2004 Nissan Micra SX from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong with the car at present.

I wanted a newer car and had preconceived ideas about Nissan Micras... that is until I drove one. I purchased the top diesel model which has a common-rail diesel injection engine (based on a Renault Clio design). This not only delivers 82PS, but also does around 70mpg. It really does! This obviously makes cheaper fuel economy, but road tax is also a snip at £85 a year as it is so ecofriendly. Bargain!

The SX class comes with a stack of features; climate control air conditioning, drive computer (which works out fuel economy, how far you can drive on the fuel in the tank, average speed etc), CD player, rain sensitive wipers (they really work in all weather and are fantastic), keyless entry and many other things I wasn't expecting to find on a small car. Even the entry level has some good standard features.

It also has a heap of storage space, I keep finding compartments I didn't know existed! I love the secret compartment under the passenger seat, and the sliding boot makes it truly cavernous. I managed to get a 32" widescreen telly comfortably in the back of mine, the salesman decided it was a tardis as is so much bigger in than out!

It is great to drive. You probably won't race anyone at the lights, but as soon as you're into 2nd gear it is really nippy and responds well should you need to overtake etc. The salesman said it is the equivalent power of a 2l petrol engine, quite a lot in such a small car! It also has speed sensitive power steering which makes a it a dream to park, but gives it a feeling of stability at faster speeds.

I love this car. The design isn't to everyone's taste on the outside, but everyone who has sat in mine loves it on the inside (even some people with high spec posh cars!) They keep saying "Wow!" and "...but mine doesn't do that!" and "But its SO big inside" and "Did you say this was a micra??". They're impressed. And so I am I. Enough said.

This car is awful. My mum owns one and I have driven it before. Let me get started with the outside - the shell design and headlamps look awful, that most people agree with.

The inside - no rear legroom, granted enough in the front seats. The interior looks awful, feels horrible and the plastic looks cheap, especially the white buttons, and the seating position is awful.

The drive - quite possibly the worst drive I have ever experienced, very very slow and could not match any 2 ltr petrol engine's performance figures. I own a Fiesta ST 2 litre petrol engined car, and it's much much quicker. Once you hit 3rd gear in the Micra, you will barely feel it move it's so slow.

Your performance figures are a bit off as well - my mum's 2003 1.4 petrol engined Micra will only do 104 mph, and Nissian state the 82ps 1.5 will only do 106 mph with a very slow 0-60 time of 12.3, which is hardly impressive.

The dynamics of the car are very bad as well. Once you hit 60, the car feels like it's going to fall apart. The steering has no feel to it, and if you drive it at a high speed, the suspension is not very good either.

In conclusion, the Micra is a bad car and 99 out 100 people agree. For the money you could buy a far better car eg Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta, or the Renault Clio.

"In conclusion, the Micra is a bad car and 99 out 100 people agree."

That is absolute rubbish.

If you asked 100 Micra owners what they thought, it'd probably be more like 99/100 love them.. or even 100 people on the street for that matter! The looks are controversial, yes.

OK, we know that you don't like it, but what about your mum?

And you can't compare an 88bhp (i think) 1.4 to a 150bhp 2.0! Of couse the Micra will come off worse!

I'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, I'm just saying that I'm sure a lot of people completely disagree with it.

Well of course 99 out 100 Micra owners love them. If they didn't like them, they would not have bought the car.

What I said was 99 out 100 of all people don't like them, which is hard to argue with when you look at their sales records and reviews. Take Top Gear for example, biggest car media program worldwide, and it was voted a seriously uncool car to have.

You also said the salesman told you that your Micra was equivalent to a two litre engined car, even though the car will only do 104 mph... OK... when you make statements like that you should be able to back them up by comparing them to other two litre cars. It's like saying my 2 litre Fiesta is equivalent to a Ferrari Enzo - it's not at the end of the day, and I have no basis for making that comment, and neither did your salesman.

Well I own a 2005 Micra, and I think it is a really nice car to drive. I have had it almost 2 years now and am happy with it. My husband drove it and liked it too, so he exchanged his Skoda Fabia which was a 1900cc diesel that he loved too, but he did not need a bigger engine anymore, the tax was higher, so he was quite happy to have the Micra.

There are one or two little points I may change, but overall I love the car.