Nissan Micra Review (2017-present)

The Micra isn’t a great option for a small family since it's a bit short of practicality. Sure, there’s a good amount of space and seat adjustment up front, and it’s also five-door as standard. But leg- and headroom in the back is tight, so if you’ve got to bend in to fix car seats, or if you’ve got a lanky teen to ferry about, the usefully better rear space in a Seat Ibiza, Skoda Fabia or Hyundai i20 will make life easier.

The Micra’s 300-litre boot is a decent size, though; it’s wide enough for a chunky suitcase (or the entire contents of a university student’s residence), and the rear seats split 60/40 and fold on every model, even if they do leave a big step in the boot floor. So, while we wouldn’t recommend the Micra for family duties, the decent boot, infotainment and safety aids make it a solid choice for a learner or young driver.

At launch the Micra was offered with a 70bhp 1.0-litre petrol engine as the cheapest option, or an 89bhp turbocharged 0.9-litre petrol that was the most popular option. A 1.5-litre diesel was also offered.

That 89bhp 0.9 IG-T petrol model is the best option if you’re buying used. It’s got plenty of low-down oomph, which makes it ideal for around-town driving, and it’s confident enough to make easy work of the odd long motorway journey, although the five-speed manual gearbox has the engine buzzing at high revs. The diesel will be a better bet if economy is a priority, but the 0.9 engine is still efficient and is better to drive and cheaper to tax than the noisier diesel.

An update in 2019 saw the engine line-up replaced with a new 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine – also three-cylinder, and then a further refresh at the end of 2020 introduced a 92bhp, lower emission, Euro 6D-compliant version of the same engine.

Don’t confuse this with the 70bhp 1.0-litre petrol that was the entry-level option when the Micra launched in 2017 (and which is well worth avoiding). This new engine gets 99bhp or 115bhp, the former having a five-speed manual or optional CVT auto, while the latter gets a sportier-feeling chassis and six-speed manual gearbox.

Of these later Micra models, the lower-powered car is by far the best option as it’s usefully cheaper yet still has plenty of response when you want it. The higher-powered car is a bit more fun yet a lot more expensive and – whether you’re buying new or used – there are lots of alternatives that will be better at the price. In fact, the Ford Fiesta or Seat Ibiza will be more fun than any Micra, and a VW Polo will be more refined and classier inside, so whichever version of the Micra you’re considering there’s a host of rivals that you should also look at before parting with any money.

If you’re buying a new Micra, remember to look for the best deal and haggle hard. Put bluntly, the little Nissan has a huge amount of competition and many of its rivals are newer, and generally better, so the only reason we’d recommend a brand new purchase is if you can get a great deal.

Thankfully there are loads out there, and at the time of writing you can get our pick of the range – the IG-T 100 Acenta – for under £200 per month, with zero interest and a deposit of only £1560. Finance offers like this will come and go, of course, but the Micra is a fine and recommendable car only if you’re not paying too much for it. Also check out the nearly-new and ex-demo cars on offer, as there are plenty of low-mileage, high-spec Micras available from CarGurus trusted traders at great prices. Used prices for older Micras are very competitive with other cars in the class.

Running costs will be cheap on most Micras, but no cheaper than on plenty of other small cars. Expect to get around around 40 to 45 mpg in real-world driving with the manual 1.0-litre Micra, or the CVT automatic will be slightly less efficient.

A three-year, 60,000-mile warranty is standard on the Micra, which is industry standard and the same as you’ll get on a VW Polo. You can also extend the warranty by up to three years, but the Renault Clio, Hyundai i20, Toyota Yaris and Kia Rio all offer much longer warranties than the Micra’s standard offering.

Most Nissan Micra models fall into insurance group 8, so are suitable for learner drivers, and the car will be cheap to service.

Reliability data for the Nissan Micra is a little patchy. It has a vague reputation for reliability born out of the good standings of its forebears from the ‘90s, but it was only rated 63rd out of 100 cars included in the 2019 Driver Power survey, and Nissan as a whole brand came only 27th out of 31 brands included in the 2020 What Car? used car reliability survey (the Micra wasn’t included specifically in the latter survey).

Given the general abundance of its parts, which are largely shared with the Renault Clio, the Nissan Micra is unlikely to be expensive to repair if something does go wrong. Owners do complain of high servicing costs, though. If you are concerned about reliability, options like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz and Skoda Fabia all have solid reliability records.