I researched for 6 months and after many sleepless nights decided to book Nissan Micra XV Petrol in the beginning of 2012.
There were not many reviews and ownership experiences over Internet of Nissan Motors, back then(forget Micra, further forget model XV) and I purely had to believe in my own experience of trials and discussion with handful of buyers, am happy that my efforts finally paid of as today my car behaves as good as a new one.
What more, I somehow managed to get handsome discount partially because one particular vehicle was cancelled/delayed by the buyer and partially because Orion Nissan was planning to shutdown their dealership and joining hands with Fiat.
My entire experience with the Dealer was nothing less than remarkable and me and my wife were just blown away with their services, patience(cash flow issues at my end) all wrapped up by courteous and very knowledgeable staff.
Now coming to the car, as I already mentioned previously, I liked the overall package(of course there as setbacks) which was nicely fitting into my budget. Swift which is an obvious choice of B segment first time buyers had a waiting of 4-6 months and I am happy that I did not go for it when I saw today, those buyers who had booked swift around the same time. I did not like i20 either because of it being very expensive and underpowered. Jazz was my first preference but the attitude of dealer in Navi Mumbai was a let down. I also checked with one servicing guy and he suggested not to go with it as the maintenance is expensive in the long run.Vista, punto, polo and beat weren’t my options as I could get a better package with Micra. Ritz was a strong contender but my wife did not like dull black interiors.
Now back to my review with my car, i’ll go with with various specifications-
(1) looks fit and finish - looks are subjective, I was initially into two minds but today I rate it close to i20 Jazz and Swift; fitments of panels, build qualtiy, paint quality is top notch and you can ask any proud owner of micra
(2) Engine performance and Milage - though engine goes bit noisy sometimes may be due to its being a three cylendar powerhouse, milage is a highlight as I have touched 19kmpl twice once during a Navi Mumbai to Bhopal 780x2 kms round trip and again to a shirdi trip via nasik, ahmednagar, pune, lonawala and back to Navi Mumbai. in city it ranges between 13-15 but now the best part, the fuel consumption indicator helps you to correct your driving which is a huge advantage, I remeber back in 2011 it was not seen in many hatches.
(3) Space and Comfort - space is decent enough and comfort is adequate, sufficient legroom for both driver and passengers so as in the boot, do remember its a 3750 mm hatch and not Duster/Terrano
(4) Ride quality and Drivability - Not a technical expert but I found the car fun to drive in city and very stable on highways, I could touch 144km/h on mumbai pune highway without any problem, its power sterring is best in the class and 4.65m turning radius is beyond compare. below 2000 rpm its sluggish and picks up just when it touches 2k, however there is a good side, its gear ratio is designed in such a way that one can touch 90km/h at second gear so your city ride between bumper to bumper traffic or otherwise doesnt require you to change gear everytime you change speed.
(4) Maintenance, Servicing, Service Interval - Miantenance is not cheap however significantly below Honda, Skoda, VW etc, initial amounts including oil change were 1-2k but the last one when I completed 2nd year was a bomb(9800/-) the guy told me they have virtually changed the whole car), I made it a point in the feedback call which comes after every servicing and takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
(5) Safety and Security - it comes with 2 front airbags, ABS+EBD+BA, nissan genuine Fog lamps(extermely costly if buy from outside) and rear wipers{compare it with what you get from Swift VXi or i20 magna under the same budget}; the overall design both at roof and below hood it designed in such a way to allow least impact which is passed to the driver and passengers. The MRF tyres came with the vehicle are also leaders in their department, I was initially planning to get michiline(spell check plz)
(6) Entertainment/Misc - it has company fitted music system with fourspeaker(USB missing which is now introduced) which produces nice sound so no regrets if I dont have a 2-din in this package. other accessories being foldable RVOMs and all four power windows, Tilt Steering and headrest at rear.
AC with climate controll, so you need not break your head between knobs, set it at 24/25 and you are good to go(7) Small yet significant things- initially I had a habit of not removing handbreaks(common among female drivers - no offence) and at it has a reminder for that too; not enough storage available to the driver and co-driver; USB is missing but AUX input can do it for you, all you need is a cable; no steering mounted controll and no Bluetooth connectivity - not sure if it is included now. You may notice panel gaps are little more than usual but need not to worry, no water seeps in and inside it is adequately insulated from outside noise. change in Performance is noticable when AC is on but again its a 1.2 L engine and not Fortuner. I have been hit twice by cars and once by an stupid biker from rear but the bumper didnot come out, my heart just sank when I heard loud noise from rear. had it been a swift the story would be otherwise, dont tell me if you cannot make difference between a new swift - a one year old swift - a 2 year old swift and beyond, build quality makes the difference. I have also hit an auto rickshaw but the front bumper also handled it quite brilliantly, just as expected, however not been so lucky to saved the car from geeting an ugly scar.
I’ve so far dealt with Orion Nissan, Kamla Nissan and Etco nissan(with a lot of negetive reviews against the former 2) and all three turned out to be thorough professional, would like to recommend them to others too.