2011 Nissan Pixo N-Tec 1.0 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Cheap, characterful, fun and well built little car

Faults:

Driver's seat back had a slight lean to the left (perhaps chubby first owner?!); sorted easily by twisting the seat frame back into position.

Nothing else as yet.

General Comments:

I replaced my Mk4 Ford Mondeo TDCI with this little runabout to free up some cash and decrease running costs.

At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to stick with it, as compared to the Mondeo it is a very basic car.

I have to say though I think the Pixo is great. It's fun to drive, relatively comfortable on longer journeys, keeps pace on the motorway, nips around town easily, is super easy to park and manoeuvre, and best of all, it costs nothing to run.

I drive in quite a spirited fashion a lot of the time on country roads and around town, and I get 58+ MPG easily. It cost me £20 to tax and only £180 to insure (including personal business use, protected bonus and 20,000 miles per year!).

The car is very well built and doesn't feel like a tin can as you might expect. I upgraded the speakers and had an official Suzuki Alto centre arm rest fitted (the Alto is built in the same factory and is identical inside). The car now feels pretty grown up inside.

The N-tec has air con (ice cold), electric windows, remote central locking and 14 inch alloys. The Pixo looks nicer than the Alto (in my opinion) due to the chunky bumper mouldings and alloy wheels.

So far so good. A great little car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 13th September, 2013

2009 Nissan Pixo 1.0 from Isle of Man

Summary:

It doesn't endear itself to you

General Comments:

Drove one of these for two days as a hire car around the Isle of Man.

Seemed to be well, if somewhat cheaply made.

It was economical.

It was reliable for the two days I had it.

The boot was tiny.

The stereo and speakers were very very poor and the buttons on the stereo very confusing.

Gearchange was only adequate.

Engine was not nice.

Seemed very underpowered in terms of torque. Isle of Man is hilly and it constantly laboured.

The 3 cylinder engine sounded really unpleasant. The engine note is not pleasant and there was a constant drone from the engine.

In its class it is not the best car. My daily drive is a V6 Rover 75, which is very refined, but I also drive a Fiat Panda regularly, and the Panda is the much better car. The Panda is a joy to drive thanks to slick gearchange and buzzy willing four cylinder engine.

There is nothing endearing about the PIXO.

It's entirely adequate in nearly every respect except for boot space, but I wouldn't / couldn't live with it for any length of time.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th November, 2009

1st Jan 2010, 09:45

Fair comments; however the Isle of Man is really hilly with small awkward bumpy roads with the need for constant gear changing. I've driven a 1.6 litre over there, and even that struggled a great deal with the difficult roads and constant gear changing. We need to remember that the Pixo is a city car, designed for around town driving (ie: the heart of London, or nipping in and out of a flat supermarket car park). I'd never consider one for the Isle of Man as none of the roads are as smooth or flat like the mainland UK. (I know because I lived on the island for 22 years) - the roads on the mainland are smoother and wider. The Pixo would be almost useless over there... the suspension would be put to it's limits and poor gear box trashed.

We hired a Pixo for Manchester City and it was good... coped fine and we were generally pleased with its performance all round.