Almera advice (or other options)

Ronan|Raven

Howdy, my current car is on the way out and I am in a bit of rush to replace.. (03 Reg Pug 206 1.4HDI in van config, with nearly 170k miles, runs off the smell of diesel.. )

I am looking for opinions on a 2007 Nissan Almera 1.5 SXE. A garage near where I work has one at the moment. My mileage is very low these days, 20KM a day with the occasional long run west once every 6 weeks or so.

I have a budget of around €6500 if pushed to it. I don't do the mileage to justify a modern diesel..

bazz26

€6500 will get you a decent petrol Kia Ceed or Hyundai i30. Both are vastly superior to a Nissan Almera. That model Almera was launched back in 2000 and even back then it was hardly ground breaking so by 2007 they were geriatric.

Hyundai i30:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Hyundai/i30/DELUXE-1.4/55314037127169650/

Kia Ceed:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/Ceed/1.4-EX/50514009344632770/

Other options:

Honda Civic

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Honda/Civic/1.4-I/60914051721160370/

chicorytip

You should disregard most of the negative reviews of the Almera which proliferate here on Boards. It's a fine car.
Bombproof mechanically, relaxing if not exactly invigorating to drive and handsomely styled.
A well maintained example should be good for 250 thou. mls. You should pay no more than 4,000 euro however. A sound investment. I've owned three.
Completely painless experience.

coolbeans

chicorytip wrote: »

You should disregard most of the negative reviews of the Almera which proliferate here on Boards. It's a fine car.
Bombproof mechanically, relaxing if not exactly invigorating to drive and handsomely styled.
A well maintained example should be good for 250 thou. mls. You should pay no more than 4,000 euro however. A sound investment. I've owned three.
Completely painless experience.

So your experience makes you completely right does it? My buddy just blew 1200 on a timing chain amongst other things. He'd definitely disagree with you. But, sure you know it all.

chicorytip

Nope.I don't claim to be "right" about any
subject.I am just expressing a point of view.When it comes to motorcars most will probably have a bias against one manufacturer or another but,usually,not
for the most rational reasons.
I don't like VW,for instance.Why?Not because they don't produce good cars but
because that company was established by and will forever be associated with,in my mind,one Adolf Hitler.

bazz26

chicorytip wrote: »

You should disregard most of the negative reviews of the Almera which proliferate here on Boards. It's a fine car.
Bombproof mechanically, relaxing if not exactly invigorating to drive and handsomely styled.
A well maintained example should be good for 250 thou. mls. You should pay no more than 4,000 euro however. A sound investment. I've owned three.
Completely painless experience.

The 2003 onwards model has well documented issues with stretching timing chains that results in needing it replaced. And I know looks are subjective but handsomely styled is something not many use in the same sentence when describing an Almera.

At the end of the day there are much better and more modern cars on offer that will provide the same level of basic no frills a to b transport.

JohnBoy26

chicorytip wrote: »

Nope.I don't claim to be "right" about any
subject.I am just expressing a point of view.When it comes to motorcars most will probably have a bias against one manufacturer or another but,usually,not
for the most rational reasons.
I don't like VW,for instance.Why?Not because they don't produce good cars but
because that company was established by and will forever be associated with,in my mind,one Adolf Hitler.

Sorry to be blunt here but those almeras are piles of sh1te imo, I'm not biased either, I owned a few nissans and was a fan of older Nissans and how well put together they were mechanically. That model almera though wasn't like Nissans of old, it wasn't very reliable, it gave a few expensive mechanical problems(timing chain, gearbox, and on facelifts melted headlights) it felt cheap and nasty inside too(especially the facelifted cars) and it wasn't that nice to drive either. Oh and the radiator cross member rots on them also.

JohnBoy26

bazz26 wrote: »

The 2003 onwards model has well documented issues with stretching timing chains that results in needing it replaced. And I know looks are subjective but handsomely styled is something not many use in the same sentence when describing an Almera.

At the end of the day there are much better and more modern cars on offer that will provide the same level of basic no frills a to b transport.

The chain problem is much more evident on 00-02 pre facelift cars, the ones with the black rocker cover.

JohnBoy26

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

Howdy, my current car is on the way out and I am in a bit of rush to replace.. (03 Reg Pug 206 1.4HDI in van config, with nearly 170k miles, runs off the smell of diesel.. )

I am looking for opinions on a 2007 Nissan Almera 1.5 SXE. A garage near where I work has one at the moment. My mileage is very low these days, 20KM a day with the occasional long run west once every 6 weeks or so.

I have a budget of around €6500 if pushed to it. I don't do the mileage to justify a modern diesel..

One of these would be a good option.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-corolla-strata/7537180

coolbeans

chicorytip wrote: »

Nope.I don't claim to be "right" about any
subject.I am just expressing a point of view.When it comes to motorcars most will probably have a bias against one manufacturer or another but,usually,not
for the most rational reasons.
I don't like VW,for instance.Why?Not because they don't produce good cars but
because that company was established by and will forever be associated with,in my mind,one Adolf Hitler.

You did claim to be 'right' since you started your post urging others to disregard all over views but your own based on your experience. You can't back pedal outta that one.

chicorytip

coolbeans wrote: »

You did claim to be 'right' since you started your post urging others to disregard all over views but your own based on your experience. You can't back pedal outta that one.

I said "most" not "all" other reviews.
There are,clearly, a few more who share my own informed opinions !!

coolbeans

chicorytip wrote: »

I said "most" not "all" other reviews.
There are,clearly, a few more who share my own informed opinions !!

Aside from all the semantics about dependability, you can get lots of nice cars for the OP's budget. The Nissan Almera ain't one of them.

For Forks Sake

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Sorry to be blunt here but those almeras are piles of sh1te imo, I'm not biased either, I owned a few nissans and was a fan of older Nissans and how well put together they were mechanically. That model almera though wasn't like Nissans of old, it wasn't very reliable, it gave a few expensive mechanical problems(timing chain, gearbox, and on facelifts melted headlights) it felt cheap and nasty inside too(especially the facelifted cars) and it wasn't that nice to drive either. Oh and the radiator cross member rots on them also.

Worst gearbox of any car I've ever driven. You actually have to get into a fight with it.

ianobrien

OP, I had an 05 one that I ran to 250k with no major problems (one rear caliper and two heater motor resistor packs). Most of the problems IMO are down to either poor maintenance or cack-handed drivers.

The timing chain is grand as long as the car is serviced ON TIME, every time (both mileage and time) with proper oil. The gearbox is fine for people with mechanical sympathy but as you know some people would bend a crowbar in a bucket of water.

Yes the car is dull to drive but I assume you'll be travelling at normal speeds so it's perfectly fine transport. €4K should get the last of the line ones and OP, try to make sense of the heater controls before you buy. If you can't understand them, they'll drive you demented.

toyotaavensis

chicorytip wrote: »

You should disregard most of the negative reviews of the Almera which proliferate here on Boards. It's a fine car.
Bombproof mechanically, relaxing if not exactly invigorating to drive and handsomely styled.
A well maintained example should be good for 250 thou. mls. You should pay no more than 4,000 euro however. A sound investment. I've owned three.
Completely painless experience.

I respectfully disagree with you here. It is strange, I know some people who have no issues with their almera and others like myself who have bad stories. I have also owned one and to call it a disaster would be an understatement. She never missed a service but over a six month period:
Clutch wore out (not the cars fault)
Gearbox packed up
Timing chain stretched
Camshaft, lambda and Crankshaft position sensors packed up (about 200 each)
Heater controls broke (for the second time in my ownership)
Boot leaked
Wiper linkages had to be replaced

outside of this six months
all the brake calipers had to be replaced
It ate light bulbs
It developed a fault where she would stall randomly when slowing down caused by a pipe getting blocked

Anyone who thinks these as their car needs to and realise the cost of the gearbox and timing chain failures. OP there are lots of cars in the class that are better options Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 or maybe a Honda Civic. All of which would be better

Also as the engine is a 1.5 it will be more to tax.

JohnBoy26

toyotaavensis wrote: »

Also as the engine is a 1.5 it will be more to tax.

Not massively more though, only about 28 euro more per annum. Not worth it with the almera though as it's bigger engine offers no advantage over it's 1.4 rivals like the corolla and civic.

toyotaavensis

Your right but I had just taxed the car before mine went to **** so as the Labour party say "Every little hurts"

colm_mcm

Most Almeras don't have ABS or side airbags either, which is disgraceful.

toyotaavensis

No but they did have ventilated discs all round and had good stopping power generally as they were quite light.

colm_mcm

toyotaavensis wrote: »

No but they did have ventilated discs all round and had good stopping power generally as they were quite light.

They had rear discs for about 18 months, then changed to rear drums from 01 to 04 then went to discs again.

Either way, ABS is a must-have, and its omission speaks volumes.

JohnBoy26

toyotaavensis wrote: »

Your right but I had just taxed the car before mine went to **** so as the Labour party say "Every little hurts"

And this is probably what it went on :pac:

ianobrien

colm_mcm wrote: »

Most Almeras don't have ABS or side airbags either, which is disgraceful.

But having barrel rolled one up the road I can confirm that they are strong buggers of cars. I walked out with a bent pair of glasses from the airbag.

Also, as the one the OP referenced is a '07 that will have ABS and the climate control will have an a/c chiller unit fitted.

JohnBoy26

colm_mcm wrote: »

They had rear discs for about 18 months, then changed to rear drums from mid 01 to 04 then went to discs again.

Bizzare move.

colm_mcm

ianobrien wrote: »

But having barrel rolled one up the road I can confirm that they are strong buggers of cars. I walked out with a bent pair of glasses from the airbag.

Also, as the one the OP referenced is a '07 that will have ABS and the climate control will have an a/c chiller unit fitted.

I traded in an 06 SXE or SVE (can't remember rightly) that had no ABS but bizzarely had other extras

JohnBoy26

ianobrien wrote: »

But having barrel rolled one up the road I can confirm that they are strong buggers of cars. I walked out with a bent pair of glasses from the airbag.

Also, as the one the OP referenced is a '07 that will have ABS and the climate control will have an a/c chiller unit fitted.

The climate control is horrible on them, the way its integrated with the radio.

colm_mcm

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The climate control is horrible on them, the way its integrated with the radio.

Amazing that they got it right on the Primera, and its practically the same system.


You do get the hang of it though, but its unnecessarily complicated and counterintuitive

toyotaavensis

colm_mcm wrote: »

They had rear discs for about 18 months, then changed to rear drums from 01 to 04 then went to discs again.

Either way, ABS is a must-have, and its omission speaks volumes.

My 01 had discs all around so not sure about this.

chicorytip

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

Howdy, my current car is on the way out and I am in a bit of rush to replace.. (03 Reg Pug 206 1.4HDI in van config, with nearly 170k miles, runs off the smell of diesel.. )

I am looking for opinions on a 2007 Nissan Almera 1.5 SXE. A garage near where I work has one at the moment. My mileage is very low these days, 20KM a day with the occasional long run west once every 6 weeks or so.

I have a budget of around €6500 if pushed to it. I don't do the mileage to justify a modern diesel..

What did you decide to do?

Ronan|Raven

chicorytip wrote: »

What did you decide to do?

Just put a deposit on a 1.4 2007 Kia Ceed