Nissan Almera Tino 2.2 Di SE

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Darren Wilson

March 2002

As the old saying goes, it's always the quiet ones you have to watch. When the Tino joined us in September 2001, it did so almost unnoticed. Six months on, it's become one of the surprise packages of the fleet, having cleared every obstacle placed in its path. If Nissan rang us tomorrow asking for it back, we'd probably put on a comedy voice and insist they were calling a wrong number.
Being a strict five-seater, the Tino was never going to be quite the multi-purpose tool the Zafira is. However, taken for what it is, the Nissan has proved a fine family car. The seats are first class and bolt in and out easily: I've yet to sample a more user-friendly system. Unlike the Zafira, the Tino has a three-point centre belt in the rear, with the top anchor attached to the ceiling. This means I can put my two-year-old son George's child seat slap-bang in the middle. The result? I get to keep an eye on him, he gets a great view, and his hands stay well away from the door pulls. Everyone is happy.
That noted, the Tino isn't without its faults. There's no shortage of little cubbies and shelves but the vast majority of them are pretty useless or oddly shaped. The CD multichanger is hidden beneath the driver's seat so you have to shift the chair all the way forward before you can reach it. Overall, though, these are relatively minor gripes. The boot is a good size and the nets on the sides are a great idea.
If you need a reminder of how poor diesels used to be, take a test drive in a Tino Di. An old-school oil-burner, it's not one of Nissan's better efforts. From cold it sounds like a bottle bank in an earthquake. And the car's slow: while Nissan's figures suggest a 0-60mph time of 12.5 seconds, that is only half the story. There's no go whatsoever below 2,000rpm, which makes pulling out at fast-flowing roundabouts a real lottery. Add a full load of passengers and the problem is worse. It seems there is a lack of low-down torque because low-rev flexibility in all gears is less than sparkling. That's a pity, because the rest of the Tino's driving experience is actually quite good.
Six months into our loan and the Tino still shines like a new pin. Despite repeated ham-fisted attempts to turn it into a removals van, the Nissan has yet to succumb to the rigours of life on the fleet. Although light-coloured plastics and MPVs are usually a match made in hell, the surfaces have stood up exceptionally well to the abuse meted out to them. And let's hear it for plastic wings, too. Bendy and utterly undentable, they have saved the Tino from the bodyshop on a number of occasions. I think the Tino is better built than any of the other compact people carriers on the fleet, and wouldn't hesitate in recommending a used example. Indeed, the only blemish it's picked up is a slight scuff on the bumper.
Nothing. That's what the Tino has cost us in running repairs to date, thanks to a flawless reliability record and an uncanny ability to stay out of trouble. Its fuel consumption has averaged a healthy 41.6mpg, which goes some way towards compensating for the engine's utter reluctance to deliver power at low revs, while the big fuel tank has meant we've had infrequent trips to the fuel forecourt.