Nissan Note (2009) Any Good? (Or What a About a Renault Modus?)

mew

We are currently looking for a 'new' used car and have found a couple but are leaning more towards the Nissan note because of it's good size. The modal we have seen is a Nissan Note Visa 1.4 Petrol (2009/59 Plate) But is it any good? Other cars we are considering are a Renault Modus (strange car, I know) and possibly a 5 Door Vauxhall Corsa

We are upgrading from a 2006 Hyundai Getz 1.1 3dr. However between myself and my partner, we know little about cars and have found that the sales people are either bias (franchise garage) or pushy and the website reviews of the cars are conflicting.

puddy

my partner has a note 1.6. he loves it. i think its a 2008 or 7 or something. its the same shape as a modus i think but slightly more volume in the boot (i think we compared them at the time)

vikingaero

The Note is a very good family car. It's lived in the shadow of the Honda Jazz all it's life. It's a spacious car with a small footprint. I would avoid the Modus for the simple fact that not many where sold in the UK and spares and repairs will be harder to obtain and more expensive.

jase1

You may want to have a look at the Mitsubishi Colt. It's another, similar tall supermini that has unfairly lived in the Jazz's shadow. Very reliable and some good deals about.

Trebor16

Another car that is very spacious whilst having a small "footprint" is the Vauxhall Meriva. It has more room inside than the Note and there are plenty of Vauxhall dealers around. If it is space you are afer it would be a better bet than the Corsa.

oldone_2

Check the cost of servicing. When I had a Modus, the main dealer quoted £600 + for a 36,000 mile service, and nearly a £100 to replace a headlight bulb (the front has to be unbolted).

I would go for the Note version, making sure it has just had a major service.

mew

Thanks for the replies, I have only Seen the Jazz online and it looks nice but isn't in our price range (I haven’t seen a Colt at all). Again I haven’t seen a 'real' Vauxhall Meriva but from reviews and comparisons etc it seems quite a larger car and more expensive to run (less mpg and higher tax).

In regards with the Modus, from peoples comments here and from some more research, it does seem an uncommon car and while some components may be shared with other cars, I'd imagine, as vikingaero has said some parts would probably be hard to source and/or expensive (and I just hope a service on any car isn’t as expensive as oldone had been quoted)


One surprising thing I have found out about the Note is it's quite cheap to insure. It's only £65 extra than our current car for the remaining 10 months of the policy (and £35 of that is an admin fee). To me, that seems quite a good deal considering the car is a 1.4 compared to a 1.1, it's larger, it’s 3 1/2 years newer and worth about £5,000 more. For an 09 Kia 1.4 at £5.800, the insurance would have been over £100 more to insure.

One thing I did forget to put on the first post post is the prices of the cars:
Nissan Note Visa 2009 59 12,000 miles, one owner, franchise garage £6,800 (ish)
Renualt Modus 1.2 TCE Dynamique 2010 10, 12,000 miles, one owner £6900 (ish)
Corsa 1.2i 5dr 1.2i 2009 - 2010 Prices between £6,500 and £7,000 (ish)