new facelift micra problems

[jdci]

hi all ,

I picked up my new k13 facelift in sept ,
its a 1.2 visia,

I bought this car pre launch so didn't test drive it , "FATAL MISTAKE"

my thoughts so far are very poor, "i had a k12 1,5dci prior",

the build quality is shocking , the rear seat covers are coming away , the drivers headrest rises up as u drive , and has a general feeling of , WE DONT CARE,


the engine is extremely under powered , it struggles to pull the car , "rumor is this engine may be going in the new qashqai",

my fuel consumption is 47.5 combined which is far less than the 56 mpg combined listed by Nissan .

whitin 2 weeks the car had to go back as the heat shield was vibrating through the gear box.

now the vibration is back , the power steering motor whines on full lock , and the gear box is the worst I have ever had , I sometimes need to stop the car before I can go down the box into 2nd and 1st gear.

it is going back to the dealers in the morning to hopefully rectify these problems.

what upsets me about this poorly built car is , it has neither power or performance and is not economical .

my previous 1.5dci was a rocket ship and did over 60mpg.
at the time I traded my 1.5dci micra ,for this new facelift k13, I also parted with a 1.6tdci fiesta which had 110bhp and 76mpg and zero road tax.

I personally think Nissan needs to seriously up there game , none of there range are economical for the 21st century , and the new engines they are developing have no power.

I had a discussion with a Nissan representative 2 weeks ago ,and I explained my disapointments with this new car ,I had micras 20 years ago that did more mpg and more pwer than the new ones , is it me or are Nissan going backwards ,,,,,this is my 3rd new micra and will be my last.

I would be interested if anyone else has similar thoughts or have I just got a bad micra.

thanks all

john

 

[adrian17]

Hi John! I used to own 2 micras K13 (1st generation - see the profile pic), traded the gray one for a e11 2013 Note (old model). They are 1.2 CVT and do 5.9-6.9 l/ 100 kms in town and around 5.5-6l/100kms on the highway (summer time). In the winter time the fuel consumption increases alot, around 8.3 in town. Highway do not increase much, as the engine warms up and gets more eco.

The plastics are cheap indeed and I also had problems with the front suspensions on both cars, in the 1st 1000 kms. Also the Connect SatNav doesn't properly work with USB sticks, it keeps freezing.

I expect this car to be "fine" for the next 5 years, as the plastic components in the engine bay remind me of the old renault,cars where, if you recon, the plastics after a certain age (10 years or so) used to melt in your hand and become dust as you touched them.

After all , Renault owns Nissan, so the cheap, non quality products are expected. I also rushed into buying 2 Micras (1 of them i recently swapped for a Note, cause I needed the space and also Note looked like a more solid car). I think the new Note is as bad in quality matters as the facelift Micra.

If I could turn back time, I would have bought 2 2nd hand cars, original Japanese made and use the rest of the money for other things.
Also Nissan charges a load of money for the Service. Went for the 15000 service, they changed 1 air filter and oil and charged me 134 euros (58 for parts and rest of 76 for labour!!! can you believe that? and they also used the car for other businesses as the fuel tank was emptier and few extra 10s of kms on the clock).

Another problem i found was the very soft suspension . It makes me feel every pot in the tarmac like a sports car, but when cornering it tilts on the side with loads of over-steer.

As for the engine, being a CVT, once i press the pedal, it revs amazingly fast to 5000 rpms and accelerates nicely, reaching 100-120 kms/hr without struggle. Also I raced manual Micras and they were also accelerating nicely.

Also speaking of the gearbox, the Note I have now it's manual and it also struggles in 1st and 5 th. I think it's because of the bad engineering and of the fact that they are "cable" controlled pivots and not directly metal rod, like in a MX5 for example.
I feel no vibrations or other problems for the moment... but as you said, you bought the car pre-launch so usually the 1st and 2nd batch are bad, till they figure out where each part goes and rectify the faults.

I personally believe that buying a car can be right when that certain generation ends, like the Note I bought, it was on of the last 6 in the market here, as the new Note was expected. Being the last ones, the factory had time to rectify any engineering flaws and provide a "good" final product.

Final thoughts: I'll never get the Micra into the Nissan's service, I'll service it myself and provide them with bill proof that every job has been done at the proper time, so the warranty won't void.
And for sure I will replace the suspensions on all 4 corners as soon as the sport suspensions companies will launch sport struts for the micra (i don't want coilovers, as they require often adjustments).

I hope my thoughts helped, and I am truly sorry you had bad luck with your car.
Best regards & Merry X-mas!

 

[jdci]

hi adrian

thanks for your thoughts , sorry that you have had some problems as well ,I knew the k13 had some initial problems , but I , in my ignorance presumed Nissan had rectified them and hence the k13 facelift . I did some on line research the other night and found sales figures for the k13 have dropped considerably , I even read an article that said sales figures in india , were the car is made has dropped by 58%.

I bought a 3 year service plan for £300,

so my car was back to the dealers for the second time yesterday,

as regards the vibration , they cant see any problem ,

the rear seat bench needs replacing as the seat cover is coming away .which is amazing since no one sits in the back .

I haven't had any problems with the suspension yet , but will bare it in mind.

the whining from the power steering motor is ,,,, they are electric and its the motor drive I can hear.

as regards the gearbox , the technician said that he cant find any problems with it ,,,, it is , as what he would expect with a comparable vehicle,,, ,I think that's code speak for , all micras have bad gear boxes .

when I went to collect my car , I asked if the technician could come on a test drive so I could show him the problems ,instead they sent the service manager out with me .

I felt sorry for him , because as politely as I could I told him how poor the car is , from build quality ,to performance and fuel economy

he did admit that he could see my problems with the gearbox , as I couldn't even get it in 1st gear to pull away .
the short story of my test drive is, that is the new micra , the gear box cant be adjusted .

I am expecting a call from Nissan sometime , I had prior to my car going into the dealers had a discussion with them about the problems with my car.
when they do call I am going to insist they fix my gearbox , even if I have to have a new one fitted .

I am so tired of being fobbed of by companys saying , sorry we cant do anything ,

the dealers I bought the car from , Bristol st motors , Nissan darlington , co durham , have been absolutely brilliant , I cant speak highly enough of them ,

this is my 3rd brand new Nissan and it will be my last , ive got a bee in my bonnet and I am not going to let this go ,

regards john , and all the best to you ,

 

[missmyjazz]

Hi John,
Thanks for your message, I am still getting used to my new micra, so its early days yet to make a good judgement but I would say that if I had read all the negative posts about
it I would not have bought one, my problem is that I owned a Honda Jazz for ten years (from new) it never ever gave me any problems at all, the cvt gearbox was much better that the one in the Micra and I am very confused about the DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS they don't come on when I start the engine so if you have them could you tell me what position the light switch should be in please. Another factor that I didn't know about was that the micra is now built in India not Sunderland which had a very good reputation for Quality Built Cars.
So time will tell, I'll keep you posted on any developments. Hope you get your problems resolved,

Regards Tom.

 

[jdci]

Hi tom,

I gathered you had , had a jazz by your member name ,its always the same when you buy a new make car ,you compare it to the last one ,what made you buy a micra rather than another jazz.

my micra is a visia , as far as I know it doesn't have daytime running lights , I just drive with my side lights on ,

I did a quick google check , but cant see anything about micras having them ,
you could call the dealers you bought it from and ask them or even go back in to them , I went back in to get them to show me how to use the Bluetooth .

let me know how you get on , I am intrigued to see if I have them .

regards

john

 

[missmyjazz]

Hi John,
Took your advice and phoned the Nissan dealer today, He says that the regulation regarding "Running Lights" does not apply to the Micra because the devil is in the detail.

The new regulation applies to "NEW CARS" As in complete new models, the Micra's that we have are facelift models of the 2010 model which was in production before the new
reg's came in, he said that for example the Quashi runs with the fog lamps on at all times but the micra doesn't.

With regards my changing from Honda to Nissan, as I said I had owned the Jazz for ten years and just felt like a change, there is a new Jazz undergoing road trials and
should be in the showrooms late this year ??? so I thought that a change to another make would be a good idea and as Nissan had a good reputation I would go for the
micra accenta cvt model not being aware that it was no longer a Japanese car !!!! I have read on the web that Renault have bought out Nissan !!!! could this be true?

I take a look at the Honest John website and have found it very informative on many motoring matters, if you are not familiar with it I would recommend you
have a surf on it,

Regards Tom.

 

[jdci]

Hi Tom ,

I don't think, there are that many complete NEW models on the road or coming soon , most are re vamps or upgrades,

The acenta has a good spec , I usually just go for the base model , as I am self employed and its a work horse to me ,having said that , this visia has more standard equipment than my last one .

according to Wikipedia Renault own 43% of Nissan and Nissan owns 15% of Renault .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault–Nissan_Alliance

I have used honest john , I e mailed Nissan and advised them to look at it , as it is based on the opinions of actual car owners ,during one of my conversations with a customer service manager at nisssan they informed me that they would not use a website for owners feedback . which I think is there loss, if you wont repeat customers you need to hear and act on what they have to say .

I have my eye on a dacia duster the diesel model ,I had wanted to buy it originally but when I heard they were releasing a new micra and note I decided to stay with the micra.I will probably keep it a couple of years then look for something else .cant afford to loose the money I have invested in my current car .

thanks for your thoughts and advice .

regards

john

 

[missmyjazz]

Hi John.
Having read your previous comments and noting that you are having problems with your micra, could you tell me what they are and I will keep an eye open for
the same problems with my motor,

I noticed that my nearest nissan dealer in Chester has got a micra connect which is the top of the range in metalic paint etc etc and only 10 miles on the clock.

on sale at £8995 which I recon is a good £4000 below list price, so what's wrong with it ????? makes you think.

Regards Tom.

 

[jdci]

H I tom,

if you look at my other thread , need some advice , someone else has asked me of my problems , they are listed there.

never heard of a micra connect , I read an article on line that said sales of the micra have fallen by 58% in india , where they are made. I think that the k13 has been a disaster for Nissan , if the Indians wont buy them , wot do they expect of the euro market .

I must of had 20 micras in my life , the last 3 brand new , as I told a customer manager from Nissan , I had a micra 10 years ago that out performed and did more mpg than the one I just bought , the build quality since leaving sunderland is shocking , cheap plasticky parts and trim ,

honest john rates the k13 , a , 2,

I was so looking forward to getting the facelift , the 14" wheels on my visia don't even fill the wheel arches , my neighbour thought I had bought the wheel trims from a pound shop.

I think ultimately Nissan has lost there way with the micra , its been a good seller and a favourite for decades , and I think they have turned there attention to developing new models. as in juke and qashqai ,

trouble is someone who can afford a 10k micra cant afford a 20k qashqai , within reason.

I dread to think what my part ex value might be in years to come .

thanks again

regards john


.