NISSAN MARCH Experience withs service/performance

[SunandFun]

Hello Friends, I have leased a Nissan March and I am now into my second month. I am surprised at the good milage I am getting. Average City 14.5Km/L. The sticker says it will get up to 20Km/L on Hwy. I checked the dealers of other cars, Honda City, Jazz, Toyota Vios, Yaris and they only get 5.5 to 6.8Km/L. Not sure what real world experience is with any of these other than what I am driving now. Can anyone share their experience with any of these cars also any experience with service cost and performance (long term) for a Nissan March? At 489,000 Baht for an automatic with AC it seems hard to beat! Feedback appreciated.

[VincentD]

Wife's sister has a March but earlier model she's happy with it. Wife bought the Almera (basically the March with a boot), think it's the same 3 cylinder engine with start/stop and CVT (which I don't like). The Almera (to me) has an awkward driving position and I find it a bit cramped so I prefer driving my XTrail even though the engine is twice the size.

Both Almera and March are better suited to the city and the suburbs, so will assume economy is good.

[VincentD]

Side note: My XTrail gets 10 km/l in upcountry driving, worst case city driving about 8 km/l for a 2500 cc petrol engine. So I think the figures you have quoted for the Honda and the Toyota are a bit skewed.
I do note, though, from previous experience that when I used to drive a Ford Escort 1800 cc, the company Toyota Altis also 1800 cc had horrible mileage and poor performance as compared to the Ford.
A lot also depends on your driving style, a gentle foot gives much better economy

[jingjoe]

Probably the most reliable and cheapest brand new car I have bought, 2012 Nissan march, very cheap on fuel and servicing regularly every month at pranburi Nissan has been exceptional and very cheap, I actually prefer a manual drive as it uses less fuel and I feel more alert on the road,
I would personally buy a second hand Nissan march as they are more of a town car and don't get beaten up, and cheaper than buying new.

[Frank Hovis]

I think you must be reading the numbers wrong 5.5Km/l is much worse than a Mercedes SL65 AMG, the most powerful car they produce with something like 630 bhp and a combined fuel consumption of 8Km/l.

What you've probably seen is figures in litres/100Km which for little cars like a Jazz and so on will be in the region of 5 litres per 100Km giving them about 20Km/l which is 56mpg in old money.

[brianks]

I am averaging 13-14 kpl on my 7+ year old Honda Jazz Automatic. Have tracked the KPL for 196,000 km on my Jazz. Used to get around 19 KPL when only Gasoline and no alcohol. Can get 16-17 KPL when on long trips but Gasahol 91 sure reduces the KPL. The KPL seems to be reducing as my car ages. Wonder if there putting more alcohol in gas to do that.

[VincentD]

Using lower octane benzine with ethanol (think gasohol is 10% ethanol content) does reduce mileage from personal experience.
Ethanol, while having a higher octane rating, has actually 30% less energy than benzine so the inculsion of ethanol in benzine reduces the amount of actual power available. Thus you tend to use more fuel to get the same amount of power.

I have always used 95 octane benzine (not 95gasohol!) and find that even though I pay more at the pump, it is actually cheaper in terms of actual mileage.
Think about it this way. I get 500 km on a full tank of benzine, maybe 440 on a full tank of gasohol. The amount I have to pay for the additional gasohol to drive the additional 60 km is actually more in total than if I used 95 benzine.
It also results in a lot less power when you need it so I avoid any petrol stations not selling benzine.
Newer cars optimised for this kind of fuel may not be so badly affected, and if you do mostly city driving you won't feel the difference or have the need for it.

My two baht worth.

[brianks]

I am surprised to read that you can still get non alcohol Benzine. I will now look all over for it. Have despised using Gasahol since it was introduced.

[Nereus]

I am surprised to read that you can still get non alcohol Benzine. I will now look all over for it. Have despised using Gasahol since it was introduced.

It is only available as 95 octane. Most Caltex outlets have it, but not all. Be aware that the Shell 95 is part ethanol.
You can usually tell if a station has it by just looking at the big price board display on the roadside. The 95 price will be obvious, as it is a few Baht higher.

[VincentD]

I get my benzine 95 from the PTT stations. Not all of them carry it, think the ones that used to be 'Jet' before being bought over by PTT. Also some Esso stations but I find PTT is the cheapest.
On my last trip to Hua Hin I filled up at the PTT on Petchkasem Road just after you turn off from Rama 2 but I think I saw one or two stations just outside town that also have 'benzine'.
As Nereus points out, Shell is part ethanol so I avoid these stations.
The station attendants call this 'benzine'. The placard is yellow. 'Gaaw Haa' (95 in Thai) is the gasohol, with the orange placard.