.2L difference in engine capacity.
The car zooms along absolutely fine on the motorway,I get approx ?35mpg .Its most comfortable being driven at around 65 mph as the engine revs stay at around 2500-3000,which is when you get the most fuel economy.
Having said that you could drive it all day at 80mph and it will go on and on -approx 3500revs,however the noise levels arent very comfortable then.Its mostly the tyre noise thats the problem.
You are right about not being able to find many Almeras 95-99 model on the market.Because its not a fashionable car,quite the opposite,most private sellers trade it in for whatever they get instead of attempting to place it on the market.
For some reason prices in/around London were about £400 higher than say north of Yorkshire, and so I had to travel to a remote village near Pontefract to buy it,but well worth it as there was a £500 differential in thr price!
Also if you can get an AC,it wouldnt add anything much to the price and well worth it!
Probably the only smallish car in which you could go around a mini roundabout >30-35mph without losing even a miniscule amount of grip!You would often leave all the Focus/Fiesta/Golfs drivers wondering how on earth this ordinary looking 80s looking car does it!
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JohnX: "I have driven the 1.4 as well,and would strongly recommend the 1.6 if you are doing a fair amount of driving on motorways.More engine noise on the 1.4 and the difference in acceleration is much more than what you would expect it to be for only a
0.2L difference in engine capacity."
Absolutely! It was the lack of power from the 1.4 that finally made me sell it before I should have done. If you possibly can, get the 1.6.
Not sure about the AC, though. Even given the reliability of that generation of Almeras, it would be getting on a bit now and could prove expensive if it needed fixing.
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