We've been looking for a small 2nd car for my wife, short journeys, 5dr for kids, just nip around town mainly type of stuff, some occasional A road driving, but driving is a necessary evil for my wife, not a pleasure.

It's looking like she's settled on the current style Micra.

So anyone got/had one?

Opinions/experiences please.

Thanks

I drive one (don't laugh it was given to me) i Really do like it..It's an auto, the box is fine until i want to 'make progress' then it's quite jerky, but for general pootling/cruising its no effort at all.
5 door has plenty of room, good visibility and easy to manoeuvre…Seat folded down can get plenty of kit in and bike fit no prob at all

good reliable little cars,
Roomy inside for its size, and not bad on the comfort wise! (had to drive one to Banbury from Deepest cornwall and back whilst delivering a car- another micra,- worked for nissan garage) good on juice, Cracking turning circle too!
good little motor!

My fiancee has an 07 one (more or less the same as the slightly facelifted current version). The 80bhp 1.2 has enough power in it for most things, although gets a bit noisy on the motorway. We do 16000 miles a year, much of that with a bike on a rack on the back or in the boot, and it hasn't missed a beat. Would not hesitate to recommend it. May not be a trendy car, but handled the recent snow well and is a doddle to park and drive around town.

What about a Suzuki Swift ?

Now owned by Renault with the built in faults. Power steering faults. Excessive timing chain stretch. Some have keyless entry / start which are notorious for failing. Have also seen drivers seat recognition sensors breaking up.

If it was my own money would go for a Yaris.

Second the Yaris. I drive the GF's and I like it. Could do with a bigger engine mind. Micra is ok as the GF's sister has one. Nice little car but feels small compared to the Yaris.

Ah, the Micra. The car that has a mirror in the driver's seat visor, but not the passenger side. The car with a little hook for shopping bags in the passenger footwell. How I love thee!

Well, sort of.

As mentioned by al-london, UK Micras are actually produced in conjunction with Renault. I bought a Nissan thinking, "Woo, Japanese cars, super reliable. I didn't realise it was secretly French. My 04 Micra was fine for the first three years, until…

1) The engine died. I took it to the Nissan dealership in Leamington, and you know what? They never actually figured out what was wrong with it. It was 'something to do with the engine electronics'. I still have fond memories of them having it for FIVE DAYS then telling me, "The diagnostic computers say that there's nothing wrong with it, but we know there's something wrong with it, because it won't start".

They ended up replacing a shit load of stuff, including the starter motor and all of its surrounding electronics, to the tune of £800 – fortunately, my car was 2 weeks within the three year warranty. Needless to say, I never bothered going back to that Nissan dealership, as they were a bit toss.

2) Also around the three year mark – the boot lock went haywire, randomly locking and unlocking. Not particularly entertaining when driving home down the motorway after a 10 hour flight, at six in the morning, in the freezing cold. Just after this, my car went in for its first recall, which was indeed to sort the central locking. The next recall was for the ignition switch.

3) The connector between the wiper rack and the wiper motor broke shortly after the 3 year warranty expired. You can't actually buy the connector seperately (I tried three different garages, thinking the first was conning me), so I had to replace the entire rack.

4) Ah, the EGR valve, this was last year, so the car was five, bless its socks. 03-07 diesel Micras have very French EGR valves – the car started losing power to the engine, pooting smoke of various shades of grey out of the exhaust. Apparently this is pretty standard in 03-07 Micras (and Renault Clios). It also had an oil leak around this time.

5) The rear wheel bearings have had to be replaced twice, last year and this year.

6) Remember how I said the starter motor was replaced after three years? That was the second starter motor. My six year old car is now on its fifth. The third and fourth burnt out within two weeks of each other last year, this time because the ignition barrel was stuck in the ignition position, apparently…but internally, so there was no way of knowing. Ignition barrel also replaced.

7) The electronics have always been a bit iffy, my favourite was when I lost ABS, power steering and the like. Whilst driving.

That's it, so far…other than the rear-wheel bearing needing to be replaced, my Micra's been solid for six months now. I've got to admit, I'm puzzled – I've only ever owned two cars. My first car was an M reg Corsa. It did more miles (120 mile daily commute as opposed to sub-20 miles) but never had any real problems.

The other downsides of a Micra:

8.) 6ft 7 husbands don't fit in it very well as passengers, and driving it is impossible for them. If we ever crash, the airbags will have his knees.

9) There's very little leg room in the back seats. Change 'little' to 'none' if aforementioned 6ft 7 husband is in the front passenger seat.

10) The boot is tiny.

On the plus sides, when it's working it's a great little car – awesome fun to drive, very nippy, and great for town driving (and parking!). Fuel economy is very good on diesels (when the EGR valve is working…). It's just expensive when it goes wrong!

My wife has an 03 1.4 SE and its great. Not fantastic on motorways as you would expect but great around town. She normally manages around 45mpg and its quite poky with its 90bhp. Its very easy to drive with great visibility and a tiny turning circle.

The boot is big enough to fit in our double buggy on its side and with the seats down will fit in two bikes easily.

Gf has a 1.0 e model from 2004…. It's good as a town car, turning circle is amazing, and upto 20mph the engine is pretty nippy.

But, build quality is not very good, almost everything rattles, the door locks hae a habit of falling out, the boot solenoid failed, it's needed a new alternator, goes through tyres like crazy (maybe that's me driving it…)… It's got 57k on it.

My money? Toyota Yaris. Mum has one, brilliant cars!!!

Wife has a 56 plate 1.4 spirits. We also have the aforementioned boot lock problems but otherwise it's a good little car for the reasons already mentioned. She had the previous model too and that was good but we may look elsewhere next time (Mazda 2)?

My wife had one.

The 1.2 was a good, revvy engine, but not a lot of low-down grunt which would be more suitable for a town car. My wife doesn't constantly drive to keep the engine 'in the power-band' so prefers the more torquey (less peak power, but irrelevant) engine in the Fabia.
It had a few inherent faults, including timing chain stretch (EXPENSIVE) and electrical gremlins in the central locking and lighting.

The Boot is tiny

The suspension was very soft, the body-roll was excessive and handling was very soggy. It is not good, at all.
-My wife hadn't noticed how poor it was until she got a Fabia when she appreciated the better suspension, so it depends on your point of reference.

It had been value-engineered to within an inch of its life, it was flimsy and felt like a toy car.

Don't believe the traditional view of Nissan build and reliability. It is not an 80s Sunny, it is part-Renault.

Verdict:
Rubbish.
Get a Fabia or a Fiesta. Much better dynamics and/or quality.

Had looked at the Yaris but put off with the recent Toyota issues.

Tried the Suzuki swift and I liked it but my wife doesn't.

Fiesta, she can't reach the pedals, and new shape she can but out of our price range.

Any other suggestions from those that don't like the Micra?

107 – I loved driving it, wife didn't, boot way too small.
207 – Didn't like driving position
C1 – See 107 above
Clio – Just No
Ka – Wife loved it, but seats don't come forward far enough for kids getting in the back
Fiat 500 – Similar to Ka above
Panda – Too basic
Corsa – Didn't like the drive

Had looked at the Yaris but put off with the recent Toyota issues

media hype. non-issues in reality.

Mazda 2 has been mentioned, subaru justy if you like to be different and quirky(!)

Had looked at the Yaris but put off with the recent Toyota issues

media hype. non-issues in reality.

Agreed, Toyota is one of the few brands I am happy to spend my hard earned money on. I work in Auto Electrics and diagnostics and some of the things I have seen recently still shock me.

I also happen to be capable of carrying out the relevant software downloads to cure the Toyota issues which means I am one of the few people to come out of problems like this earning more 🙂

honda jazz is another alternative, Very good littleish car, hold value amongst the best in class,

Fiesta, she can't reach the pedals, and new shape she can but out of our price range.

Really? What height is she?

You can lower the seat a fair amount with the lever thingy on the right-hand side of the seat (think you pull it up). Lady I bought mine* from was tiny but evidently had no trouble reaching the pedals

* W reg – '99 i think

Fiat 500?

Don't know if this puts you off?

It could either make your one worth less second hand, or could mean you get a cracking deal on the last of the old style.

Thanks for the suggestion of a Yaris, tried one back to back with a Micra and we both agreed it was the better car – deposit paid, and excitedly awaiting it now.