Almera ?: Motoring Motoring Discussion forum

Motoring Discussion > Almera ?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Ted	Replies: 21

Mon 15 Nov 10 16:39

Almera ? - Ted

Had to rescue eldest daughter this morning. simple fault, alyternator belt had come off.
Another big bill...needs the front of the car removing to fit new tensioner. It's a '96 Audi A4.......a money pit. Just paid out £300 for new front suspension arms.

Recently separated with a 6 yr old, she's on the breadline every payday, so it looks as though mum abd dad are going to have to cough up ...again !

She needs a car, as a paramedic with school run responsibilities, etc. Our thoughts are to cut our losses and get something newer and cheaper to maintain.

Talking with my man with the spanner, he came up with just what I was thinking of....an ASlmera.
I've had a few Nissans and , of course, I've dealt with loads over the years. The Almera has all she would want and there's a lot on-line in our budget of £7 to £15 hundred quid.

Any thoughts and experiences gratefully noted.

Ted

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Mon 15 Nov 10 16:56

Almera ? - RattleandSmoke

The main issue with the MK1 one is that the sills seem to made out of cheese. I have seen many stuck together with duck tape to try and hide the holes from the MOT man. If you can find one which isn't rusty then there are supposed to be good cars. I went to see one in Swinton was described as new condition. When I went to see it there was holes I could put a 50p coin through on the sill. I wasn't happy when I mentioned the rust he said what do you expect on a 10 year old car.

I walked away and did feel like contacting trading standards for their false advert (as new condition) as I had wasted an entire afternoon.

Other than rust there seems to be little problems with the car though :).

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Mon 15 Nov 10 16:57

Almera ? - Dog

Mine's the 1.8 guv'nor, 5 year old jobbie and I rate them quite highly.

Ya hear about the timing chains giving ag,(£££) but it seems regular oil changes are the way to go,

The older ones (pre reno) seem to be better in that dept. from what I hear.

Personally, I wouldn't touch one without knowing the service history, true mileage etc.,

Would you feel OK about changing the t/chain if the need arises?

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Mon 15 Nov 10 17:11

Almera ? - RattleandSmoke

With the chain though don't they start to rattle once they become a problem due to lack of oil changes?

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Mon 15 Nov 10 17:19

Almera ? - nyx2k

would it be worth considering going half and half with your daughter for a brand new cheapy car like a panda or something.
i believe these can be had for £30 per week. just a thought

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Mon 15 Nov 10 17:28

Almera ? - Slightlyfatdirector

Hi Ted,

I bought one for my wife, a 2005 1.5S about 3 yeras ago. She is still running it now.

Go for the facelift one if you can and you get a safe car (4* NCAP) that is cheap to run and reliable. The interior of the S is not as nice as the SE (a bit plasticy), but they are all well spec'd.

Ours is the base model (S) and has A/C, CD player, remote C/L, elec windows. Good size-wise inside and nice to drive. They handle and ride very well. The engine is a bit noisy at high revs and the speedo under-reads quite a lot, but they are real good value for money. They were £12k new and we bought ours after 18 months for £5k. No idea what it is worth now, but whilst it is so reliable, we will hang on to it.

It is cheap to run and insure too.

The timing chain issue related to the pre-face lift one. There are a lot of post face list cars about. Keep looking 'til you find one with a good history and look after it I would say.

Whilst it is not as nice to sit in and look at as a Focus (or similar) you can't knock it for value for money.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 17:31

Almera ? - Dog

>>With the chain though don't they start to rattle once they become a problem due to lack of oil changes?<<

That's what I'm lead to believe 'Rattle', BelleBuoy will know the latest gos on them.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 17:55

Almera ? - Ted

Thanks for the input, ladies.

I don't really want to get dripped up for a new car, she really is on a tight budget, having custody of the house.
I know someone locally with a new Panda and the rear brake drums are rusting already !
You all seem complimentary about the Almera...I know about timing chain issues, having a Note but I'm happy to change the oil with a good ,squirty oil fairly often, as I do on our car.

I just looked at leasing costs and a new Micra 1200 is £100+vat a month. I assume that includes insurance so it might be an option depending on what she pays now.

There are plenty of Almeras and Micras for sale on line. I'd prefer the bigger car but the Micra is not out of the question although they seem to sell for more dosh. Probably the Almera is not so sought after.

Keep the ideas coming.

By the way, there's a garage called Dog Motors selling an Almera........trustworthy ??

Ted

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:05

Almera ? - Iffy

A friend of mine's husband works for Nissan.

This means they change their cars quite often - one new Nissan after another.

She's had a Note, Micra, Almera and currently a Qashqai.

I asked her one day which was her favourite and the answer was the Almera, least liked was the Qashqai.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:05

Almera ? - RattleandSmoke

I wouldn't have thought leasing would include insurance.

The new Micra has just come out which means you might get some bargains on the old model. Of course the Micra is actually just a Renault Clio underneath - or rather the Clio is a Micra underneath.

A new car might still be worth while. I am a lot more relaxed now I haven't had to keep taking cars to the garage. The downside is on a new car servicing is more expensive as you need to be careful where you get it served but if Andy is VAT registered he can do the servicing. Not sure if you can do it yourself due to warranty.

Almeras will be better value as there are bigger, small superminis just go for silly money at the moment.

Couldn't your daughter use the Fiesta until she has a replacement motor sorted or are you getting the belt fixed? I suppose you need to get it fixed to sell anyway.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:10

Almera ? - Iffy

...where you get it served...

Are you trying to breed from your Panda again Rattle?

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:10

Almera ? - Fenlander

Ted, I think the cheapest lease would be £130 inc vat for something like a Citroen C1 petrol... and lease costs usually include VED but never insurance.

Lease seems to be a little more expensive than buying with these very cheap cars but it's great for having a 100% known budget each month with no tyres/exhauses/brakes/MOT repairs etc for at least 18-24mths

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:14

Almera ? - Ted

I had two Motability cars and they included insurance.

maybe others don't.

Ted

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:16

Almera ? - RattleandSmoke

That is the main reason I bought new. I know it sounds crazy but as I do low milleage any used car would have had other peoples wear I would have to pay for. As I do 5k a year things like tyres etc should only need to be replaced once I have paid the finance off.

I think city cars are one type of car where it makes a lot of sense to buy brand new as there isn't a lot of money to loose. The downside is they are bit slow for long distance work.

If you do a lot of milleage then 30k-40k already on the clock isn't going to make any difference brakes etc need to replaced anyway.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 18:42

Almera ? - Dog

>>By the way, there's a garage called Dog Motors selling an Almera........trustworthy ??<<

There's a pusher in Surrey called Cronk (BM doubleyew) used to be anyway.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 19:58

Almera ? - bathtub tom

I've run a 53 reg Almera for the last five years (1.5, petrol, manual).

I'd advise going for one with steel wheels (the spare's steel whatever). The narrower, taller tyres are a damn sight cheaper, will probably give a slightly more comfortable ride with better economy.

I got rid of a Focus for mine and find the Almera far better for load carrying, otherwise they're much of a muchness.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 20:52

Almera ? - mikeyb

>> >>By the way, there's a garage called Dog Motors selling an Almera........trustworthy ??<<
>>
>> There's a pusher in Surrey called Cronk (BM doubleyew) used to be anyway.
>>

My local Renault dealer is called "clist and rattle" they have more than one outlet and are also main dealers for skoda amongst others

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Mon 15 Nov 10 21:17

Almera ? - Netsur

Wasn't there a woman called 'NoWheels' or 'Now Wheels' on the HJ site who had an Almera and seemed very positive towards it?

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Mon 15 Nov 10 21:23

Almera ? - R.P.

Yes - and greatly missed she is.

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Mon 15 Nov 10 21:27

Almera ? - RichardW

I had one for a pool car a few years ago. It was OK, steering's a bit odd around straight ahead, but it was just so dull that getting to work early in the morning was a real challenge as it just made you want to go back to sleep!

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Tue 16 Nov 10 00:10

Almera ? - Skoda

M's brother and his wife abuse one on an 06 plate, but it still goes, quite well too, and it looks alright when you walk past it. I'm pretty sure it's not been serviced for the past 2 years. It's not driven sympathetically, you can frequently smell the clutch and feel the heat from the wheels when they arrive. Testament to the build quality.

I know a local mobile mechanic that goes on about them because he's never had to look under the bonnet of one.

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Tue 16 Nov 10 09:10

Almera ? - Dog

>>My local Renault dealer is called "clist and rattle"<<

I thought - there MUST be one somewhere ... sure enough ~

www.crookmotors.com/home.dcg

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