Nissan Micra XV Diesel Ownership Review: 20 Months (25,000 Kms & Counting)

sandip24 · Sep 12, 2012

This is Nissan Micra ownership review. Covering buying, ownership and maintenance experiences.

One of the toughest descision of my life, which Car to go for? My heart was saying Safari Lx but my mind was saying Scorpio Lx. From the beginning I wanted to go for 7 seater vehicle though my family size is small.
Considering it’s the first car in my family, many people suggested to go for small car as it will be difficult to drive in the city considering I am a new driver. Plus the mileage in the City will not be that great .

Finally I decided to go for a hatch, and the real confusion started…, Petrol or Diesel.., the big question…. [confused]

After doing lot of analysis I had shortlisted a pertol Car, Honda Brio SMT & the costing was just above 5 Lac. Even after shortlisting I was not convinced with the descision of going for a petrol car, Even my friends made fun of my descision because my daily running from home to office is 50 Kms which I travel on bike & was willing to continue doing so on bike because if I go for petrol Car I cannot use it daily because 5 Rs per Km is too much for me [frustration]

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My initial thinking was I just need a car for my week-end drives but there was not much difference in running cost of 2 wheeler and a diesel car. So I decided to use Car on a regular basis and decided to for a diesel hatch.

Finally - New member arrived in our family on 7th July 2012.

My requirements were :
1. Mileage
2. Comfort
3. Performance
4. Engine
5. Features
6. Was not willing to spend more than 7 Lac on Hatchback.

Following Diesel Cars were in my mind :
1. Maruti Swift – Waiting period was more. Too many swifts in road – hence rejected.
2. Ritz – More spacious than Swift. Engine was good. I was ok with its rear looks. But had heard lot of reviews that City mileage is not upto the mark. Even Maruti people were not confident about their machine mileage, Hence rejected.
3. Hyundai I 20 – Costly more than 7 Lacs costing.
4. Ford Figo – Not very confident @ Ford. Heard lot of issues about ford.
5. Etios Liva – Spacious but didn’t like exterior as well as interior.
6. Polo – Very good looking but Costly [more than 7 Lac range]. Since it’s a heavy car, city mileage is not good. Maintenance is also very costly.
7. All new Vista – Dealers were not interested to sell their car, very bad dealership experience. Tata is already famus for its ASS. Before purchasing they are not ready to entertain customer think.. what will be the case after purchasing, rejected immediately
8. Nissan Micra – [glasses]

Cute Car, lookwise different [looks are subjective]. Japneese reliability.
One of my friend already had it. I had driven it also.
Push button start, everything is virtually keyless. Performace wise excellent. Mileage is best even my friend was getting above 25-26 kmpl in City+Highway.

Instead of what I liked in the car I will share whats best in the car.
1. Push Button start – Keyless entry start-stop. You just need to Carry the keys in your pocket.

2. Sensor on Front Doors – To lock and unlock the doors. No need to remove the Smart key from ur pocket..

3. Electrically operated OVRM’s – Mirrors Automatically close when you lock the car from outside.

4. Turining radius – 4.65 M, least in its segment, extremely comfortable to drive in City.

5. Ultra light Steering – Steering is extremely light at low speeds it becomes a bit hard at high speeds. I have driven it on highway at speed of 140 kmph (with ease) and was very comfortable with it.
Stability at high speeds is good, was able to take turns comforably at high speeds.
6. Gear slots are well defined and smooth to operate.

7. Engine - 1.5 Ltr Renault engine which produces 64 PS power and 160 Nm torque at 4000 Rpm. On paper 64 PS might look weak but actual case is different. When you consider power to weight ratio, micra is not much behind market standard SWIFT.
If swift does 0-100 Kmph in slightly less than 15 Sec, Micra does that in slightly more than 15 Secs. ( I have read these figures somewhere, I have never tested it. & I know I will never.. because that’s not very important to me as I don’t participate in Race )
In City at low rpm, Zero turbo lag is seen – this is unlike other diesel engines.
Even after switching on AC, no power loss observed.

8. Torque is set for all gears – Predefined torque is set on all 5 front gears. Which makes it even more easy to drive the car in City and still achieve great mileage.
In still moving traffic, most of the time, we don’t even have to press the accelerator.
Car moves constantly (even without pressing accelerator) on all gears at preset speeds, 2nd gear @ 20 Kmph, 3rd Gear @ 25-30 Kmph 4th Gear @ 30-35 kmph, 5th Gear @ 35-40 Kmph. (not sure of exact speeds)
I am not sure if any other car has this feature.

9. Maintenance – Many people think that Nissan is costly to maintain but that’s not the case. Micra is getting manufactured & Assembled in India, Chennai and being exported outsite.
So don’t have to worry about parts availability & their costs can also be compared to Maruti.
Yes, today, the delearship network is weak but I am sure it will improve in future as Nissan is very serious about Indian Market.
Road Side Assitance – Nissan is having 24x7 on call assitance (toll free number) they will answer all our queries. Nissan is also having tie-up with TVS for road side assisance. If your car broken down, u just need to call 24X7 number and based on your location nearest TVS mechanic will come to ur place and do the required work.

Maintenance costs are also low, Service interval is 6 months or 10000Kms.

10. Mileage – I think, This is the biggest plus point of Micra. I have driven 3500 Kms and I am getting mileage of more than 24 in City [AC On-OFF, I switch off Ac once Cabin is cool and restart when required.] (measured by tankful – tankful method
I am getting Highway mileage between 26-28. speed range [60-100 KMPH]
Overall I am getting mileage of @ 25 Kmpl. ( Many micra owners are getting almost the same).
Mileage displayed on screen (drivers Computer) is slightly more than actual mileage.
Distance to empty is also displayed on screen.

11. Driver Air Bag is standard across all variants.
12. Overall comfort is very good for all passangers. Rear passangers will not complain because of good head room and knee room.
13. Visibility is excellent from all the sides. Interior also looks fresh in dual color (Gridge)
14. Good quality music system with AUX-IN [ No USB – seems USB technology is outdated in Japan].
15. Best in class boot space & is well shaped. [I believe boot space is less than Polo and Figo, but still its more than Swift and found to be adequate].
16. NVH levels are well in control, at high speeds tyre sound becomes slightly audible [MRF tyres]
17. Warranty + ext. warranty – 80,000 Kms / 4 years.
18. Overall excellent delearship and ASS experience.

What can be improved –
1. Ground clearance is less.
2. Seems suspensions are very smooth.
3. Less Storage areas. [Unutilized area on dash board in front of co-driver seat].
4. Clutch is somewhat hard to operate.

Overall micra is really a fun to drive, FE figures are really excellent in city and even better on highways.. When I look at those FE figures on MID I really feel happy that I made right descision.
I got fully loaded car with, music system(in built), Seat covers, exaust finisher, Mud flaps, matting, teflon coating, sun flims, steering wheel covers, in just under 7 lacs.
Till now I haven’t spent anything extra on accessories. Though I am planning for accessories like Spoiler, Reverse parking sensor, Bluetooth etc.

Will upload the pics of my Car very soon…

Iron Rock · Sep 12, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

Nice writeup Sandip
Please post a lot of pics as well

Gurrala74 · Sep 12, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

@Sandip

Nice review !!

How do you feel about the engine noise ??

It is really wonderful FE [clap]

, Ritz is not that bad, it gives 18+ in city with 80% AC [:)]

Rightnow · Sep 12, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

Congrats Sandip24

Micra's reviews are hard to find as the car is quite rare. Good that you are happy with your car. You got nice writing skills too.

Post some pictures soon and drive safe.

singh890 · Sep 13, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

Congratulations on your new acquisition buddy [clap]

and that's a very nice, crisp and detailed review.
FE looks great too. Waiting for the pics.

dharmesh · Sep 13, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

Nice write up mate. And I am glad that you are happy with your Micra. Looks really cute to me.

sandip24 said:

Are you sure about highway stability, because I have read few review of Micra where owners are complaining about the ride above 100kmph.

This happens in PUNTO as well. I have experienced it. Don't know about other cars.

Yes FE is the biggest plus of Micra. I have read people getting 33 kmpl on odd times. [surprise]

All in all, all the best and have 1000s of smiling miles with your cute Micra. [clap]

visran · Sep 13, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

Congrat's on your Micra, very crisp writing and very impressive mileage figures can you please share the break-up of the on road cost?

carfreak · Sep 13, 2012

Re: Nissan Micra – XV Diesel – Ownership Review : 2 Months - 3500 Kms & Still Countin

Congrats for your Micra! Please do upload pics. Happy & Safe motoring [drive]

sandip24 · Sep 13, 2012

Iron Rock said:

Thank you Iron Rock, Will upload the pics in a-day or two.. [:)]

Gurrala74 said:

Thank you Gurrala.. [:)]

Engine is silent, it will be hard to guess its a petrol or diesel engine, unless someone tells you.. [:)]

@RightNow
Thank you… Yes, Micra reviews are hard to find.. but that also means that customers are happy because un-satisfied customers are more keen to post reviews than satisfied customer.. [personal opinion].
Hope my happiness continues for miles .. :)

@dharmesh
Thank you Dharmesh..
Yes .. I am very much sure of highway stability.. Engine was still silent above 100 kmph.. might be you have read about petrol micra.. Petrol Micra is a 3 cylinder engine and makes noise at high speeds or rpms.

@Visran
Thank you Visran… I m in office currently, will share the break-up tonight..

dharmesh · Sep 13, 2012