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• Thoughts on replacing Polo 22 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  Safety is a big factor for me - it needs to protect me as well as Polo did, and feel as safe and chunky as Polo does (that rules out Vauxhall, Nissan, Citroen and Peugeot then). I think I'm probably just on the border of a diesel making economic sense, as I do a lot of miles visiting friends and family around the country as well as work. I don't want a big car, so small hatchback sized is ideal.
• New motor advice 16 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  I've looked at astra/focus estates (the hatchbacks dont have the boot space I need), and mondeo, vectra, nissan primera and pug 406 saloons, price wise it strikes me that i may as well go for the bigger saloon as the smaller estate is the same money, but generally with less toys. In order of initial feel i'd rate as follows: Pug 406 (Drove a 99/T-Reg 2.0 petrol Executive, 76k @ £3995) Mondeo (Drove a 2.0 zetec X (but 2000 model year) @ £4500) Vectra (Drove a W plate 2.0TDi at £4300, it had a few "issues" but got the idea that i wouldn't find the vectra too exciting to drive).
• One man's Easter 15 Apr 2004 (Forum)
  On Good Friday almost none, thus it was our 3 Harleys cruised its length at 170kph while cops on their KMX 125's and in their Nissan pickups waved feebly at us but could never catch us (regular limit is 100kph max, 60kph min). But to the point of the post: Lovely holiday signs by the roadside: interestingly in this country of 600 languages and dialects -- all in English (or sort of) Remember someone is waiting for you at home Tailgating is discourteous (58 million drivers must have no manners then) Drive now, text later (but my mistress is asking where I am, my wife is in the back and if I don't text her back she's gonna call me and I am in the proverbial) Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheels (sic) (might involve a few contortions and whoever conceived that must surely own The Doors' Greatest Hits) Don't throw your litters (visions of multiple kittens being ejected from AUV's) Drink a lot in hot weather (well I'll subscribe to that) Check your breaks regularly (lost me there) Speed may thrill but speed may kill Do not drink while you are driving (wot, not even water?)
• Letter from Lagos 17 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  We almost collected a stationwagon at one stage, and only frantic braking and swerving avoided the collision. Lovely. We are being driven about in a Nissan 4x4, whiuch is quite a useful vehcle for the roads here. Airco is essential, as the outside temp is pushing about 35-40, with humidity to match. The roadside is littered with wrecks, and the last 10 miles or so into Aba are a mechanic?
• Happy Birthday Mr Mayor 8 Oct 2002 (Forum)
  Thus his appearance tends to bring out the devotees, the anti's, the curious and the inevitable hordes of kibitzers who have nothing else to do. Finally it becomes clear. The road has ben reduced to one car width. There are TV trucks, Nissan Patrols with no license plates and blacked out windows (Bodyguards) double parked, an Army HumVee (!)at least 30 police Kawasaki motorbikes and Lord knows what else. Anyway the party has overflowed on to the street and at a group of tables are the riders of the 30 bikes, uniform shirts open, their porker beer bellies straining, gunbelts over the backs of the chairs, all swilling San Miguel beer amid large piles of empties.
• Landrovers. Good or bad? A farmer's view 14 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  The usual smarmy drivel back, The ONLY redeeming feature about the Land Rover was it's non rusting, aluminium body. Then when the Japs came in with their Toyota and Nissan Land Cruisers, Land Rover improved. BUT when M and myself went to Melbourne to visit Lindsay & Jane. We were over there for a month and one day we went to an Agricultural Show, entertained like Royalty, and I asked a farmer why was there no Land Rovers anywhere to be seen.
• £1 = 100 miles 10 Nov 2001 (Forum)
  Toyota tested them in Jersey and then said there was "not enough interest" even though everyone over there was absolutely clamoring for them. Nissan market a very good 100 mile per charge electric MPV in California (the ONLY Yank state to enforce this on the manufacturers) and several other interesting electric motors. Ford even built the e-Ka, an electric Ka which goes like stink (MUCH faster than the normal Ka) and will do 125 miles on a 60p overnight charge.
• 2024 Toyota Yaris or 2025 Suzuki Swift CVT - 2024 Toyota Yaris or 2025 Suzuki Swift CVT 8 Sep 2025 (Forum)
  A friend of my son, who is like a son to me, warned me earlier today that the Swift’s CVT is a Jatco unit and said Jatco has had significant reliability problems on older Nissans. He suggested that Jatco CVTs have a poor reputation and that Suzuki is generally regarded below Toyota for transmissions and long term dependability. He went so far as to say one would be very lucky to reach 50,000 miles without trouble in a Jatco CVT unit.
• A bit of road down under 31 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  Model names, trim and body pressings of Ford and GM products (as well as Nissan and Toyota) are subtly different from European versions creating a dream-like hallucinatory feeling. My sister?s diesel Fiat in NZ, even newer than the Outback, called itself a Punto but looked like a Grande Punto.
• What I eventually bought 3 Aug 2015 (Forum)
              This was my original post in June 2015 and I have now bought a 7 seater but I had to compromise on something - and it turned out to be the automatic gearbox. Last week I bought a 3 year old Nissan Qashqai+2 1.6 Acenta. I drove a Peugeot 5008 which I hated, and then a Renault Grand Scenic which was better but still felt too much like piloting a barge. The Qashqai+2 was very familiar as I had a 5 seater Qashqai for 3 years before buying my automatic Skoda when a shoulder injury stopped me changing gear.
• Ford Maverick - Which to buy? CRV mk1 or Maverick mk2 15 May 2012 (Forum)
  I like the mk1 Honda CRV, but I've seen a few Ford Mavericks  that look good value too. I'm looking at the 2.0 Zetec Maverick, the same car as the Mazda Tribute, not the Nissan Terrano version. There are more Hondas to choose from, as the Maverick was only on sale for a couple of years and wasn't popular, but the Maverick is shorter (which is important to me as I have to park on the street and my current 190E is long enough!)
• Help Required with New Car Options Please 23 Nov 2011 (Forum)
    The contenders have been reduced from a long list of over 20 down to 4 cars, Honda Jazz EX (2011), Nissan Note Tekna, Toyota Prius T-spirit and Honda Civic; we already have one of these latter as a lease vehicle which has about 11 months to go so obviously I am familiar with this one. I've test-driven the Jazz and found the steering rather imprecise and tried out the Note which did not appear to have any lumbar support in the seats so may not be as supportive as I like.
• Unreasonable expectations re: part exchange? 24 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  Decided we would part exchange both of our cars for one family car, and went to a garage this morning to try to get a good deal. The cars we want to part exchange are - 55 reg Honda Civic VTEC Sport with 56000 miles 56 reg Nissan Micra c+c Essenza with 9000 miles Both in very good condition, especially the Micra. We were looking to buy a new Honda Civic Type S, and had the Parker/What Car etc baseline valuations to hand for our old cars - about £5000 for the Civic and £7700 for the Micra.
• Have I placed an order? Am I liable? 22 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  I am looking to get a van for my florist business and originially thought about going down the contract hire route. I was looking at the Nissan Primastar and found a couple of places online who looked like they had some good deals. I contacted one who gave me a contract hire quote which sounded OK and after giving it some thought I gave some details to go through the finance check.
• My scariest motoring experience to date 4 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  All was well until the road which leads down ("down" being the operative word here) into the town. I was driving SWMBO's car which is an automatic Nissan Almera and I've not driven a FWD car on the snow for years. "Look at that car in front" pipes up a small boy in the back. "He's swerving all over the place!". At that moment, I lost control of the car, despite remembering something which Sir Jackie Stewart saying about one of his sons stuffing a car on a snowy slope because he didn't know about putting the car into "2" instead of "D" in such conditions.
• The Car Buying Experience 24 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  Nobody hassles you, you can ask for the keys of about 1/2 dozen cars at once, and nobody has tried to sell me finance I didn't want, and you can get a stock/price list updated four times a day Contrast with the local Nissan dealer, where I've had the 'sales manager' offer a test drive in a Primera, only to turn up at the appointed time (the day after !) to find he was on holiday and his junior wouldn't consider a drive in a Primera, only an Almera.
• Not your usual dilemma! 12 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  (I will still have a Porsche to drive because my other half has got one, and he also has a Passatt estate so we have a practical car too!) In this instance I'd have around £20k to spend. I was thinking along the lines of a Nissan 350z, Chrysler Crossfire, 225bhp TT or maybe even Boxster. I really can't work out what the best idea is. I think the depreciation of these cars once I've put 20k miles on it in 1 year will be a real sting, whereas there is currently NO depreciation on the Porsche.
• New wheels for a gigging musician? 13 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  The main requirements for the car are a) reliability b) boot space and c) suitability for motorway use: a) Breaking down on the road to a gig is A Very Bad Thing[TM], so her car needs to be very reliable and cheap to run -- which seems to point to a new car of a reliable sort (a time with a French car has left some lasting trauma, and wont be repeated) b) The boot has to be able to fit a big guitar and lots of bags, and ordinary hatchbacks don't work -- a Ford Focus ends up with half the luggage on the back seat exposed to view, though a previous Ford Orion had an excellent boot. A hired Nissan Tino has a big enough boot, so she's been thinking of one of them, but I suspect that a saloon version repmobile with a big boot would do the job as well and might be cheaper (or is that daft??) c) An experiment with a diesel car was unsuccessful because it didnt have enough voomf for the motorways (though posts here seem to suggest that some newer diesels are better) -- but beyond that it doesnt need to be a fast car, just something that can keep up with the traffic.
• Going electric? 29 Mar 2022 (Forum)
  The gaffer has a job as a teacher (yes, she’s much smarter, and better looking than me) that’s around a 50 mile commute daily and despite my attempts to talk her into a nice low mileage 2015 Civic 1.6 DTEC I’ve spotted in a local private sale she’s now decided that an electric cars fits the bill as she’s putting around £170 a month in fuel into that greedy Volvo. So off we went today to look at the Nissan Leaf, Vauxhall Mokka- e and the Peugeot 2008. No worries about problems as they’d be brand new and covered by warranty for most of the ownership term. The only sensible way to run them or most pricey new cars at the moment is via a contract lease as the leasing firms get huge discounts on the cars from the manufacturers.
• Any - Low, quiet or distorted in-car audio sound volume 11 Sep 2021 (Forum)
  I did a round trip of 105 miles to hear another recommended repairer tell me that as he'd found a small coin inside the radio my radio was finished and I'd need to buy a new one from Nissan or used on on eBay (these are a rare thing to find and cost £500 new, £200 used, sometimes £100 used but may not work if out of their original vehicle unless reset by the authorised service centre).