Hi there! After a few months of lurking on your forum, we decided to finally join and start contributing. Around this time last year my wife and I were considering purchasing a small, inexpensive no-nonsense car to replace our aging 2001 Suzuki Esteem wagon.
After looking at our options, going to several dealerships and attending the local auto show, we decided to purchase the Micra S in May 2015 with the 4 speed auto package (included air conditioning and cruise control), full undercoating and rust protection, remote car starter and that's pretty much it. Since then we've put about 8000+ km on our little guy, having taken him several times to Jasper, Calgary, Drumheller, Waterton Lakes National Park (near the Canada / US border) and some of the smaller towns in the Edmonton area. He even helped us move some of my wife's sister's belongings to her new home in Calgary; that split-folding rear seat sure came in handy!
We are quite happy with our little friend, and so far no rattles or defects except for that one factory recall about the lower dash panels snagging on people's shoes (our Nissan dealership fixed this for free, although we never snagged our shoes on anything down there). Fairly comfortable on long trips, just an auxiliary outlet on the stereo to connect our smart phone headphone jack for driving music and no need for in-car connectivity or a back-up cam (we wondered why a car so small would need one anyway). No built-in navigation required (we have our trusty Garmin GPS or a smart phone with Google Maps for that), no power door locks and honest-to-goodness genuine retro hand cranks for the windows (my wife and I are both nostalgic!). At our current gas prices over here (about 72 cents per litre for regular gas as of this writing), it's just about a $30 fill and a full tank lasts for about 3 weeks with daily driving to/from work.
Actually our Micra reminds me of my old 1995 2-door Suzuki Swift back in the day, really basic economical transportation although that car was a tin can compared to the Micra and was not as stable at 120 kph+ or in cross winds. The Micra's proven to be quite a winter-beater as well, with decent snow tires, traction control and ABS. Overall, we are looking forward to many more cross-country adventures in our little car for many years to come. Have a great week everyone, and stay safe out there!
Note the bug net covering the front grille!