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Nissan Pixo
by johnyboy123
This is the first car I have ever owned and I love it. Having test driven a basic Visia model and also the Acenta, I decided to opt for the Acenta, as it comes with features such as front fog lights, air con and extra airbags. I haven't looked back. The car is super cheap to run - I can fill the tank on less than £40 at present prices ... and the mpg is amazing, even doing day to day runs to and from work/supermarket etc. - a full tank lasting a month or so depending on your journeys! Since the engine emissions are low, road tax is free during the 1st year of ownership and £20 a year thereafter (current prices). It's also in one of the lowest insurance groups too.
Around town, the little engine is very responsive and nimble. The steering and handling are very good too. Even out on the motorway, the Pixo will quite happily cruise along at 70mph. Sometimes, overtaking on a steeper hill requires down shifting to maintain speed or achieve the required acceleration, but given that the engine size is just under 1.0l, it's still really impressive.
In terms of features, it's well worth opting for the higher Acenta model (around £1k more than the Visia) as I found it to be more comfortable to drive in. The boot is small, but the rear seats fold down easily (in the Acenta, these are split fold which makes life a LOT easier). Having 4 doors makes it very easy to carry passengers and 4 adults are able to travel comfortably without any noticeable deterioration in engine performance or handling.
My only advice would be to remember that this is a budget city car so it is not going to have all of the features of larger, more expensive cars. Despite this, it is a very comfortable, practical car that is ideal as a first car or for lots of town/city driving.
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Nissan Micra (1983-92)
by jdday1978
Nissan Micra k11 is it any good? Well i've owned my micra for the last 4 weeks and only paid £1200 for a 2001 with 55000 miles on the clock, at first I was a bit sceptical as this was for the girlfriend to drive but after driving it I am very very impressed, first of all the shape is very bubbly and a bit girly but does have a good solid ... body and not tinny unlike some small cars I have driven.
The interior is well made and is very comfortable to sit in but the front seats do feel loose with wear as they are used regular to let people in and out of the back (only for 2 door versions), the dash is well laid out and everything you need is right at your fingertips and the steering wheel can be moved up and down to adjust to peoples height and driving positions, it also has a fair bit of space in the boot for a small car and can easily carry a full load of shopping.
The engine is very reliable and easy to service by oneself, and it is chain driven so no need to worrie about cam-belt changes or cam-belt breaking.
Our Nissan Micra is only a 1L in engine size but you can get a 1.3L model, the torque in the lower gears are outstanding 0-60 in about 10/11 seconds, it does struggle up some hills when fully loaded with people but you got to respect that it is a small city car, the suspension is very light and handles the weight of 4 big people with no problem and is quiet smooth to drive.
Nissan has obviously spent a big deal at designing a good reliable car that is very economical, easy to park and have a good bit of space inside, so if you are looking for a small economical easy to drive car and at a good price you must consider test driving one of these, I promise that you wont be disappointed about anything with these cars.
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Nissan Qashqai
by NorthernSkye
We chose the Qashqai as we wanted something big enough to carry our camping gear without needing a roof box or trailer. The Qashqai came up as an option on the work lease car scheme and we decided to go for it.
The model we chose is the n-tec 1.5 dCi which is a diesel 2 wheel drive model which has a six-speed gearbox. The ... official figures for fuel economy are 47mpg in town and 58mpg on the motorway and I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of these figures. My Qashqai does the vast majority of its miles on the motorway and given the high number of miles I drive each week and the current cost of fuel, I have strated driving everywhere at 60mph. The difference in fuel economy between this and say 75mph is amazing and I will never go back to driving faster. We are now getting approximately 60mpg from the Qashqai which is more than I used to get from a diesel mini!
Inside this model are a few pretty neat features, the first you notice is the ceiling which slides back (at the touch of a button) to reveal a huge glass roof. This give the car so much light and is great to look up out of if you are not driving. We have never slid the inner ceiling back across, preferring the feeling of light and space we get from the glass roof.
Other features of the n-tec include 18in alloys, dark rear glass, climate control, cruise control which is great for fuel economy as well as taking away the risk of being caught speeding. It also has a trip computer which allows you to monitor your fuel consumption constantly, and the Nissan Connect system as standard. Nissan Connect includes the CD player, FM/AM radio, a USB port and a mini-jack socket, as well as built-in sat-nav with touch-screen, traffic info and Bluetooth phone connectivity and audio streaming.
It comfortably seats five people with plenty of head and leg room in both the front and back and still has room in the boot for the camping gear, though we usually fold the back seats down if there are only two of us. This creates a huge amount of boot space.
I personally cannot fault this car; it is by far the best I've ever owned in terms of styling, features, fuel economy and comfort. If there were one additional feature I could do with, it would be a second 12V connector, I am sure I have seen cars with a second one in the boot which would mean I could plug the cool box in without the wire trailing across the handbrake and gear lever - but this is really very minor.
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