Thread: Small Runabout Car

Originally Posted by makka

Avoid all the small Nissan's, they rust bad

I am going to disaree. Our Nissan March (auto not cvt) is a 2004 and we have been using it now for 14 years. Barely had to do anything. Rust has never been an issue with ours- I have had a front suspension bush done and a wheel straightened from a particulary deep pothole...but that would have happened no matter what the car.was ( the ca in front of us was a ute and he did not come out of it unharmed either ....) I would trade it as we have had it a while but the mrs really doesn't want to replace it. Its surprisingly large inside for the size of the car and my only 'dislike' is that it gets better fuel milage than my motorcycle......

We looked at the swift when we got it and it was too difficult for adults to clamber in and out (elderly parents etc...) Too low and almost all were two door. 5 door hatch won that easily.

As for the gearbox....we took it in for a srvice at an auto transmission place and was asking questions about maintenance that I can do and found out the owner of the gearbox place was impressed enough with these that he had bought one for his own daughter to drive....

I would have no problem at all getting another one in the future and would recommend them based on my own experience with them.


I would add that rust is a universal problem with cars that are usually not looked after like they should be......rust usally starts where damage has unsealed the steel.....

One thing I would suggest is avoid anything older than 2000...6 month wof get old FAST......My small fleet has date os '85, '89, '96,'97 and 2004 (the nissan) though the 85 and 97 are only on the road for 6 months on 6 months off....