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Nissan Almera SE in general
by madeindevon
I was in desperate need of another car, my chitty chitty bang bang had literally dropped dead in front of my very eyes...
I was open minded as to what car to get next as my criteria was nothing out of the ordinary... respectable, reliable and not too juicy..
I am a woman in a car alone each day, driving a round trip of 35 ... miles per day through country lanes, and often in the dark.. I needed to feel safe.
Sadly I was not in the market for a new car, so it makes it harder to get the right one at the right price.. but I think I have found a great friend in my Nissan.
I bought a Nissan Almera for just under £2000, it is 8 years old and I was lucky enough to have a full MOT and 6 months tax..
All the old MOTs and service history came with the car... I believe I have landed myself with a diamond..
It is an automatic, 1.8 - ideally I would have gone for manual and smaller engine, but the whole package was just too good,
It drives like a new car, it doesn't show any signs of being a car heading towards 10 years old.
It has every optional extra - electric sun roof, air con, power assisted steering, air bags, cd radio, central locking... literally every optional extra. I don't know if this came as standard when new. The on board computer shows MPG, how many miles I have done, how many miles I have got left....
Boot space is superb...rear leg room, superb...
If I had to state a disadvantage it would be that the MPG could be better, I average between 30 and 35MPG,
Growing up I remember Datsuns had a bad name, now I am grown up I can see that Nissan have too, absolutely superb... love this car.
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Citroën Saxo 1.6i VTS 16V
by novagirl291
My Saxo VTS is an R reg and I bought it second hand when it had done 72000 miles. I paid around £2600 mark and it was definitely one of the "boy-racer" cars of the day. Mine is a lovely sought-after green colour.(note : there isn't just one shade of this 'green' I found out when I wanted a tin of paint! That was an adventure in ... itself. ) and had all the usual VTS trimmings like the spoiler on the tailgate...except it had a few modifications like the majority of the cars I've owned. Mine has 17 inch Kah wheels, tinted windows, quad headlights and lowered considerably. I know that in my eyes it looks good but obviously that isn't for everyone.
He was named ROCKY ~ (bet you are singing the Rocky theme tune now )
++++ Fuel economy ++++
Being a VTS, this means it is a 1.6 16V engine. Certainly the engine to have. It is very nippy and has excellent acceleration without going through tanks of petrol.
++++ Exterior ++++
Everyone must have seen a Saxo in their life at some point ~ the standard ones are of a bubbly kind of shape with no real style or 'wow' factor to it. The whole car can feel a little bit like a sardine can in some ways. I had someone lean on the arch and dent it. I think because the car is so light, obviously the metal has to be thin to allow this. It never did feel as sturdy as my Golf does for example.
++++ Interior ++++
Obviously, this is the area where most people focus on as that's where they spend their time. The dash is all plastic and has a little cubby-hole type of a glove box. It has a hinged lid and isn't big enough to fit much in. (Usual for me was a packet of haribo, my purse and phone ~ what more does this girl need?)
The seats are of a great quality I have found and very comfy. This is even compared to some of the more expensive bucket seat types I have tried. The stitching never came lose or worn on the usual place where the driver gets in and out. They were however a green and black pattern which started to resemble one of those magic-eye pictures if you stared at them long enough. Rocky is a 3 door version and so the seats have to tip up for the passengers to get in the back. This is done by a simple lever but, be warned, pull that lever with car as the seat will flip forward at a fantastic speed.
To start the car, you have to input a code into the keypad just infront of the gearstick ~ a little security feature which is always a bonus in the insurance companies' eyes.
++++ Boot Space ++++
I had this car when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter and shock set in when I thought I may have to sell it. You should have seen the smile on my face when I found out a buggy would fit in the boot ~ pure joy! For this being a small car, it certainly feels roomy. My daughter's car seat fitting in the back with no problems.
There were some down sides to owning this car however.
The accelerator cable on my car would snap every now and again. Now this isn't much of a problem to fix either mechanically or financially but a great inconvenience. (This isn't a common fault with all VTS's though ~ this was possibly more down to the modifications that the car had.)
The engine is mounted with a bolt that is about the same width of a cocktail stick! After the 3rd time of this being mended with genuine Citroen parts, my dad and brother fixed it with a huge bolt ~ problem solved. After talking to other Citroen owners of cars from this kind of era, this is common.
Overall, I loved Rocky and I'll let you into a secret ~ I STILL own it and would never sell it. Rocky has 122,000 miles on the clock now and the engine is still sounding good. Just goes to show that this car can really be worth purchasing as I personally travelled up and down the country in it going to car shows and it was my daily commuting car.
It needs a couple of new bushes and then it will fly through an MOT again and be back on the road once my Golf eventually dies.
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Mini in general
by lizrmunro
I own the Mini Cooper 1.6 2007.
How it looks outside
There is no doubt that the Mini is a gorgeous looking car. Smart, great curves and we have the blue with white roof, wing mirrors and stripes, which really makes it look sporty
Inside
Inside as you would expect from a BMW brand, high quality, especially as we have ... the chrome colour interior which makes it look more expensive. All buttons and switches feel solid. There is also quite a fun option of being able to change the colour of the lighting inside the car, to make them yellow, red, orange, blue pink or purple, which is a nice touch! We have a multifunctional steering wheel which means that you can control cruise control, radio, cd and Bluetooth.
There are plenty of airbags, and isofix fittings in the back seat for a baby seat, which is a nice extra.
The boot, in all honesty is small, don't expect to fit more than your weekly shop (and some of that might need to be in the back seat). Unfortunately this isn't practical as the sole car for a family!
How it drives
Very nippy, with light steering and great brakes with ABS. Very easy to manoeuvre round the city, also fun for country roads. Ok for motorway driving, the best thing we have is the optional cruise control which makes things much easier. It seems fairly economical on petrol.
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