I bought a Nissan Cube!
Discussion
Following two and half years of bills every 6 months with the Discovery 3. Thread here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I needed something cheap and simple to run. Before Mrs Bakerstreet had a C-Max and that was ok with one child and dog, but with two children it clearly wasn't enough and also the repairs on the C-Max were becoming quite expensive. In one year it cost around £2k but that did include a DMF and clutch. The power steering failing on the end of slip road on the M40 was the last straw so we replaced it with 2014 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. This meant that the Discovery 3 became partly redundant. The C4 was much cheaper to run so that was now the big family car.
I sold the D3 for too cheap, but managed to sell it through the FB group so didn't even need to advertise it which was a result. However even in week before I sold it, it went wrong coating £300 to fix an electrical fault with the handbrake.
I started out looking at Golf GTIs, Mk4 Mondeos. Had a deposit on a Mk5 GTi which ended up falling through. In hindsight I should have bought the Golf GTI 😒.
I don't do many miles so petrol was considered to be the best option. However, I never had an issue with the D3's diesel engine and low mileage. It was other bits that seemed to go wrong 😒
Also wanted an auto box because I'm lazy and can spend a lot of time in traffic so much prefer an auto.
At the time I was still travelling to my mum's to work on my Land Rover series 3. Thread here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
For that I always take a large toolbox and flat load bays makes that easier to heave in and out so that was also a must have requirement.
Not sure how I ended up looking at Nissan Cubes, but they were petrol, auto and had a flat load bay if you went for the 7 seat version which also benefited from a slightly longer wheel base
Being an older car it was also easier to have a double din Android Auto head unit fitted without too much faff.
I really rate Android Auto. Makes interfacing with the stereo so much easier. Google Maps especially. I went for a Pioneer Pioneer SPH-DA230DAB ex demo on eBay. Only £280 🙂. Wish I had kept it as they are now going for double that due to supplier shortage.
Finding Cubes isn't easy especially if you are picky. I wanted the rider edition as it has a much better stance and the lines are improved by the front and rear spoiler. Chrome grill looks the part too. Leather steering wheel and AC are also standard too.
I eventually settled on one from an importer in Scotland. With two children finding time to go and see cars was very difficult.
This one was undersealed by a specialist and they fitted the stereo but didn't do a great job. Ended up paying an auto electrician to refit it along with a reversing camera. They also had a smart repair done and there was some primer over spray. Only got that sorted with a machine polish two weeks before I sold it…
Few of the best pics (taken when I sold it about a month ago)
This car came with original tool kit neatly stored under the floor behind the front seats.
Had to make a custom boot mat as no one makes one for Nissan Cube
Leather three spoke wheel was actually quite nice and had worn quite well considering how old the car was. I really missed steering wheel controls for the stereo though.
What they are like to drive?
In a word...Sh&#. I went for the 1.5/CVT and they have around 108bhp but that is mated to a god aweful CVT box. Very slow at motorway speeds and overtaking needs to be planned. My CVT was noisy. They just don't drive as nicely as even an old school torque converter auto and miles off something like a VAG DSG. Feels like a two speed and Chris Harris described the sound as a cow giving birth and he is right 😁. The 1.4 Auto has about 88bhp, but is far less urgent off the line compared to the CVT.
The handling is best described is wallowy. Mine might have needed new shocks.
They aren't comfortable. If you have driven an old school Mini then you will feel right at home in a Cube. Wife and I are 5ft 9 ish and you do feel like you are sitting bolt upright with the steering wheel in your lap. My steering wheel was at least leather and didn't look too bad. The plastic ones don't look or feel as nice
Interior
It's low rent, but does feel quite airy despite tints and no sunroof. Boot is quite big for the size of the car and there are cubby boxes everywhere including under the rear seats, two gloves boxes, centre arm rest x2
Seats
They don't offer much support at all. Not much more than a gloried bench front and back. third row is children only!
What went wrong over 17 months
Washer bottle pump. That was it. I replaced the front tyres as they were cracked and on the limiters. I also decided to refurb the rear plastic panel. Came off easily and I just gave it a light sand followed by some etch and AutoTek Satin black spray paint. Came Up quite well.
Running Costs
Not as good on fuel as you'd think. First few tanks were 24mpg pump to pump and sometimes but was lower than that! Best I ever got was 40.
Why I sold it
Uncomfortable, noisy, poor performance and no luxury apart from the auto and Android Auto head unit. Also, the wife has tolerated my constant car changing but she really didn't like the Cube 😁
Selling It
I advertised it on FB marketplace and Pistonheads. Had a real tyre kicker from the PH ad. One of the worst I age ever dealt with and ever listing it on Pistonheads was a lot of effort. PH have a lot of work to do in this area IMO.
I'm on the FB Nissan Cube group which is actually a bit biased as it's run by the main Nissan Cube importer in the UK. He also stocks alot of spares too. This means that advertising your cube can be problematic as some of his fan boys tell you to buy from the importer and not a private sale
What I did was keep an eye on the 'wanted' posts and offered the car up to potential buyers and made sure the ad was solid and the car sold in less than two weeks. I recon it would have taken twice as long on eBay and I would have needed to drop the price more. As it stands I did quite well on the sale considering I have had it for 16 months ish.
Sadly there have been a few issues with it for the new owner, but it was genuinely pretty reliable for me. Never let me down once.
Should you buy one?
No not really 😁. However it was pretty quirky and you get used to to people mouthing WTF is that at you as you drive by. Someone approached my wife when she was in it asking to look round. I also got asked how much I paid by a random in a halfords car park. CVT box meant it was pretty urgent off the line too. That was one of positives. Getting spares can be hard work. Even getting mats means using japan auction sites or the Cube importer. My washer bottle pump was re-built by the garage as they couldn't get one from Nissan for weeks. you can fit pads from a clio, but you have to modify the calipers to do so. The owners group isn't big either.
What's replacing it.
Dunno...looked at Discovery 4s, Mondeos, Golf GTIs (again), Subarus. I'll do another thread when I evebtually source its replacement. will be cheap and cheerful as we have a lot of house work to do and I need to spend some money on the series as that hasn't been looked at at all during 2020 (Partly down to CoVid)
My cars dont do much more than 4k and I get the train for work so something expensive is a waste of time and I tend to shy away from modern diesels.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I needed something cheap and simple to run. Before Mrs Bakerstreet had a C-Max and that was ok with one child and dog, but with two children it clearly wasn't enough and also the repairs on the C-Max were becoming quite expensive. In one year it cost around £2k but that did include a DMF and clutch. The power steering failing on the end of slip road on the M40 was the last straw so we replaced it with 2014 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. This meant that the Discovery 3 became partly redundant. The C4 was much cheaper to run so that was now the big family car.
I sold the D3 for too cheap, but managed to sell it through the FB group so didn't even need to advertise it which was a result. However even in week before I sold it, it went wrong coating £300 to fix an electrical fault with the handbrake.
I started out looking at Golf GTIs, Mk4 Mondeos. Had a deposit on a Mk5 GTi which ended up falling through. In hindsight I should have bought the Golf GTI 😒.
I don't do many miles so petrol was considered to be the best option. However, I never had an issue with the D3's diesel engine and low mileage. It was other bits that seemed to go wrong 😒
Also wanted an auto box because I'm lazy and can spend a lot of time in traffic so much prefer an auto.
At the time I was still travelling to my mum's to work on my Land Rover series 3. Thread here
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
For that I always take a large toolbox and flat load bays makes that easier to heave in and out so that was also a must have requirement.
Not sure how I ended up looking at Nissan Cubes, but they were petrol, auto and had a flat load bay if you went for the 7 seat version which also benefited from a slightly longer wheel base
Being an older car it was also easier to have a double din Android Auto head unit fitted without too much faff.
I really rate Android Auto. Makes interfacing with the stereo so much easier. Google Maps especially. I went for a Pioneer Pioneer SPH-DA230DAB ex demo on eBay. Only £280 🙂. Wish I had kept it as they are now going for double that due to supplier shortage.
Finding Cubes isn't easy especially if you are picky. I wanted the rider edition as it has a much better stance and the lines are improved by the front and rear spoiler. Chrome grill looks the part too. Leather steering wheel and AC are also standard too.
I eventually settled on one from an importer in Scotland. With two children finding time to go and see cars was very difficult.
This one was undersealed by a specialist and they fitted the stereo but didn't do a great job. Ended up paying an auto electrician to refit it along with a reversing camera. They also had a smart repair done and there was some primer over spray. Only got that sorted with a machine polish two weeks before I sold it…
Few of the best pics (taken when I sold it about a month ago)
This car came with original tool kit neatly stored under the floor behind the front seats.
Had to make a custom boot mat as no one makes one for Nissan Cube
Leather three spoke wheel was actually quite nice and had worn quite well considering how old the car was. I really missed steering wheel controls for the stereo though.
What they are like to drive?
In a word...Sh&#. I went for the 1.5/CVT and they have around 108bhp but that is mated to a god aweful CVT box. Very slow at motorway speeds and overtaking needs to be planned. My CVT was noisy. They just don't drive as nicely as even an old school torque converter auto and miles off something like a VAG DSG. Feels like a two speed and Chris Harris described the sound as a cow giving birth and he is right 😁. The 1.4 Auto has about 88bhp, but is far less urgent off the line compared to the CVT.
The handling is best described is wallowy. Mine might have needed new shocks.
They aren't comfortable. If you have driven an old school Mini then you will feel right at home in a Cube. Wife and I are 5ft 9 ish and you do feel like you are sitting bolt upright with the steering wheel in your lap. My steering wheel was at least leather and didn't look too bad. The plastic ones don't look or feel as nice
Interior
It's low rent, but does feel quite airy despite tints and no sunroof. Boot is quite big for the size of the car and there are cubby boxes everywhere including under the rear seats, two gloves boxes, centre arm rest x2
Seats
They don't offer much support at all. Not much more than a gloried bench front and back. third row is children only!
What went wrong over 17 months
Washer bottle pump. That was it. I replaced the front tyres as they were cracked and on the limiters. I also decided to refurb the rear plastic panel. Came off easily and I just gave it a light sand followed by some etch and AutoTek Satin black spray paint. Came Up quite well.
Running Costs
Not as good on fuel as you'd think. First few tanks were 24mpg pump to pump and sometimes but was lower than that! Best I ever got was 40.
Why I sold it
Uncomfortable, noisy, poor performance and no luxury apart from the auto and Android Auto head unit. Also, the wife has tolerated my constant car changing but she really didn't like the Cube 😁
Selling It
I advertised it on FB marketplace and Pistonheads. Had a real tyre kicker from the PH ad. One of the worst I age ever dealt with and ever listing it on Pistonheads was a lot of effort. PH have a lot of work to do in this area IMO.
I'm on the FB Nissan Cube group which is actually a bit biased as it's run by the main Nissan Cube importer in the UK. He also stocks alot of spares too. This means that advertising your cube can be problematic as some of his fan boys tell you to buy from the importer and not a private sale
What I did was keep an eye on the 'wanted' posts and offered the car up to potential buyers and made sure the ad was solid and the car sold in less than two weeks. I recon it would have taken twice as long on eBay and I would have needed to drop the price more. As it stands I did quite well on the sale considering I have had it for 16 months ish.
Sadly there have been a few issues with it for the new owner, but it was genuinely pretty reliable for me. Never let me down once.
Should you buy one?
No not really 😁. However it was pretty quirky and you get used to to people mouthing WTF is that at you as you drive by. Someone approached my wife when she was in it asking to look round. I also got asked how much I paid by a random in a halfords car park. CVT box meant it was pretty urgent off the line too. That was one of positives. Getting spares can be hard work. Even getting mats means using japan auction sites or the Cube importer. My washer bottle pump was re-built by the garage as they couldn't get one from Nissan for weeks. you can fit pads from a clio, but you have to modify the calipers to do so. The owners group isn't big either.
What's replacing it.
Dunno...looked at Discovery 4s, Mondeos, Golf GTIs (again), Subarus. I'll do another thread when I evebtually source its replacement. will be cheap and cheerful as we have a lot of house work to do and I need to spend some money on the series as that hasn't been looked at at all during 2020 (Partly down to CoVid)
My cars dont do much more than 4k and I get the train for work so something expensive is a waste of time and I tend to shy away from modern diesels.
joropug said:
p4cks said:
Please can someone TL;DR this?
1.5 CVT nissan is s
t in every way
Thanks, OP
I kind of quite like the Cube.... But then I like the Kia Soul and the Skoda Yeti, too. I didn't realise I like boxy things until I read your thread and it got me thinking, but I think I won't ever entertain the Cube now.
Wonkyhorn said:
I love these, Shame it seems a bit crap, I have a mk5 GTI dsg and was thinking of getting into one. Put me off now!
It depends what people want from a car.I collected one from the docks recently and drove it 120 miles.
A quirky city car that people find interesting.
A sports car, or grand tourer it's not.
I thought it drove ok, although I wasn't in a hurry.
carboy2017 said:
these quite popular in South Asian markets esp in cities due to parking space restrictions,i think they are calle din Japanese as 'Kei' cars
personally not my cup of tea
I don't think these qualify as Kei cars as they're well over 600cc and size isn't all that small.personally not my cup of tea
FWIW, I looked at these in the same 7 seat versions but saw that better can be had from Japan from the likes of Toyota (designforlifes Bb as an example).
Funky cool looking things though.
samoht said:
Nice write-up, and pleasantly free from "my car is the best thing ever" syndrome ;-)
What did your kids think of it?
I hired a SWB 1.4 once, conventional automatic which I found surprisingly not bad as a drivetrain, at least at relatively low speeds.
My eldest loved it, but I think it was mainly because he sat in the front quite a lot and my wife insists that he would love any car that he was allowed to sit in the front of What did your kids think of it?
I hired a SWB 1.4 once, conventional automatic which I found surprisingly not bad as a drivetrain, at least at relatively low speeds.
The front bench did make it easier for him to get in and out of as he could just slide over from one side. Visibility was also quite good for him. You sit high and the windscreen/window line was quite low. Kids like to see out. Makes journies easier for them.
The AC was weak though and I felt guilty when I took both kids swimming in the heat of summer and the car was pretty hot and you could see them sweating cos the the AC was poor. Also, they aren't well insulated either.
designforlife said:
Nice, but you should have bought a Toyota bB 
Same boxy charm but you get the 1.5l Yaris T-sport engine and a decent enough 4 speed auto. Weighs 1050kg so isn't even dog slow @ 110bhp.
Yes, I like those, but they are quite rare here and generally command more money than a Cube. However, the ones I saw for sale were advertised for ages, so very limited appeal. Same boxy charm but you get the 1.5l Yaris T-sport engine and a decent enough 4 speed auto. Weighs 1050kg so isn't even dog slow @ 110bhp.
You can buy the hateful piece of square st I have abandoned on my sales pitch, thats been there for 200 days without hardly a sniff on it.
Even if I sell it now, we are on a 600 quid loss with the boxy, poxy, Cubey, ugly dogs turd, damned pile of badger st pile of smelly crap.
Never again, next time I get offered one, the answer is fk right off.
t I have abandoned on my sales pitch, thats been there for 200 days without hardly a sniff on it.Even if I sell it now, we are on a 600 quid loss with the boxy, poxy, Cubey, ugly dogs turd, damned pile of badger s
t pile of smelly crap.Never again, next time I get offered one, the answer is f
k right off.Mexman said:
You can buy the hateful piece of square st I have abandoned on my sales pitch, thats been there for 200 days without hardly a sniff on it.
Even if I sell it now, we are on a 600 quid loss with the boxy, poxy, Cubey, ugly dogs turd, damned pile of badger st pile of smelly crap.
Never again, next time I get offered one, the answer is fk right off.
If I'm not mistaken, is yours the one I've seen for sale on eBay for shed money based up North?t I have abandoned on my sales pitch, thats been there for 200 days without hardly a sniff on it.Even if I sell it now, we are on a 600 quid loss with the boxy, poxy, Cubey, ugly dogs turd, damned pile of badger s
t pile of smelly crap.Never again, next time I get offered one, the answer is f
k right off.On a separate note, aren't these based on a Micra chassis? I could be wrong.
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