Nissan Micra: a nice car no more

Published on 23 July, 2017

Nissan Micra review: a nice car no more

Overview

Nissan Micra review

The first car I advised my partner to buy was the Nissan Micra, a good dozen years or so ago. It never let us or her down and even took over the Christmas duties from a big BMW saloon which I had on test some years ago. The rear-wheel drive Beemer was useless in the snow, while the little Micra attacked it with the zeal of a young terrier.

The Micra only went after it was vandalised by a would-be thief and it was going to be too expensive to repair. However, it went off to be replaced in a scrappage deal by her first new Hyundai i10.

The Micra was always a firm favourite of drivers at the beginning and end of their driving cycle. It was a great car to learn to drive in or potter around down to the shops. It was brilliantly reliable, almost foolproof and dead easy to drive. More than seven million units were sold worldwide, with half of those in Europe.

Although the Micra was first launched in 1983, it was the version sold between 1992 and 2003 that was most loved, a lot better than its angular predecessor and a nice balance between cute functional and Postman Pat. I always thought its successor was rather bulbous and unattractive. It deservedly tanked and nearly brought the Micra name to the bottom with it.

However, all has changed, and with the tag line No More Nice Car, a new Micra was launched this year that looks very sporty and young, with some engines to match. It is also loaded with safety spec, far above many of its competitors.

It definitely has been one of the biggest surprises in the small car segment, and was the car I was most hoping to drive in our quest to replace the current i10, which is now more than five years old. Despite being on the old platform, the new Micra is longer, wider and lower than before, with very much a coupe look, incorporating discreet rear door handles behind the windows. There is now only a five-door option.

At first sight, it didn't disappoint. I was driving the top-of-the-range 0.9 litre petrol turbo (there is also 1.0 litre petrol and 1.5 litre turbo-diesel) absolutely loaded with goodies, including a special Bose personal audio system, which includes speakers in the driver's head rest.

And it was a stonking good drive: fast, accurate and totally confident, with great road-holding. It was a bit noisy, in a gutsy way. There are lots of driving and control aids to make the whole process better. There is a great boot and style and space up front is first class. Customisation is very big in the Nissan view of the Micra and a way of squeezing out the pennies from its customers.

However, while the new Micra starts at €16,650, the model I was driving was more than €24,000, which is pretty mighty for a car which may have lot of leather, safety and "personalisation", but would have difficulty squeezing two adults behind me if I was driving.

Which is just as well, as they would feel pretty claustrophobic with the low roof and high darkened windows and only manual winders, which are pretty rare these days. Also, the rear doors don't open wide enough to be much help in loading people, or even taking the narrow ramp for our increasing arthritic dog, Sam. The five-year-old i10 keeps its place in our garage on that alone.

I often warn people about buying the first run of a new model. It is often better to wait a bit until some of the initial faults - and there will always be some - are ironed out. Nissan told me that the test car had been pretty busy since the launch in April, which might explain why the adjustment control for the driver's back seat was missing, panelling on the door sill was coming loose and the cowling under the driver's door mirror fell off when I shut the door one day.

I hope it isn't because Nissan are now building the car at a Renault plant in France and not in Japan, Thailand or India as of old.

However, it is difficult not to be pretty impressed by the way Nissan has reimagined the Micra, although the space in the back would be an issue for me, even for just picking people up from the airport or transporting Sam.

The safety equipment was massively impressive, but the car is beginning to get expensive.

When the new small car platform, which is being shared by Nissan and Renault, is launched, much of the criticisms I have of the Micra may be solved - but that will take a few years.

At the moment, the car will appeal to a younger, more stylish crowd, but at the other end of the spectrum, I have my doubts.

And now the older crowd also don't have the very able Note to meet their needs, I think that Nissan has missed a trick here.