ULEZ COMPLIANT 2005 Nissan Almera SE 1.5 Petrol Manual 5DR MOT Dec 2026

Description

I should probably begin with the most important fact: this is genuinely the most reliable car I have ever owned.

I bought her in October 2019. At the time I felt I had overpaid and was allowed precisely no reduction whatsoever, but I needed a car capable of comfortably carrying two people and a great deal of stuff—or one rather large dog—or, at a slight squeeze, four people and one rather large dog.

This little Nissan did all of those things perfectly adequately and then proceeded to earn my complete affection.

During nearly seven years of ownership, she has let me down exactly three times—or, more accurately, I let her down. Twice I left the interior light on and flattened the battery, and once I explored the outer limits of how little petrol an Almera can run on. Once the problem was remedied, she immediately purred back into life.

The only recovery attendance during my ownership was for one of those self-inflicted flat batteries. She has never required recovery because of a mechanical breakdown.

The essentials:

• First registered 28 April 2005
• Nissan Almera SE five-door hatchback
• 1,497cc petrol engine with timing chain
• Five-speed manual gearbox
• 119,718 miles
• ULEZ compliant
• MOT until 8 December 2026
• Two previous keepers before me
• Original service book with dealer servicing recorded until 2010
• Electric windows, radio and trip computer all working

The current MOT records two minor defects: the dust covers on both front track-rod-end ball joints are damaged or deteriorated, although still preventing the ingress of dirt.

Now for the honest bits.

She has several dermatological issues. The paint on the bumpers—particularly the front—is flaking, and there are the expected marks of a 21-year-old working car. However, the main body panels remain remarkably presentable for her age and she still shines beautifully when properly cleaned.

The interior is also tired in places, particularly the driver’s seat, but remains usable and reasonably neat.

The heater blower does not work at any speed. It originally became stuck permanently on before eventually stopping altogether. I consulted an AI assistant, which confidently identified two inexpensive components and instructed me to remove much of the glovebox area to replace them. Neither component fixed the problem, whereupon the AI admitted that it had misidentified the system.

Consequently, the heater blower remains inoperative and the glovebox/adjacent trim did not survive the attempted intervention completely intact. I have photographed this clearly.

There is also a light rattle at speed. It sounds like a loose heat shield or similar, but it has not been professionally diagnosed and I will not pretend otherwise.

Aside from those disclosed faults, the electric windows, radio, trip computer and—most importantly—the various mechanical components responsible for making the car start, stop and travel along the road continue to work.

I will genuinely be sad to see her go. I was unexpectedly offered another car that I could not sensibly refuse, so this mechanically magical and cosmetically experienced Almera is now looking for its next owner.

She is not pristine, she has no working heater blower and she bears the scars of age and an ill-fated encounter with artificial intelligence. What she does have is an extraordinarily strong record of reliability throughout my ownership, a valid MOT and the potential to remain a useful, inexpensive and ULEZ-compliant runaround.

Viewing and inspection are warmly welcomed before purchase. This is my privately owned car and is being sold as a private sale.