Which runabout to buy?

spira9

Have you gone to see the car yourself? I would haggle it down even more.

BeenThroughItAll

OP, why wouldn't you consider any of the three automatic Notes under 2 grand which aren't 100 miles away from Newcastle? One of them only has 61K.

ETA - it's also not had an MOT in June this year with advisories on exhaust, shock and three tyres, although it did have a couple of worn tyres advised on its February MOT.

FETA - both the 207 and Swift have considerably more chequered MOT histories, with lots of badly worn tyre advisories and the like suggesting neither have been 'cherished', nor indeed had any regular checks on condition other than an annual trip to the test centre.

facade

Nissan Note

Bad points:

Weak suspension, not really upto British "roads" (Might be ok on French Pave, but not good old English potholes & speedbumps)

Test drive it with the radio off and listen for any squeaks on undulating roads- a bit like a chirping, from the front nearside, the subframe mounting under the airfilter breaks loose out of the chassis leg and moves around and it is metal to metal that squeaks. Fixable, but not easy.

They clunk over bumps e.g. a drain cover on an island, caused by antiroll bar bushes wearing- subframe off job, or take no notice.

They break springs all the time- half the lower coil snaps off at the front and is visible in the spring pan, at the back the lower coil snaps off and drops on the road somewhere. Not hard to change, but not cheap either.

Front tyre life on the original continentals is measured in yards not miles! If you have the 16" alloys, the tyres only fit the note, so they are expensive, and not much choice. The 15" steel wheels are more sought after, as they take tyres which are cheaper, and the taller sidewalls improve the ride a lot.

They suffer from water leakage into the spare wheel well from the rear door- usually the rear fog lamp seal, and front footwells under the carpet, lack of seam sealer somewhere or leaky windscreen. (Very poorly put together, upto the standard of Austin Rover in the 80s I reckon)

The rear door/boot lid lock is electric, and the wires passing from body to door snap inside the rubber trunking, hopefully wiper motor first so you can still open it, Nissan saved some cash by making them all the same colour (white).

Plus points:

Good strong engine
Proper torque converter auto
Reasonable to the gallon: mine does about 32mpg in stop start town traffic.
Loads of odd storage spaces, cubby box under seat, double glovebox, cupholders and trays were standard on early models.

Nice big back door, plenty of room for a washing machine.

Not sure:

Bizarre sliding back seat, so you can make the boot smaller or larger at the expense of legroom in the back


Check that the two planks are in the boot, they form a false floor above the boot floor and level the loadspace with the seat down.

EDIT: Forgot to say, the "leather" seats are made of plastic, and crack where you slide across the squab to get out, upholsterers won't fix them as "they are such poor quality" Best stick with the all cloth seats not "half leather"

babaUK

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

OP, why wouldn't you consider any of the three automatic Notes under 2 grand which aren't 100 miles away from Newcastle? One of them only has 61K.

ETA - it's also not had an MOT in June this year with advisories on exhaust, shock and three tyres, although it did have a couple of worn tyres advised on its February MOT.

FETA - both the 207 and Swift have considerably more chequered MOT histories, with lots of badly worn tyre advisories and the like suggesting neither have been 'cherished', nor indeed had any regular checks on condition other than an annual trip to the test centre.

it did not get the MOT done for 2015. Also current owner has had it since February and only selling due to an upgrade within family.

BeenThroughItAll

babaUK wrote: »

it did not get the MOT done for 2015. Also current owner has had it since February and only selling due to an upgrade within family.

Which car are you referring to there?

The 61K one? If so, it didn't get an MOT because it was in the trade. It got MOTd on sale in February.

Probably, like most small automatics with a reasonably low mileage, it sat around in a dealership for six months with a ridiculous price tag until they woke up to the fact that it's basically a beige Nissan Note, and therefore worth 2 grand tops.

Personally, the better MOT history on that one would put it higher up the list.

ETA - although, having said that, there's something odd going on with the mileages on the test history with that '61K'... which suggests it may have had replacement clocks and could be more like 100K. Would need investigating.

Anyway, there's plenty of small autos available in the North East. Place two miles from me has a blue auto Note.

parking_question_chap

Avoid the 207

Possibly whichever of the other cars had the fewest owners.

babaUK

Many thanks guys for all your responses. I always learn more about stuff on this forum and appreciate all the help. Nice weekend.

Exemplar

Is the Note in Notingham, I'm local to that so would be happy to go and have a look for you if needed.