Used Nissan Micra Hatchback 2010 - 2016 review

There was a time when the Nissan Micra vied for top honours in the small car class, thanks to its increasingly quirky styling and seemingly unburstable reliability.

By the time this version arrived in 2010, however, Nissan employed a safer design, but in doing so lost much of what had made the Micra’s predecessors so distinctive. The fourth-generation model is, however, a larger car than the one it replaces, although even then it’s a squeeze to get a folded baby buggy in the boot. Also, if you opt for the entry-level model, you only get a single-piece folding rear seat rather than the split-folding layout on higher trim levels.

The five-door layout does at least mean access is easy. There’s also generous headroom for all passengers and a useful number of in-car storage areas, but a steering wheel that only adjusts for height and not reach doesn’t help when it comes to finding a comfortable driving position.

This generation of Micra is also unusual for the fact that interior quality appeared to take a backward step compared with what rivals offered. The plastics feel hard and cheap, the digital displays are basic, and the design of the silver circular heater controls might bring to mind that old Walkman you owned a couple of decades ago.

However, one Micra trait did at least remain, which is that this car is incredibly easy to drive. For that you can thank the light controls, a very tight turning circle and excellent all-round visibility.

The engine range is limited to just a 1.2-litre petrol, which is available in standard form with 79bhp or with a supercharger to boost the power output to 97bhp. If you plan on regularly venturing out of town, it’s worth spending extra on the supercharged unit which, although far from fast, does at least give the Micra respectable get up and go. Mind you, once up to speed, you’ll discover the Micra’s crashy, noisy ride and lifeless handling, which represents something of a problem with rivals as talented as the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo.

For those who don’t want a manual gearbox, the Micra is also available with a CVT automatic but this makes for a noisy companion under anything more demanding than moderate acceleration.

A facelift in 2013 resulted in revised styling and improved equipment levels, but even then the Micra struggled to gain much attention against increasingly impressive rivals

Find a used Nissan Micra in the What Car? Classifieds here

You can pick up a fourth-generation Nissan Micra from about £2000 with about 80,000 miles on the clock. Add another £1,000 to your budget and there’s a healthy selection of sub-70,000-mile cars to choose from, although these will mostly be in basic Visia specification.

For a car equipped with the more powerful supercharged engine, expect to pay from £4000, while automatic Micras cost from about £3800.

For a post-2013 facelift car, you’ll need at least £5000, while a last-of-the-line Micra with less than 5000 miles on the clock might still attract £10,000 from a main dealer.

Regardless of whether you choose the basic engine or the supercharged version, you can expect about 50mpg from the Micra if fitted with a manual gearbox, or about 40mpg with the CVT automatic installed.

The lower-powered engine costs £30 per year to tax, whereas the supercharged unit qualifies for tax exemption thanks to the sub-100g/km CO2 output that results from having stop-start fitted. Again, though, opting for the CVT will cost you in the long run because it pushes up CO2 emissions. For the supercharged engine, this means you’ll pay £30 per year, while for the more basic engine you’ll face a tax bill of £110 per year.

Nissan charges from £189 for a service on a Micra at its dealers. That’s quite a bit more than you’ll pay for a Ford Fiesta but it does at least include one year of European breakdown assistance.

The cheapest Nissan Micras are in base-level Visia trim but make do without air-conditioning or alloy wheels. As such, it’s worth seeking out at least an Acenta specification car, which adds these items along with cruise control and electric door mirrors. Top-spec Tekna versions also include parking sensors and keyless go. You’ll need to choose a post-2013 facelift car if you want satellite navigation, with the N-Tec looking particularly well specified.

There are also a couple of special editions to be aware of: the Kuro and Shiro are based on Acenta specification but also include parking sensors, metallic paint and heated seats, while Elle models have a panoramic glass roof and a new rear spoiler.

Whatever Micra you choose, it’s worth paying extra for the supercharged engine, badged DIG-S, and sticking with a manual gearbox to benefit from the free road tax.

Our favourite Nissan Micra: 1.2 DIG-S Acenta

Those in the market for a small car like the Nissan Micra have no shortage of options, with the Ford Fiesta acting as the obvious candidate thanks to its fine ride and handling balance, strong engines and wide range of trims.

The Kia Rio and Hyundai i20, meanwhile, both offer the kind of long-term durability the Micra was once famed for but with superior ride and handling and more upmarket interiors.

If you just want a cheap small car and don’t care for niceties such as soft-touch plastics in the interior, it’s also worth considering the Dacia Sandero, which has the added bonus of being roomier than the Micra.

Find a used Nissan Micra in the What Car? Classifieds here

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