Nissan Micra hatchback (2010-2016) | owner reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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Good points: Smooth, responsive DIG-S engine, auto box has very wide gearing so economical on motorway. Over 55mpg easily possible, easy to drive in town, good turning circle, good vision out back for reversing, good brakes - it stops well. Easy access to change headlight bulbs. Useful size with fifth seat belt for occasional fifth passenger. What's not so good: Rather dull to drive, low rent interior design, at anything above 50 mph - lots of wind noise particularly from door mirrors and vibration in roof, possible to get fingers stuck in the loop that releases rear seat backs to fold down, front side windows move in as they go down so winding window up and down will not clear rain mist as on other cars. Brainless cruise control (recommend only ever use the speed limiter and never the speed hold) Cruise control which will red line the engine/try to destroy the gearbox when you press resume button at anything above 60 mph! e.g. Set cruise at 70mph and proceed until touch brake to slow to 65 for traffic, press resume, car red lines to 6000 rpm as auto gearbox kicks right down (60mph is just under 2000 on level normally) shoot right up to 75mph unless you cancel or use brakes car will then come back to its senses and coast a little before resuming at 70mph with a jolt. Similarly bizarre and dangerous habit of continuing to accelerate for about half a second after lift foot from accelerator if ever attempt to accelerate fast with pedal more than half way depressed. Letters from Nissan every 12 months for another gearbox recall. Emits loud 'donkey like Hee-haw' noses from suspension at the slightest bump in the road in cold or damp weather. This noise will stop after a long dry spell or after a long drive when its not been raining. Speed bumps should be taken at a crawl to avoid exasperating the issue which apparently relates to rubber suspension and engine mounts. Urban economy not as good as expected as it seems the car achieves its good CO2 figures from exceptionally high motorway gearing (as stated earlier high speed economy is very good). It's very economical but also very noisy on motorway. Almost pleasant to drive around town but not that economical and hates speed bumps. What worried me the most from my experience of 4 years ownership: Need for new engine mount to reduce clunking and hee-hawing at less than 10,000 miles. Need for new wheel bearing at around 20,000 miles. Need for new gearbox at just over 20,000 miles and about one month out of warranty. Nissan quote around £7000 for a gearbox! Although they can reduce the price depending on the age of the car and I don't know what, mine cost about a 10th of that but the whole thing was a degrading and worrying hateful experience. Managing to trigger a start/stop system failure when driving down the motorway without attempting to stop, following this I pressed the button to deactivate start/stop. The failure triggered again twice then that triggered the engine warning light. this caused me confusion now if I stop will I be able to start again? Not what you need on a long journey! Anyway it seems the issue was probably because it was cold weather and I was only driving at about 60mph and the battery was not in perfect new condition and before that I'd driven a few short journeys so driving at a sedate pace can cost you more than driving fast factoring in getting the car checked for a fault that probably should not have been a fault in the first place. Noticeable deterioration of the car which felt it was getting old and creaky before it was one year old, at four years old feels like a 10 year old car or older. General sense of worry owning a car which was bought for economical reliable transport that I quickly realised once 3 years old could cost more that its worth in maintenance costs. From what I was told by another disgruntled Micra owner: It's not just gearboxes that are potentially hideously expensive to repair. steering racks are apparently a common failure at around £1500. From what I have seen from the internet: Seems the Nissan Micra we can buy In the UK is built in India, not that that should be a problem with that other cars like some Hyundais are built in India, but in the case of the Micra it seems the car is built to a budget that Indians can afford so the car is sold there for a lot less than it is sold for in Europe. I'm guessing but I imagine there's a lot of cost cutting involved in the production of this car which would be acceptable if the car was very cheap in the first place with suitably cheap parts. Can I recommend this car? No, which is a shame because it has got some good points. I can't recommend it because I don't believe it provides what people buying a Micra would expect - that is cheap reliable motoring. I have owned over 20 vehicles over the past 30 years of those I count the 2011 Micra as my worst purchase. I bought this as a second car, before I could afford to run 2 new cars I've paid less than £1000 for old run around's to get me to work and back that served me far better.

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Vehicle has done 27,000 miles only had one front and two rear wheel bearings. Just had front anti roll bar bushes, total cost so far 300 pounds. Bye bye Nissan.

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I want to add to the reviews here to point out the appalling non-availability of parts for new Nissan vehicles. In my own case, my vehicle requires a body part and a headlight and is in a repair shop awaiting both parts. Nissant cannot/will not give any date for the availability of the body panel and the headlamp will take a minimum of three weeks. Nissan customer service does nothing except call up their own dealership and has no information as to why parts are not available. Will it be 6 months, a year? Nissan won't say. So my experience is one of total frustration and it has completely soured my view of this company. If you are thinking of buying a Nissan then you should bear this in mind - something that the glossy reveiws do not discuss.

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not had any problems with the car

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Very reliable

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Its new, it's never broken down (yet)

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excellent never had any problems

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Brill

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Good value runabout. Good city car.

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Great, nippy for a small car

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Worst car I have ever had the misfortune of driving. It's not a car befitting to a man at all. Its cabin is cramped with a cheap, shoddy interior. Everything inside feels cheap and poorly made. The dashboard rattles and the windows feel like they are going to fall in the door cards every time you open them. The radio system was the only good feature as it had a sat-nav but the sound system was dismal. As for driving, the car handles poorly - you can't drive the car with any degree of enthusiasm and its engine is feeble and limp. The suspension is awful, ride quality terrible. Even the seating position in the car is awkward. I noticed not many Micra drivers exceed 50mph and this is probably due to the fact that once you pass 40mph the cabin noise is hideous, the ride quality awful and this really exposes the shoddy build quality of the Micra because travelling past 50mph feels like the car is about to disintegrate. The windows rattle and the noise is hideous. I would recommend this car if you are elderly and will never exceed 30mph. For anyone else it's horrible and impractical and cheaply designed, cheaply made and it looks cheap!

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Nothing has gone wrong since purchase

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It is excellent

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Lovely car, easy to drive, comfortable with all the gadgets (sat nav etc). Economical to run. Good load space but also good for rear passengers. Only one small moan is the alloy wheels never been damaged but there are a few bubbles on the coating starting to appear. Glad i bought this model before the latest model was launched. Very satisfied customer.

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Very pleased as it is the smallest i have had

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This is my second micra and to date has been very good

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Yes Green thumbs up

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I have had 2 other Nissan Micras and have always been satisfied with them - starts first time even on a cold day

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Disappointed with mpg - not as advertised.

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First class car

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Everyone likes it

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This is a small easy to drive exceptionally cheap to run mini car. I totally fulfils my lack of finances at the moment. It is easy to drive and park and i have no concerns or worries about where i park it.

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If you're looking for an awesome little runner that's efficient, economical and reliable – a car that never disappoints, then the Nissan Micra is the way to go. I previously had a 57 reg one that I changed for this 2015 car. It has a 1.2 litre engine and lighter steering than you'll find in bigger, heavier vehicles. Mine is a perfect little runner and is cheap on fuel. I'm told that the Micra is plagued with electrical issues, but, I've never experienced any. It looks small on the outside, but is deceptively spacious. Once the back seats are folded it's like a Tardis, which was handy during my house move. I'm currently contemplating trading in for the 2018 Micra with 1.0-litre turbo engine. Will i recommend to friends and family? You bet I will.

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Car is 5 years old and has done 52,000 miles yet I have just been told that it needs a new CVT gearbox which costs £6000, twice as much as the car is worth and Nissan are unwilling to repair it. It seems like a growing number of people are having this problem yet Nissan are not accepting responsibility and extending the warranty on them. This means that the car is essentially being written off at just 5 years old.....not the best investment! Steer clear is my advice.

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Just an update on our white 2013 Nissan Micra. We have covered over 18,000 miles and owned the car for nearly 2 years and we wanted to give an honest review. The car has been perfect and no problems so far. Had first service last June and it cost £150. The car is excellent to drive and we both drive it and are pleased with the purchase. It has anti-lock brakes and ESP which work very well as tested in snow over the winter. Front tyres have lasted 18,000 miles and now need replacing. Car mainly used in daily commute of 50 miles and have had several trips of 500 miles in which the car was comfy and pleasant to drive. The Micra is a good buy new and suggest if you buy a Nissan then use a main dealer and look out for special offers (online) as dealer may reduce the price by up to £1,500.

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Nissan Micra Automatic, brand new, August 14. Within few weeks, back window winding itself down. Shortly after that, engine beginning to sound funny on occasions, sluggish ignition, radio failing few times. Finally in January 2015, screeching engine noise returns, accompanied by loss of radio and ventilation system. Back to massive showroom. Car gets new starter and ignition. The twist in the tale is that this car was replacement for previous faulty Micra bought brand new in March 2014. It too got new starter and ignition, then new radio - and the issues remained… Frequent intermittent radio failure, screeching engine noises, over-heating engine and burning smells. All of which leads one to believe there is a seriously faulty batch of Nissan Micra Automatics out there.

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Never let me down

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Yes Green thumbs up

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it's a Nissan

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I mainly do short journeys to work, shops & visiting parents, and it's ideal for that. I've only had it 5 months & had no long journeys yet but i think it would be comfortable & quiet enough for a long journey. Boot's a bit small but with back seat down i've managed to fit a 37" tv in it's box in the back with room for 10 bags of xmas shopping! 10 times better than my last car & got very good deal on it.

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Lovely car it is a pleasent to drive round the town and easy topark would buy another micra

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Very good buy ,with exelent service from main dealer

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Nissan said they would call me but they haven't yet. Re windscreen chip

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My micra was OK for the first 3 years of ownership, it was serviced by a Nissan dealer when required, but Nissan was unwilling to help when the rear beam axle was diagnosed as faulty (not damaged) soon after the warranty expired.

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Car is spacious enough, good to drive on motorways, in town and on country roads in all weathers. It really wasn't phased by snowy country roads. Could even get 3 kids with booster seats in the back. Lack of split rear seats and a light in the back has been a problem. It has though, at 26 months old, started to rust around the boot. Nissan refused to fix the first piece under warranty saying the 3inch and quite deep rust spot was from prior damage although the nissan dealer here doesn't think it could possibly be. Have another large square of rust appearing around boot hinges, so no way it could have been us. Very disappointed as rust warranty was a reason for buying a car we hoped would last us for years. Certainly wouldn't recommend.

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Bought the 2013 Nissan Micra Visia in June this year and what a great family car for under £9,000. It is easy to drive and can seat 5 adults and it also has a large boot. It has averaged over 50 mpg on our daily drive. Have completed 5,000 miles since new and drives perfect. Recommend you take a test drive as driving position is higher up and feels jeep like compared to other small cars. Build quality feels good and reliability is great as we covered 108,000 in our previous micra. Comes with 3 years free breakdown and 60,000 mile warranty as standard. A very good buy from afnoble nissan in edinburgh.

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Yes Green thumbs up