Is Nissan Almera III worth attention with mileage

Nissan cars have long been produced under the patronage of Renault. They have lost their Japanese charm and most of the cars popular in Russia are clones of French models.


The same Nissan Terrano is a Renault Duster in a “different package”. The hero of today's article, the Nissan Almera III, is also something similar. The car was created on the Logan chassis, although it still has Japanese roots.

Nissan Almera III was supposed to become mega-popular in Russia. This car embodied the ideal Renault Logan, at least if you read the forums of the owners of French models, this is the impression.



But the state employee still did not gain legendary popularity - it was released only from 2012 to 2018. You can now buy a car only on the used market - they ask for it from 300 to 000 million rubles. However, there are about five copies for which they want up to 1 million - apparently, the owners believe that they have some kind of exclusive.

History

The real Nissan Almera traces its lineage back to the Sunny model, which was discontinued for Europe in 1995. At the same time, Almera made her debut, having managed to go through two regenerations - in the bodies of N15 and N16.

The third generation Nissan Almera appeared in 2012. By that time, the model had not been produced for 6 years. This was not a revival, but a brazen use of a once-popular name. You should not blame Nissan - this is a standard move for many manufacturers. When releasing a new car, they specifically call it a familiar name to provoke interest.

Although outwardly the Nissan Almera G15 does not look like Renault Logan at all, this is it. The Japanese, at the direction of the French, took the body from the Bluebird Sylphy model and piled it on the finished Renault Logan chassis.



It turned out to be like an ideal - a budget car, approximately equal in size to a BMW of the fifth series with cheap maintenance and a high level of reliability. The manufacturer has launched a dream car on the Russian market, in his opinion.

But the reality turned out to be cruel - although the model was bought well, especially in the early years, it did not even reach the popularity of Renault Logan. For some reason, Russian drivers decided not to take a more expensive car, despite the huge body for its class.

Now the model is not particularly valued in the secondary market. For a potential buyer, this is a plus. Nissan Almera G15 can be picked up for 500 rubles in good condition.

Appearance, body and interior

The design of the model is controversial - someone likes it, some argue that the car turned out to be extremely ugly. Looking at the two cars without bias, the Almera G15 definitely looks better than the Renault Logan.

The body has a length of more than 4,7 meters with a wheelbase of 2,7 m. With such parameters, the car is more likely to belong to the middle class, if you do not look at the width that it has typical for "budgets".



The interior pleases with spaciousness, although inside it is frankly cheap. The build quality of the model also causes criticism - the car was made at AvtoVAZ, which was the subject of constant jokes.



The body outwardly resists corrosion quite well - it is galvanized on one side. But this does not mean that you should not carefully consider the car before buying. The roof is not protected by anything - the chips immediately rust. There are still complaints on the bottom and welds - it is in these places that the Nissan Almera G15 begins to rot.

The car is still quite “fresh”, so corrosion problems are rare here. But judging by the rusting bottom and welds, it is better to treat the car with anticorrosive after purchase.

Engine

Unlike Renault Logan, which has several power units, Nissan Almera G15 for Russia was equipped with only one engine. This is the most serious engine in the line - K4M with a displacement of 1,6 liters and a power of 102 hp. With.

Renault Logan, even with this engine, cannot be called a dynamic car, and for the heavier Almera, everything is generally sad with this. With a manual transmission, the car is still moving, but with an automatic transmission, any overtaking on the highway has to be planned in advance.



The fuel consumption of the old structural engine in the city has never been economical. Together with the heavy body of the Nissan Almera G15, it usually exceeds 10 liters per 100 km.

The K4M motor itself is reliable, but there are enough small issues with attachments. It is possible that this is due to the Russian assembly, or the manufacturer did it on purpose.

Problems:

✅ Ignition coils
✅ Sensors
✅ Seals

For some reason, the timing belt needs to be officially changed every 60 thousand km, although on French-assembled cars this interval is at around 120 thousand km.

The motor has a cast-iron block - this hints that it will withstand a major overhaul and more than one. And the resource of the power unit is not less than 350 km. And minor problems are solved using quality parts.

Трансмиссия

The manual transmission is reliable - any Renault Logan owner will confirm this. The Nissan Almera G15 has a similar 5-speed manual. The problems are that the gear ratios are short - in the city it is annoying.



On the highway with manual transmission, it is comfortable to drive only up to 100 km / h. Then the engine starts to work at high speeds, increasing fuel consumption. The absence of a reverse gear synchronizer is also annoying - if you switch to a complete stop of the car, the hearing will “please” a specific crunch.

Manual transmission seals sometimes leak. If you skip this moment, you can damage the bearings of the gearbox shafts.

The automatic transmission is worth French production - this is DP2 from Renault. Compared to the "mechanics", the "automatic" does not like overheating, abrupt starts, and movement without warming up in winter.

Hodovka

Compared to the Renault Logan, the Nissan Almera G15 is smoother on the move. How was this achieved if the chassis is similar? It's simple - the body of the Japanese-French car of the Russian assembly is heavier than that of the co-platformer. Accordingly, the bumps on this machine are softer.



But there is a downside to the coin - a heavy body negatively affects the life of shock absorbers and springs. Often the Nissan Almera G15 was bought by "young" wealthy pensioners for trips to the country - this car does not like overloads.



If we compare the Nissan Almera with other foreign cars, then the reliability of the rear suspension does not cause any complaints. Although, compared to Renault Logan, its resource is less.

Front suspension reliability is high due to simplicity. The only thing that fails first is the ball joints. Although, according to the manufacturer's intention, they change along with the levers, the separate repair technology has long been mastered in unofficial service stations.

Do we take it or not?

Most likely, buyers at one time did not like the cost of the new Nissan Almera G15. They asked for more for it than for Renault Logan, rightly believing that it is worth paying extra for a full-size body.



The price for the third generation Nissan Almera on the used market is adequate for the year of manufacture. Having bought such a car, you can get the reliability of the engine, suspension, interior space and a solid appearance.

On the other hand, the model has somehow too many "childhood diseases" in detail - for a reliable Logan B0 platform, this is somehow unusual. It seems that the car was created in haste - it is frankly "raw". It is worth looking for the “freshest” copies on the market - they are free from most of the flaws.

The best choice is the latest Nissan Almera G15 with a manual transmission.