You may not have had need to consider this, but the hire car (the UK term for rental cars) does vary across the world. In mainland Europe and the US, you’ll get an almost showroom fresh example, usually from a line of cars exactly the same, but probably of a different marque than last time you visited. Choice will not be wide, and you quickly learn that the business model is dependent upon leasing cars from the manufacturers and turning them round quickly into the nearly new market. But not in some parts of the world, where you may well get handed the keys to a car over ten years old.
Elsewhere that business model varies, with a genuine feel that the car is an owned, not leased, asset of the hire company and is earning its keep for a long as reasonably practicable. This model seems to be used in smaller markets, perhaps lacking the capacity to absorb low-ish mileage, relatively young used cars at the necessary rate.. Hence, in New Zealand earlier this year, the hire company rented us a Nissan Tiida 1.5 litre hatchback, in a very 2006 hue, best described as watery pea soup metallic.
Travelling introduces you to many things you may be unfamiliar with, like volcanoes and geysers, kiwis (and Kiwis), stunning flora and fauna, traffic jam free town centres, and even sunshine in January. And the Nissan Tiida.
The Tiida (pronounced Teeda, although I kept wanting to call it the Tilda, which is actually a brand of Indian rice sold in the UK) was never sold in the UK or mainland Europe, though some did make their way to the Republic of Ireland, and in North America it was available as the Nissan Versa. The easiest description may be that it a Nissan’s take on the 2002 Renault Megane with which it shared a platform. The Megane is Renault’s Golf competitor, and the 2002 model majored on style and technical novelty as an USP, introducing some features like the Renault Keycard and automatic light and wipers to the European market.
The Tiida came as five door hatch or dumpy looking four door saloon. It was not sleek; rather it majored on space inside and accepted the consequently a slightly taller exterior and boxy glasshouse (both it and the 2002 Megane were 4-5 inches taller than the preceding Megane). Power came from 1.5, 1.6 or 1.8 litre four cylinder petrol engines, mounted transversely and linked to five speed manual or 4 speed automatic gearboxes. A CVT was offered in some markets as well, and a six speed gearbox on the 1.8 litre, also market specific.
Our car was 1.5 litre with a continuously variable transmission, which always felt that it was hanging on to a high ratio for as long as possible. Engine braking was less impressive, even in L.
There were several, to British eyes, unusual features of this hire car. For a start, it was 10 years, not less than 10 months, old, and had covered something like 80,000 km, which is relatively low for the age. The Kiwi annual average is around 12,000km, the UK average is closer to 12,000 miles. This mileage is probably linked to the car’s origins, as a Japanese domestic market specification car imported into New Zealand in October 2016.
Importing a JDM vehicle into New Zealand is relatively common. The New Zealand market is small, with only 5 million residents and new car sales of 102,644 in 2016, less than three weeks’ total UK sales. The proximity of Japan, the toughness of the Japanese skaken test and the compatibility and acceptability of the specifications in areas like emissions, right hand drive and metric instrumentation, with the New Zealand car hire and Japanese markets both favouring automatic transmission, makes this a valid source, and not just for hire cars incidentally.
So what’s a Tiida like, and what makes it a good hire car? First of all, it was easy to use. Big switches, clear instrumentation, no novelties on the dash (apart from one I’ll come to) and logically adjustable seats and mirrors.
Interior space, for two people and holiday baggage was absolutely fine. The rear seat was a good size for two if necessary, and could be shunted back and forth to balance passenger space and luggage space. The hatch opened up plenty low enough as well. Up front, the seats were good, soft enough but also firm enough and generously wide. This car had a trim that was close to velour, almost 1970s except for the subdued colour.
The CVT was easy enough to use, indeed you might not realise it was not a conventional automatic until you tried to use the L position coming down hill and found it a bit weak. Performance was fine, with enough power for the overtaking you can do in New Zealand, and for climbing hills. Handling was pretty average, and with a fair amount of body roll. It’s not a Focus to drive, by any means, but the ride is not something embarrassing either. In these respects, it probably matches its Megane cousin, but not the Focus or Golf.
The comfort features were there too; air con, keyless entry and start, automatic lights (but not wipers), radio and CD, electrically adjustable mirrors, and did I mention comfortable seats?
All this makes it fine for a hire car. Comfortable, spacious, capable enough, easy to use, reasonable on fuel; all hire car features. Driving in New Zealand is a fairly leisurely affair, with the few dual carriageways almost entirely limited to the major urban areas and a national 100km/h speed limit enforced by kindly efficient officers in Holden Commodores, so the last ounces of sharp handling and performance are not necessary.
There were a few features that were unusual to us, coming from the UK. For example it had a reversing bleeper that sounded continuously when the car was in reverse. Not a reversing proximity bleeper and not audible outside the car. To me, whenever I was reversing, I was looking for an errant forklift truck.
The parking brake (or hand brake) was foot operated, seemingly in the position you’d expect to see a clutch pedal, and just visible in the library shot above. I’m not clear if this is a feature specific to the automatic and/or JDM cars, but you get used to it, and the consequently larger console is useful. A more modern electric parking brake would be significantly preferable though.
The biggest surprise feature was also the most disappointing. You may have noticed the large screen in the centre of the dash, looking ideal for a GPS sat-nav display. Which is exactly it was, except for one minor detail. Remember, this was a JDM car, so it had a JDM sat-nav, complete with Japanese character display and Japanese maps.
There is apparently no known, or at least practical, way to change this to an English language display and local mapping, and frustratingly the Japanese characters extended to the radio display as well. So, no sat-nav, the radio was a bit of a lucky dip, and the purchase of a decent sat-nav to bring home and keep.
So, in summary, perhaps not a car I’d buy, but one I’d be more than satisfied to hire again next time, and you can’t really ask for more than that from a hire car chosen under a Hobson’s Choice policy.
The last car I rented in another country (France) was in 2004, a current or perhaps previous year Megane 5 door hatch. Diesel, 5 speed … with keyless entry, automatic wipers and lights; my first experience with all of those. Since at the time the Versa didn’t exist, the styling of the Renault was very distinctive to my US eyes and the whole car felt quite exotic.
What an interesting rental car. I remember when this car was introduced to the US, about the same time as the Honda Fit. We checked out a Versa, but the interior packaging was nowhere near as clever as the Honda, including the fact that the Nissan’s rear seat folded down did not provide a flat load floor. I was also not crazy about the CVT, which was the only automatic offered.
The sedan had the distinction in the US for awhile of being one of the cheapest new cars you could buy. But I don’t see many of them now.
This car also proves the hard truth about another thing. We on this site often bemoan the lack of color choices on new cars. But in truth, if this had been a silver or black or white car, few would be able to tell that it is 10 years old. But this color just screams it.
I rented these a couple of times (as Versa’s), and was pleasantly surprised by their relatively comfortable, quiet ride, even for a long day’s highway drive. For a small car they were quite impressive.
Agreed… My wife & I rented one when we were in San Antonio circa 2011. I thought it was fine for what is was – cheap & pretty fuel efficient. The space inside was actually impressive. I do not know which motor it had, but it did have a CVT. It was the first rental car I had that I didn’t truly hate. Of course, in Texas, it seemed like 80% of highway traffic consisted of pickup trucks going way over the posted speed limit, so entering and exiting the highways was a bit nerve-wracking.
We rented two cars for a whole-family vacation to the Yucatan peninsula a couple of years back, and one was a Versa like this, but with the 1.8 and six speed manual, and it scooted right along. And these were quite roomy inside.
My wife has a four-year-old Versa, bought new during her previous marriage. As Richard Wayman notes, not necessarily fun, but pleasant, roomy, fuel-sipping and my wife’s has proven to be utterly reliable.
Mine will turn 2 in October, it’s the next generation, so some of the details are different. Reliable except for the radio and my lifetime average on fuel with both Portland stop and go/ I-5 driving is 37.7 mpg (US). My least liked feature is the CVT. It never puts me in the right powerband for the situation if I need it. It can be fun to drive, but that is more because of how I’m driving rather than what I’m driving 🙂
We have two Versa Notes (the hatchback) at the newspaper. Those are our company cars. They have the 1.8 and CVT.
I’ve found them to be rather pleasant to drive (please note I didn’t say fun…). They are sorely lacking in amenities but get the job done.
As a 6′ 7″ dude I have a little trouble getting in and out but once there it is relatively comfortable. I have wished several times for a center console to rest my arm on, though.
The navigation map in the final photo displays Fukui prefecture looking out to the Sea of Japan. Perhaps this is where the car was last present in Japan before it was shipped off to New Zealand.
I believe it is just pointing in the direction which he was driving at the time of the photo, and since the map is of Japan it assumes you are driving off the coast because it can’t display any further.
We have a couple of these at my store for delievery cars– they actually work okay at the job. My drivers are ladies and they enjoy the cars more than the old Colorados. In Canada we get the 1.8s with 4 speed automatic and the parking brake is between the seats. Two weird things are a lack of a temperature gauge and the seat rake adjustment is inboard by the console. Having said that I consider them to be just tools, cars for someone who really doesn’t like cars, they just need a car–I’d never own one as a personal car.
I had one of these (Versa hatch) as a rental … in about 2006. It was decidedly average but perfect in its role as a rental car.
That foot brake placement is downright odd.
The one I hired was manual a long time ago now the uncomfortable seats stuck in my mind but not the parking brake, (I probably didnt ever use it)
I’ve wondered about these as a possible new (to me) car. Sometimes all you want is a vaguely pleasant “runabout”. Not crazy about the automatic transmission being a CVT, and finding a manual transmissioned model is fairly difficult. It sounds like these Tilda/Versas are like the typical motel room: a nice place to visit, but no where you would want to live.
Only rented 2 cars while overseas: a Fiat 127 way back in 1973, and a “stripper spec” Toyota Corolla in the mid 80s. I actually prefer the Fiat, I think, as it was more “playful” to drive.
Some did it make it to the UK – Arnold Clark (probably the dealer chain with the worst reputation on the planet) imported saloons from the Republic of Ireland to Scotland. Unkindly, the consensus at the pub was ‘something to do with having an aging population’ – but they did look downright dull and appliance like, even more so than a Toyota of the time.
And we all thought it was pronounced Tilda as well. Why wouldn’t it be?
The export of used cars from Japan and Korea is also common in East Africa – for the same reasons – cheap, reliable, drive on the left
The Tiida/Versa’s main virtue, other than fuel economy, is rear seat room. Payoff for the awkward styling is more rear headroom than any other sedan and a fair number of CUVs. (I looked this up for a friend who was looking for a car capable of carrying his offspring, who, under a bizarrely framed state law, were legally required to be in child seats despite already being taller than me.) The Mk1 Jazz/Fit is a lot more versatile, a lot cleverer, more entertaining to drive, and less embarrassing to be seen in, but if you needed to regularly carry adult-size people in the rear seat and weren’t satisfied with minivan/CUV fuel economy, the Nissan was a serious choice if your ego could stand it.
Someone would have to be mighty tall to not be able to ride in the rear of a Gen 1 Fit/Jazz. My two boys are well over 6′ (the short one is 6’3″ and the tall one is 6’6″) and I believe they can still ride in the back. 3 tall (6’2 or 6’3) high school kids can squeeze in the back but the car’s constraint is width more than height. According to KBB, the Fit (at 38.6 inches has marginally more rear hear room than the Versa (38.3). The Versa does have more rear leg room, however.
And you have a Gen I Fit, right? I seem to recall that Honda’s moved the rear seat further back in the car at each full redesign.
Yes. I have not spent time around the newer ones, so I can’t comment on how the seating configuration differs.
Wait wait… I think we need more detail on this tall child story!
This is what I thought when reading thru the thread…
I purchased a 2012 Versa hatch with the 6 speed manual last year (in a weird series of circumstances, it was sold as brand new with only 1800 kilometres and came with factory AND extended warranty coverage until 2023!) It is not a sporty driver’s car, but if it is to be measured against its mission statement it succeeds extremely well. It’s cavernous interior is roomier than some much larger SUVs, and fits five adults comfortably. Mine is equipped with the mid-level SV package which includes the nicer interior and better quality upholstery and larger, more suitable 15″ wheels.
Last year, not long after buying the car I made trips to both Calgary AB and Kelowna BC. Keeping to the posted limits I managed 42 mpg and found between the car’s excellent highway ride, extremely comfortable but supportive seats and the very quiet interior that I didn’t suffer from highway fatigue at all driving almost 6000 kilometers.
It’s also worth noting that the used import market here is huge. It’s been greater than the new market for a long time, and massively so in the 90’s and 00’s. The new market has started to catch up more recently, but imports still sell more strongly than new.
We also have more conventional rental companies here, the usuals like Avis, Budget, Hertz, and more recently the European-type, the likes of EuropeCar and Go-Rentals.
On the Tiida itself, they’re not too bad, NZ new we got conventional autos and 6-speed manual, and all NZ new ones were 1.8. I took one from Auckland to Gisborne back in the mid 00’s, and it was perfectly comfortable for two. It handled the Waioeka quite well. That said, I was in one only a few months old and the springs and shocks are different on export model, so that may suggest different tuning. The Tiida has been the number 1 used import in the country for quite some time, a good 5+ years. A good 600 or so are registered here every month.
One quirk of this model is that there was a version in Japan called an e-4WD. It’s effectively a standard 2WD 1.5, but equipped with an electrically-driven rear final drive, which (to the best of my knowledge) operates only under slip from the front wheels.
The foot-operated park brake is not uncommon on Japanese-spec cars, which are overwhelmingly automatic. My old ’91 Legend had one, and my wife’s Wingroad (the wagon/estate cousin of the Tiida) also does.
Just had to let you know how jealous I am that you got to sample a JDM-spec Legend…they are quite the holy grail among enthusiasts.
It was a Coupe too, Alpha-grade, with leather and (I believe) the only year/grade to have genuine wood trim.
I quite liked that car, although it was a bit of an incongruous choice for a 21yo. All of my friends laughed at me telling me it was an old mans car. They didn’t laugh when I beat them in traffic light drags, and somehow the passenger seat was always first to get filled when we were going for a road-trip anywhere. It covered ground very well.
Wow, the Alpha was indeed at the top of the line… Alpha Touring would have been the ultimate (identifiable by orange stitching in the leather). I bought my first Legend, a sedan at age 19 and now at 25 I still have one, although a coupe with the NA-only 6 speed manual. Wonderful cars and the definition of peak Honda.
I’m surprised no one has used ’tilde’ as the name for a vehicle. Seems like a good one.
Okay, maybe not.
I see you drove it in Napier, I too rented one of these in 2006 from Avis in Taupo and drove it to Hastings near Napier, did you drive your over that Thermal Explorer highway Roger? Mine was manual five speed and decidedly under powered for that road all of HWY5 can be done at the 100kmh limit except one corner and with handling that had me backing off for tight turns after the first couple of scares, it was incredibly uncomfortable to drive and I was only too glad to hand it back in Hastings and go back to my 93 NZ model Toyota Corona.
Yes, we went over HWY5 the Thermal Explorer Highway, and just about kept out of the way of the Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks. Spectacular road.
Went to but not onto 90 Mile Beach as well.
The Satvav audio system you might be able to change a friend tried to swap the nav dvd etc from her 04 Explorer into her 2013 Suzuki, the wiring is incompatable so she has no radio in her daily car unless she fits a band extender to the JDM setup, the one in her American wagon works fine here.
Roger, thanks for an enjoyable article touching on the JDM market in NZ (now that’s a piece that needs to be written more in depth), but I think that it also gives the (incorrect) impression that when you go to NZ you’re going to be getting ten year old rental car. That market certainly exists with the smaller, outlier hirecar companies, but your bigger operators that hold the majority of the market like Thrifty,Hertz, Avis etc still have their fleets made up of new cars. In the many times I’ve been there, I don’t think that I have ever had a car older than a year – (the Holden Trax I had 3 weeks ago had less than 300km on the clock). That said, NZ still has a thriving market for the cheap banger rentals due to the volume of visitors (lots of students) touring on a budget and, just like every country I’ve visited, there are a number of smaller alternative rental car companies to cater for them.
As for the Tiida, I test drove an Australian one brand new upon release back in 2005. I was quite excited because I thought that it may be a clever way of getting a more reliable Renault Megane, but what a shocker of a car it was -The manual gearbox in particular made a worrying click-clack noise every time I shifted, and I could see the salesman looking more and more embarrassed as the test-drive progressed. I’d hate to try a ten year-old example. The car bombed in Australia, not helped by the fact that it had a terrible advertising campaign fronted by Kim Cattrall playing a character very similar to her Samantha ‘Sex in the City’ one, and using every type of sexual euphemism to convince us that the Tiida was hot… I mean, just look at it…. Fail….
Tiida! Hate the name, never mind the car…
I remember reading that Nissan Australia had wanted to carry on the well-respected Pulsar name for this car (as you would), but head office insisted on us using this weird new JDM name. I mean, we don’t even have any words in English with an “-ii-“. So why use a non-existant vowel combination in the name of what ought to be your top selling model, instead of a more logical spelling?
Guess somebody in the home office failed marketing 101. It’s not the first time Nissan Australia had marketing hara-kiri forced on them by Japan. You’ve only got to look at the popularity of used-import Silvias and Skylines, and the dearth of interest in Bluebirds, Altimas and Maximas to see that.
Now, Nissan has actually axed all of their passenger cars except the Z and GT-R! Crazy. But then they withdrew from the mid-size segment entirely in the mid-1990s and only re-entered with the current Altima, and they went years without a sub-compact so…
I agree with all of your points. I believe they ditched the Pulsar name because it was seen as being a little too senior citizen (probably a result of the very starchy styling of 2000s sedans), but then they went ahead and launched a replacement that was even more upright and conservative. You can’t convince people a car is fun and exciting and fresh and hip just by changing the name, you have to style it too…
Well, there is “skiing”…
Ii’d much rather be skiing than driiviing iin a Tiida.
The head of design at Nissan at that time was a French guy, and to me inside and out the Versa/Tilda is clearly a designerly French car, not Japanese. I guess they thought just making a Megane was too wierd. Yes, the Fit/Jazz of that time was more practical with the fuel tank under the front seat and Magic Seats in the back. But with the French platform the Versa rode a lot better. Same thing with the current models. The current Fit/Jazz is said to be much quieter and better riding than the previous ones, but it is not great in either department.
The Nissan Quest of that time was clearly by the same designers.
So the Tiida is a Megane with all the French flair and verve taken out of it. Doesn’t seem to leave much car.
Great to see some Kiwi sights and sites Roger! And a good summary of the used-JDM aspect of our car market.
Fun fact: your fourth photo, which is outside Napier’s Six Sisters Coffee House, shows your Tiida behind a black station wagon. The wagon is a Nissan Wingroad, which is the Tiida’s station wagon sibling.
Not sure about other RHD markets, but NZ got the Wingroad new for many years – the Y11 shape was Pulsar-badged when NZ-new and Wingroad-badged when a used-JDM import; when the Pulsar name was replaced by Tiida for the Y12 series, Nissan NZ adopted the Wingroad name for the NZ-new models as well. I reckon the name is totally awesome (it’s like a combination of flying and driving!) and way better than Tiida! The Wingroad is much better looking too IMHO.
The Tiida received a fairly decent panning in the Australian car magazines when new – it was seen as a step back from its predecessor in key areas (drum rear breaks instead of discs), and uninspiring and uncompetitive. Spacious though, which is a positive.
I have something planned (a bit) about that. Might ask you to help make it a joint effort.
The UK never got the Wingroad. I wanted one to hire, just because of the name
This one strikes me as the spiritual successor of the Renault 4. I believe it still is the least expensive new car on the US market.
In regards of the navigation I once had a similar experience in Germany. The navigation was in Russian. I suppose a previous customer requested a Russian language navigation and then they forgot to switch out the system chip.
The Versa sedan is 11,995. The Versa Note (Tiida/Megane) is 15,480. It would be kinda awesome if Nissan corporate would release the NISMO version here. I’d buy one with the 6 speed.