Not the quickest or most exciting car,but ive now done 96000 miles,the engine is great and its been pretty reliable,however the gearbox seems to be its achilles heal,i had to have it reconditioned after about 80k miles.Its making funny noises again,this may be due to the muppet that rebuilt it !.
Other than that its been pretty good.I like the look of the car,but im in a minority there!

i have a W reg Nissan Almera 1.5 SE, its not exactly a hot hatch but its relatively handsome, it pulls ok if you gas it enough and it takes corners nicely if you dont take the mickey. That being said, push it too hard round a tight roundabout in the wet and it starts to lose grip and drifts, which is exciting, in the same way that approaching a waterfall in a canal boat is. The interior is what youd expect from a car in this price range, lots of grey and plastic (i have the brown drivers seat courtesy of the roundabout incident) and the gearbox feels tight and quite racy. I've found the car to be very fuel efficiant when driven conservatively and very reliable and i must admit to being guilty of giving the engine a bit of a thrashing from time to time. The 1.5 petrol engine does feel like the smallest engine that could pull a car of the almera's not inconsiderable weight, but then, the less fuel burned the less money burned and the fewer polar bears etc die.

The Nissan Almera is a very good car, I've had mine about a year and haven't had any problems with it yet. Supposably its top speed is 113 mph but with a few small modifications I have been able to reach 125 mph so far on a track day. This is a very reliable car and I would recommend it to anyone!

I highly recommend the Nissan Almera 1.5 S. It is almost if not as good as the Toyota.

The engine on the Nissan Almera 1.5 S purrs away with very little encouragement. I fill up once every two weeks even though I only drive around town. It never smells of petrol or oil or those other ghastly liquids men put into cars.
It is so easy to drive and straightforward to park. I feel comfortable in it. However, I am unlikely to buy another after the niggling problems I've experienced with the electric windows. What problems? Well, it's just about to rain and the passenger door window will not shut. I've checked the fuse and it's intact. Last year the driver's door window refused to shut and Nissan were less than helpful.

I have owned a number of Nissan's. The Almera 1.5 S was the 1st to let me down. The car was recalled for an engine revolution-sensor problem. Nissan replaced the failed part but refused to cover the full cost of repair of damage caused by sensor problem. Nissan Ireland did pay about one fifth of the cost of repair (1000 euro).

I swapped my VW Lupo for a 2001 Almera 1.5S and you get a lot more car for your money and more rspect on the road. Anonymity is great because I haven't had it vandalised (hopefully I never will!). I feel it's a generation behind most new cars on the road and build quality is only okay - a bit early Daewoo and I would have expected more. The accelerator pedal seems to suffer from stickiness until it warms up! My VW was beautifully made and spoilt me...
1.5 is good on petrol and allows me to go 400 miles non stop! Hardly a Porsche but who needs speed within the M25? Would like a quieter experience over 30 and resonance occurs around 60 which dissapears at 70! But I like this car. To me it represents functionality and practicality to the max and is a nice car to own. Handling is good and my sister doesn't feel car sick (This car is good for anyone who suffers from this).
Not an out an out drivers car but rather a big Micra without the 'I am a learner' tag or sketchy motorway performance. Good egg.