2004 megane or almera

paddykiid4

looking for a cheap car and i came across a local lad selling a almera and megane however i heard alot of bad things about the megane anyone know what they are really like and the almera hes looking 1950 for megame 2200 for almera i think they are priced alright however leave your opinions

ath01

Almeras are not safe.

For anyone considering an Almera, I suggest you take a look at the videos and pictures on the ECAP website.
:
http://www.euroncap.com/tests/nissan_almera_2001/86.aspx "Front impact The body structure was found to be unstable post-impact. This means it was difficult to predict how it might behave in more severe accidents."

http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/ncap/ncap_car_results.jsp?make=Niss&odel=Almera&year=1999&publicationDate=1999-01-01

" The Almera earned two stars but the second is flagged with a red bar to indicate an unacceptably high risk of driver chest injury in the frontal impact. Its cabin became unstable during the test and exposed the driver to a high risk of severe chest injury."

For Forks Sake

Meganes of that vintage have an atrocious reputation reliability-wise, especially for electrical faults. The Almera is a 'meh' sort of car, nothing special about it, and the gearboxes are amongst the very worst of any car I've driven.

rraido

if megane is over 5 years old, avoid like the plague. untold number of problems with them. electrics cause problems too. almera very boring but more reliable. gearboxes do cause trouble in them, no abs on a lot of the almeras.

naughtysmurf

As someone who drives Renault, 05 & 11, I would advise you to stay away from the 04 Megane, electrical probs are well known, can't advise on the Nissan

alias no.9

Those almeras are renowned for gearbox failure and timing chain's stretching. The meganes are just dirt.

Bpmull

We had a 2004 megane for 3 months at the start of the year and it was the funniest thing we ever had dash was like a Christmas tree it was diesel and there was nothing really wrong with it but electrics were a disaster. In the space of 10 minutes one day the following lights came on injector fault, stop light, service light, engine light, and some other one. The car was checked by mechanics nothing wrong with it purely electrics. Keycards can also cause problems sometimes and are expensive to but right. The 2007 on model megane was a huge improvements.Almeras have gearbox trouble as already mentioned. Neither cars are great tbh.

colm_mcm

Is there a third option perhaps?

For Forks Sake

colm_mcm wrote: »

Is there a third option perhaps?

Broda Uctavio?

bazz26

If you want something cheap and reliable then look at the Mazda 323, should be able to pick up one of the last models in 2003 cheap enough now.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/3961347

While the 323 is fairly outdated these days they were an old school Jap car where they had simple mechanics and hardly ever gave bother. Much better than the other two you mentioned.

paddykiid4

colm_mcm wrote: »

Is there a third option perhaps?

wasalso looking at 00 astra for 1000 a bit dear i taught and a 01 punto for 1000 but they are crap

paddykiid4

alias no.9 wrote: »

Those almeras are renowned for gearbox failure and timing chain's stretching. The meganes are just dirt.

i was expecting as much about the renault but would have taught the almeraswould have been better tbh

bazz26

The first generation Almera were a very good dependable car but the second generation never matched it. As mentioned timing chain issues, etc were common problems.

colm_mcm

Problem solved.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4054543

For Forks Sake

colm_mcm wrote: »

Problem solved.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4054543

Thats a bit sideways for my liking.

That said they are a solid, if utterly dull, car

ianobrien

ath01 wrote: »

Almeras are not safe.

Well, I rolled one up the road and I walked out of it so a general sweeping statement like that is not quite true......

OP, the Almera is not that bad reliability wise. Just check that the servicing was done bang on time with proper oil. I firmly believe (but can't prove) that a big reason for stretched chains is skimped oil changes.....

Wheelnut

I have an 05 Almera and it's totally reliable, no problems with the gearbox or timing chain. My daughter had a Megane and had all the problems with window regulators, immobilisers etc.

The secret with the Almera is to just change the oil when you are supposed to.

However, some posters suggest that neither car is good, in that case the Almera has more room and better accessability under the bonnet for repairs.